The Jockey Club promotes Kristin Werner to vice president of strategy
Kristin Werner’s promotion puts her at the center of racing policy, aftercare and safety. The move could shape who has influence far beyond The Jockey Club’s org chart.
The Jockey Club just moved Kristin Werner closer to the sport’s pressure points. By promoting her to vice president, Thoroughbred Strategy and Industry Initiatives, the organization put a longtime internal operator in charge of work that reaches from racehorse welfare to aftercare, sporthorse outreach and industrywide standards.
The announcement came Tuesday, May 26, 2026, and it was more than a title change. Werner had been deputy general counsel and director of Industry Initiatives, and James Gagliano said the promotion reflected The Jockey Club’s continued commitment to initiatives that support and advance the Thoroughbred on and off the racetrack. In practical terms, that means Werner is now positioned where governance, public trust and racing’s long-term business interests overlap.
Her portfolio already touched some of the sport’s most important infrastructure. The Jockey Club said Werner will continue to lead strategic initiatives and broaden engagement across racing, aftercare, and the sporthorse and wider equine communities. She has been involved in the Equine Injury Database, the Thoroughbred Incentive Program and the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, three programs that speak to the sport’s next chapter as much as its present one. Werner joined The Jockey Club in 2005, giving her a long runway inside an organization that has spent years trying to connect policy to on-track credibility.
That broader push is not symbolic. The Jockey Club’s 2026 Industry Impact Report said it has re-invested more than $112 million back into the Thoroughbred industry since 2010, with another $7 million planned in 2026 that would lift the total to nearly $120 million. Its supported initiatives range from aftercare and education to industry collaboration, integrity and safety, and international promotion, which makes Werner’s expanded role a key post in how the money and the message are steered.
The sport’s aftercare and traceability efforts underline why that matters. The Thoroughbred Incentive Program, launched in 2011, was built to encourage retraining Thoroughbreds into other disciplines after racing or breeding careers, and now includes awards at open horse shows and competitions, a championship horse show, year-end performance awards, a recreational riding program and youth awards. In February 2026, The Jockey Club also announced it was distributing 100 free microchip scanners to identified aftercare organizations, with about 400 more planned. That is the kind of operational work Werner will now help oversee more directly, at a time when racing keeps asking the industry to prove its value with more than purses and entries.
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