New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund

Each year, the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund gives 2 percent of its total annual revenue to the Harry M. Zweig Memorial Fund. That contribution usually means more than one-quarter of a million dollars for research at Cornell that benefits the equine industry. In 1997, for example, eight faculty members from the College of Veterinary Medicine received grants from $11,000 to $80,000 for research ranging from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the horse genome project to equine vaccines for Lyme disease and gene therapy for equine cartilage repair.

The fund was established in 1973 to promote thoroughbred breeding and racing in New York State and to expand the agricultural land used for producing and improving the quality of thoroughbred race horses in New York State. A public benefit corporation of New York, the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund provides incentive awards each year amounting to about $32 million to breeders and owners of registered New York-breds or registered New York State-based stallions, including purses earmarked for New York-breds. For example, a breeder earns an award every time his registered New York-bred wins a pari-mutuel purse for first through fourth place at Saratoga, Belmont Park, Aqueduct, and Finger Lakes.

"One of the major factors considered when the fund was created in the early 1970s was the need to preserve the great "green belt" of this strong agricultural state," says William A. Levin, chair of the Board of Directors of the fund corporation. "Our record shows that we're doing just that -- today, there are 380 active thoroughbred farms in New York - that's a far cry from the less than 200 in existence 20 years ago. These farms range from small family farms to large commercial breeding operations and are producing more horses of higher quality than ever before."

The fund's annual report for 1997 shows how the fund's efforts are paying off in other ways, too. In that year, New York-bred thoroughbreds earned a total of more than $44 million throughout North America, putting New York among the top four states in the nation.

The Zweig Memorial Fund and the Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund share as members Harry D. Snyder of the New York State Racing Commission; Michael J. Hoblock, chair of the Racing & Wagering Board; and Philip Trowbridge, manager, Gallagher's Stud Farm.