The Board

Michael Amo has been a Thoroughbred horseracing enthusiast for over 30 years. He was first introduced to the sport by a friend who took him to the 1978 Belmont Stakes. He was soon hooked. Traveling the country attending racing meets became his regular vacation away from a career as a hospital administrator. In the early eighties he took-up temporary residence in Saratoga Springs for the summer meets. In 2000 he bought a second residence, walking distance from the Clubhouse entrance to the Saratoga Race Course. He has served on the Board of a number of not-for-profit organizations. He is co-owner of a health care consulting business and a published author. He is an elected County Legislator in Orange County, New York since 1998 serving on a range of statutory committees including the Legislature’s Off-Track Betting Committee. The combination of his love for racing, management skills, not-for-profit experience and political acumen lead to his co-founding of ThoroFan.

Prior to recent retirement, Barry Bornstein served more than three decades in the not for profit field, holding positions such as Sr. Vice President, Easter Seal Society of NJ; Executive Director, New Jersey Network (PBS) Foundation; President & CEO, NY Special Olympics; and President & CEO, CJ Foundation for SIDS. He is presently a Board Member of Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs.

He is a founding member and Partner, Mosaic Racing Stable. As a life time professional photographer, he has been the Director of Photography for the ThoroFan website, and has been published in several publications and media.

Mr. deVoe is a 25-year Hospitality Industry Professional whose first passion was always Thoroughbred Racing. Stuart grew up just south of Saratoga Springs where he tagged along with his dad to the track every summer since he was 3yrs old. He was reading The Form by 8yrs old and was always drawn to the puzzle that is handicapping. He was always attracted to the animal itself. Stuart was an accomplished equestrian in his formative years and then spent his high school & college summers hotwalking and grooming for Steve DiMauro and Tom Skiffington in Saratoga and at Gulfstream Park in Florida.

After graduating University of Albany with an accounting degree, Stuart decided to move to Las Vegas where he spent 10 years between the Gaming and Hospitality Industries. Since moving back to Upstate New York in 2005 he has held positions with DZ Restaurants, Mazzone Hospitality and most recently Embassy Suites in Saratoga.

Dr. Bryan Langlois, a resident of Pennsylvania, is veterinarian but became a racing fan for life back when he was 10 years old and was made aware of the horse “Brian’s Time” running in the Triple Crown races of 1988. Introduced to the game by his father, who is also a very passionate racing fan and amateur photographer of horses, it was in 1989 and the Triple Crown battles of Easy Goer and Sunday Silence that cemented him as a lifelong fan of the sport. In fact, it was the horrific breakdown of Go For Wand in the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Distaff that he witnessed at Belmont Park that ignited his passion to be a veterinarian.

As his passion for the sport grew over the years, he became much more involved in looking out for both the welfare of the horse as well as stressing to all stakeholders in the profession the importance the fan and handicapper has to the sport. Since the inception of the new Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission in 2016, he has been carrying that message to the Commission. He is a big proponent of on track education and entertainment for the fan, which will keep them more engaged and allow them to really enjoy the entire racetrack experience.

Bryan has dedicated his working life to being in the Non Profit/Animal Welfare sector of the Veterinary profession and currently serves as the Medical Director and Co-Founder of the Pet Pantry of Lancaster County in Lancaster, PA. The organization is dedicated to providing both pet food and medical care to animals whose families are lower income or who have come on hard times to be able to allow those pets to stay with these families. It is more than a full time job, but one he finds very rewarding in being able to give back.

When not immersed in the racing world or in his welfare work, he is a history buff who usually can be found touring old historical sites and museums.

Bryan looks forward to working with ThoroFan to continue to build on all of the great things they have already accomplished. He is always willing to listen to any fan’s concerns or ideas to improve the sport and relay them to the proper officials if possible. Please feel free to reach out to him any time by email at shelterdoc38@yahoo.com.

Laurie Ross is a dedicated Thoroughbred racing fan, pedigree analyst and handicapper. Laurie became involved in handicapping as a youngster when her uncle (isn’t it always an uncle?) asked her to read the past performances for him because he was too vain to put on his reading glasses. A racing fan was born.

Laurie is in her second year on the ThoroFan Newsletter Staff. Her years of contribution to ThoroFan as Florida Chapter coordinator and Advisory Board member demonstrate the commitment she has to our sport. Introducing newcomers to the sport of horse racing and bringing the attention of the racing public to the serious issues of Thoroughbred rescue and retirement are very important to Laurie.

