NTRA’s Horse PAC President to Retire

[Wandering Eyes]

Peggy Hendershot, who since 2006 has served as President of the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry’s most influential federal political action committee, Horse PAC, will retire at the end of the year, the NTRA announced Tuesday. Hendershot’s lengthy tenure with Horse PAC began in 2002 when the bipartisan PAC was activated to promote and facilitate the accumulation of voluntary contributions from members in support of political parties and candidates for federal elective office in the United States. Horse PAC has since become one of the largest federal gaming PACs in the nation while protecting and promoting the industry’s interests on Capitol Hill.

Hendershot began her career in horse racing working part-time at Les Bois Park in Idaho. After attending the University of Arizona Racetrack Industry Program, she moved to New York, where she became an original member of the staff of Thoroughbred Racing Communications, which merged into NTRA Communications in 1999. Over a nearly 20-year association with the NTRA, Hendershot served in several corporate communications roles at the NTRA and as Executive Director of NTRA Charities. In that position, she led a campaign that raised $5 million for the NTRA Charities New York Heroes Fund after the September 11 attacks; she also aided in the development of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, on whose Board of Directors she continues to serve.

“I am honored to have served alongside members of the Horse PAC Board, the NTRA’s legislative team and the many industry stakeholders who believe in the power of legislative advocacy,” Hendershot said.

“Peggy is the unsung hero of Horse PAC,” added Horse PAC Chairman Bill Farish. “For many years, the PAC Board has relied upon her insights and the results of her leadership speak for themselves–unprecedented fundraising from all segments of the industry, with more than $4 million raised in support of federal political candidates and parties. She will be missed by me and many more. I wish her well.”

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