Separate CEO's for NTRA and Breeders' Cup

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Lexington, KY (Sports Network) - Changes continue with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) and Breeders' Cup Limited. The two organizations came to a new agreement on Wednesday.

The new operating agreement will run through at least 2008. The two groups will each have individual chief executive officers along with separate budgets and accounting departments.

"Both boards have worked diligently over the last few months on a formula that would optimize the working potential of the combined operation while recognizing and protecting the unique assets that each organization contributes," said Greg Avioli, interim CEO of the NTRA and Breeders' Cup Limited. On June 9, Avioli was named interim CEO for both the NTRA and Breeders' Cup.

The two organizations have been jointly operated since 2000. They will continue to share offices, administrative functions and jointly work on television, public relations and marketing.

"Breeders' Cup Limited has been and will continue to be our industry's strongest supporter of the NTRA," said Breeders' Cup Limited chairman William S. Farish, Jr. "We believe that the vast majority of our industry's common goals are best served by the combined enterprise of these two organizations."