Laurie’s yearly Freshmen Sire Guide and Triple Crown E-books have received accolades from leading trainers and handicappers and continues to be a best-selling feature. She donates up to 20% of her book profits to Thoroughbred rescue and re-training organizations.

Laurie’s deep understanding of the sport and passion to get more fans involved makes her a major asset to the ThoroFan Board.

Niki Lee Rowe enjoys a professional career as a Licensed New York State Mental Health Counselor and has served as a trained mediator in both California and New York and serves as an arbitrator for the State of New York. She is also a consultant and a nationally published author and has co-founded and served on the boards of several successful national not-for-profit organizations and now serves on the New York State Dispute Resolution Association Board.

However, horses have always been her passion. She had her first leg-up at 10 years-old seriously riding hunters and jumpers and dressage horses until the 1960’s when she found her first job in Thoroughbred racing as an exercise rider at Bowie race track, in Maryland. Soon after, she turned down an offer to become a jockey. Her experience extends from exercise rider and pony girl at New York, Maryland and New Jersey tracks to breaking babies and raising her own children on California breeding farms. She is an avid handicapper, and travels the country regularly in order to visit and experience every track she can. She never gets over the excitement of putting her foot on the grounds of a new track to watch those magnificent creatures we call Thoroughbreds. This love of the breed and the sport brought her to the understanding of the need for a cooperative organization such as ThoroFan.

Niki is a co-founder of ThoroFan having served as Treasurer and now as Secretary to the Board. She is also the chair of the Chapter Relations Committee working to support the fantastic fans who are working to organize and grow ThoroFan chapters across the country.

Chuck was introduced to horse racing at a young age through workouts in the morning and racing in the afternoon at the Saratoga Race Course. He has been a fan ever since. He lived in Hong Kong for many years where he often attended the races at Happy Valley. He works as an investment professional in the financial services industry.

Alec is a long time racing enthusiast, spending much time at Belmont and Saratoga. He works in the pension field and shares his love of horse racing with his wife Elissa and daughter Beatrix.

Joanne Yepsen is a management professional with proven capabilities in fundraising, marketing, strategic planning, board relations, personnel and fiscal management. She is President and owner of a consulting business which focuses on helping not-for-profits with capital and development campaigns. She is an active volunteer in the Saratoga Springs community, and sits on the Boards of Directors of numerous organizations. She was first elected to the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors in 2005, and was reelected in 2007 and again in 2009. Her passion for Thoroughbred racing was heightened through her efforts to preserve the historic Saratoga Race Course and to assure that the New York racing franchise was awarded to the best entity for her city and county. Through this activism she saw the need for organizing racing fans, not just in New York but throughout the country. As a result she became a founding Board member of ThoroFan.

BSEE, Bucknell University. Bob brings to ThoroFan 40+ years experience as an engineer, project manager and and program evaluator with international experience. He also brings experience with non-profits, serving on the Board of Directors for organizations such as the Saratoga Springs, NY Preservation Foundation and serving on the Saratoga Transportation Alternative Committee. His involvement with horses extends his lifetime. He offers his volunteer services to groups such Saratoga Bridges, ARC, Dressage Festival since 1990 and is an inaugural member of the NYRA Hospitality Team at Saratoga Race Course. He is currently serving as Vice President of the New York Horse Park Board of Directors.

www. Sackatoga.com

Jack Knowlton has been the Operating Manager of Sackatoga Stable since 1995, serving as the racing manager for over 20 racehorses, including 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide. Jack contributes his talents to the thoroughbred racing community at a national as well as New York State level. He served as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing in NY from 2005 to 2007 and currently serves on NY State’s Task Force on Retired Race Horses. Jack is active in fundraising for horse retirement. A resident of Saratoga Springs since 1984, he is President of the health care consulting firm Empire Health Advisors.

Winner of the George Woolf Award 2008

Richard Migliore won the Eclipse Award as the top apprentice rider in 1981. He was the regular rider of the two top NY-bred horses ever: Thunder Rumble & Fourstardave. In 2008 Mig was the recipient of the George Woolf Award and in the same year took his first Breeders’ Cup victory aboard Desert Code. A great rider and an even greater spokesman for the racing industry.

Hall of Fame trainer with victories in two KY Derbies, two Belmont Stakes, two Whitney Handicaps, a two-year-old champion and other successes too many to list. A protégé of recently deceased John Hettinger, Nick along with his wife Kim give tireless effort toward ending horse slaughter. Nick is an advocate of dirt tracks and filled grandstands. A better friend to racing or more adamantly motivated fan of the sport cannot be found.