Mack to chair HISA committee on jockeys' mental health

Earle Mack, a Thoroughbred owner and breeder who has funded several racing initiatives and won the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2022, will chair the newly formed Jockey Mental Health Steering Committee of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, HISA announced.

The formation of the steering committee was announced earlier this year, following two suicides by jockeys in the past year. According to HISA, the committee will be assisted by a separate advisory council, which will “hold weekly brainstorming sessions with industry and external experts and report best practices and initiatives to the steering committee for next steps and potential full adoption.”

The steering committee members include Craig Bandoroff, a former apprentice jockey who founded Denali Stud; Anthony Bonomo, an owner; Donna Brothers, the former jockey and current television broadcaster; Eurico Rosa Da Silva, a retired jockey; Terry Finley, the founder of the racing partnership West Point Thoroughbreds; Lisa Lazarus, the chief executive of HISA; Terry Meyocks, the president of The Jockeys’ Guild; Graham Motion, the trainer; Gary Palmisano, the executive director of racing at Churchill Downs; and Dan Waits, the executive director of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America.

The advisory committee members include Dr. Pete Hester, the national medical director for HISA; Michael Bingham, the chaplain at Retama Park in Texas; Mindy Coleman, the legal counsel for The Jockeys’ Guild; Pat Day, the retired Hall of Fame jockey; Ramon Dominguez, another retired Hall of Fame jockey; Dr. Prudence Fisher, a research scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute; Jeff Johnston, the rider welfare and safety manager for HISA; Ann McGovern, the director of HISA’s Racetrack Safety Program; Dr. Yuval Neria, a professor of medical psychology who is also a co-director of a research project studying the therapeutic impacts of horse care on soldiers with PTSD, called the Man o’ War Project; and Anne Poulson, a strategic advisor to the Man o’ War Project.