Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Inc.

Get Involved
- Donate
- Events & Challenges
- Gallery
- Share The Wins
- Store
- Tributes
- Videos
We offer several programs that allow you to contribute to equine research in your own unique way and double the impact of your contribution.

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation hosts a number of fund-raising events throughout the year. All of the proceeds from these events directly benefit our research efforts.
Research Grants
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has no alliance with any one university, so the Foundation is free to fund the best research regardless of where it takes place. Since 1940, the Foundation has funded more than 437 specific research projects at the 48 universities listed on our Where the Dollars Go page.

The research today is helping recruit and train the researchers for tomorrow, giving extra impact from the Foundation's funding. Aside from such staff assistance, however, the Foundation does not pay the Principal Investigator's salary or other overhead, therefore directing the dollars right on the target of research.
Who We Are
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is a leading, non-profit charitable organization that any horse lover can join.

We exist to help all horses by funding excellent and significant veterinary research at universities throughout North America and beyond and are committed to the advancement of horses of all breeds.

Who We Are

In The News

Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Approves Funding for new EHV-1 and EHM Vaccine Research
Considering the series of major outbreaks of equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) and its sequel EHM in North America and Europe over the past decade, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation issued a special call for research proposals to address the issue. EHV-1 and EHM are highly contagious, affecting horses of every breed and discipline, and they continue to cause significant economic losses through closures of racetracks and sales barns, delays in training schedules, and severe disease and death of horses. After a thorough review process by the foundation’s veterinarian advisory committee, two research proposals were selected for funding. The projects, led by Gisela Soboll Hussey of Michigan State University and Bettina Wagner of Cornell University, aim to develop novel nucleic acid vaccines to protect horses from EHV-1/EHM and EHV-4. Soboll Hussey’s project is titled, “Use of nucleic acid vaccines to protect from EHV-1/EHM,” and it will last three years. Her objective is to develop a novel mRNA-based EHV vaccine that protects horses from EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy, a method that will likely cross-protect horses against other types of equine herpesviruses. Wagner’s project, titled, “A novel DNA vaccine platform to control EHV-1 and EHV-4,” will span two years and aims to develop an effective DNA vaccine for EHV-1 to protect horses against infection and disease, working to prevent catastrophic EHV outbreaks in the future. Total funding for the projects of $1,885,436 was provided by special donor Dr. John Ballantyne and Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation. “I am excited to support these important research efforts to combat the devastating impact of EHV-1 on equine health,” Dr. Ballantyne said. Dell Hancock, chairman of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, added, “The work of our research advisory committee is timely and essential. We look forward to working with these institutions to develop these vaccines and protect the equine industry from the devastating effects of EHV-1 and EHM.” Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is traditionally the nation’s leading source of private funding for equine medical research that benefits all breeds of horses. Since 1940, the foundation has provided more than $40 million to fund more than 426 projects at 45 universities in North America and overseas. Additional information about the foundation is available at grayson-jockeyclub.org.
Contact: Jamie Haydon (859) 224-2750