Sikura Responds to Breeders’ Cup Regarding Endowment

Wandering Eyes · Thursday at 06:19 PM

On Wednesday's TDN Writers' Room podcast, Hill 'n' Dale Farm at Xalapa owner John Sikura challenged the Breeders' Cup to use some of their estimated $98.5 million endowment to shore up California racing and help to ensure its future.

“I've always been a huge critic of the fact that the Breeders' Cup keeps $100 million of nominators' awards for a rainy day fund,” Sikura told hosts Bill Finley, Randy Moss, and Zoe Cadman. “In order to have a rainy day fund that needs a hundred million dollars, there will have to be a torrential flood of epic proportions. I might be a loner in the minority so far as my critique goes, but I don't believe the founders of the Breeders' Cup, in their original statement and in their original mission, believed it was necessary to put away $100 million. When you have current crippling issues in our business that are affecting the validity of breeding programs in states and, maybe even the existence of some markets, that money, in my strong opinion, should be put into use to help the Thoroughbred industry. And if there's a cause more important than the survival of California racing, I don't know what it is.”

The Breeders' Cup responded that the endowment was managed by an investment committee, and that all decisions regarding the endowment were evaluated and approved by the board of directors. They said that as a non-profit whose mission is to conduct the Breeders' Cup World Championships with the highest levels of quality, safety and integrity and to promote the growth of Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and sales, they must exercise prudent fiscal stewardship while leveraging the endowment and related income to enhance the World Championships and advance their mission.

On Thursday, Sikura responded as follows:

“The Breeders' Cup's response to my critique only defended their management of the $98.5 million endowment,” he wrote. “That's typical of a non-responsive self-congratulatory group. The concerns raised and possible solutioins to the crisis (in California) were ignored and received no reply. John Gaines, the founder of the Breeders' Cup, often warned of `self-appointed guardians of the turf.' An apt descipton of the current state of affairs–a continuum of non-action and self-praise.”

To watch the entire podcast featuring Sikura, click here.