Michael F. Amo
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.
Barry A. Bornstein
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.
Eugene G. Kershner, CPA
Gene Kershner is a Partner in the Western New York accounting and consulting firm of Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner LLP (Buffalo, NY), which he co-founded in 1994. He has practiced public accounting for over 25 years specializing in manufacturing, distribution and non-profit organizations. He currently is the Treasurer for the Buffalo Renaissance Foundation and was a founding member and Treasurer of the Amherst Police Foundation. Gene, through his professional experience, helped guide ThoroFan through its tax exempt status filing with the IRS, ultimately resulting in the attainment of 501(c)(3) status. He started following thoroughbred racing at the tender age of 40 in 2004 and is the author of the EquiSpace racing blog first penned in April 2008. Gene became a member of the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance (TBA) shortly thereafter. His writing has been published in the Bloodhorse.com several times and he covered the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita for the NTRA in 2009. This past year he became the liaison for the TBA to manage the ThoroFan Handicappers’ Corner further developing his relationship with ThoroFan. He hopes to bring his financial background and love of the game to inspire ThoroFan to greater heights.
Niki Lee Rowe
Niki Lee Rowe enjoys a professional career as a Licensed New York State Mental Health Counselor and has served as a trained volunteer community mediator in both California and 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. However, horses have always been her passion. She had her first leg-up at 10 years-old seriously riding hunters and jumpers until the early 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 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 ThoroFan.
Joanne Yepsen
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.
