by Paul Ramlow, USTA Internet News Manager

Columbus, OH — USTA Director Alan Leavitt is one of five state residents that Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has appointed to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to fill a vacancy or expired terms. The appointees were named in a release from the governor’s office.

Alan Leavitt

Leavitt, who resides in Lexington and represents District 6 on the USTA Board, is the president and general manager of Walnut Hall Ltd., which is owned by his wife, Meg Jewett. A graduate of Andover and Harvard, he has been in the Standardbred business for almost 50 years.

Leavitt is a director of the Hambletonian Society and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, president of the Kentucky Standardbred Breeders Association, and a member of the Kentucky Equine Drug Council. He has been associated with a number of top horses including Mack Lobell, whom he bred, and the immortal Speedy Crown, whom he developed and managed throughout his breeding career.

Leavitt replaces Kenneth Jackson on the KHRA; his term expires Jan. 6, 2011.

Joining him as new members of the KHRA, which falls under the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, are Edward “Ned” Bonnie, Foster Northrop, Elizabeth Lavin, and Robert Beck, Jr.