President & CEO
David O’Rourke is the Chief Executive Officer & President of the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA), the operator of Belmont Park, home of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown; Saratoga Race Course, home of the most prestigious racing meet in the U.S.; and Aqueduct Racetrack.
As one of North America’s premier thoroughbred horse racing organizations, NYRA in 2018 generated $2.1 billion in annual all-sources wagering handle with paid attendance exceeding 1.7 million. It is the cornerstone of New York State’s thoroughbred industry, which is responsible for 19,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in annual economic impact to New York State.
O’Rourke joined NYRA as Director of Financial Planning in 2008 and was named Vice President for Corporate Development in 2010. In 2013, he was appointed Chief Revenue Officer and Senior Vice President. In that position, O’Rourke was responsible for NYRA’s business development strategies across a range of disciplines including industry relations, simulcast markets and contracts, television strategy, advance deposit wagering (ADW) operations and capital projects.
During his tenure at NYRA, O’Rourke served as the lead on all content-related negotiations, achieving an increase of more than $20 million in annual revenue. He played a signature role in spearheading the development and growth of NYRA Bets, NYRA’s national Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADW) platform, now available in 30 states.
O’Rourke also developed and led the strategy and investment in cloud-based video streaming technologies and Apps (NYRA Now), which have enabled NYRA to broadcast directly to various devices from TV to mobile and desktop; and transmit video to traditional TV networks such as FOX Sports and MSG. In doing so, he helped shepherd the dramatic expansion of NYRA’s flagship television broadcasts, the critically-acclaimed Belmont Park Live and Saratoga Live, which feature live coverage nearly every race day from Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.
Prior to joining NYRA, O’Rourke was a member of the Zolfo Cooper and Capstone Advisory Group Corporate Restructuring Practices, specializing in multiple operational and financial reorganization efforts in the real estate development, gaming, auto manufacturing, retailing and shipping industries. He also served as Vice President of Operations at Datek Online and was instrumental in helping the company develop into the world’s fourth largest online brokerage.
O’Rourke is a member of the NYRA Board of Directors. He is also a board member of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America; and a member of the Saratoga Race Course Local Advisory Board, and the Management Committee of Equibase Company.
O’Rourke is a graduate of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and earned an MBA from Tulane University.
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer Joe Lambert provides leadership and counsel on all legal matters relating to NYRA’s operations, strategies and activities. As part of his duties, he manages business relationships with legislators, the New York State Gaming Commission and other regulators, as well as representatives of the executive branch of the New York State government in addressing issues of interest to NYRA. Also, Lambert plans and manages the activities of the Legal Department in giving legal advice, preparing and reviewing legal documents and representing NYRA in legal proceedings.
Lambert spent 15 years at Deloitte as Global General Counsel, and joined NYRA from Unitedlex Corporation, where he served as Executive Managing Director and General Counsel. With a career spanning more than 25 years, Lambert has extensive multinational experience in complex cross-border transactions, intellectual property, technology, Board and governance matters, regulatory affairs and litigation.
Lambert is the author of the 1990 book, Terrorism and Hostages in International Law, published by Cambridge University Press. He earned a PhD and a LLM (legal masters) from Cambridge University and a law degree from Suffolk University. He is a graduate of Boston College.
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer
As Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer, Gordon Lavalette is responsible for the NYRA’s overall financial plans, policies, programs and practices to ensure it is financially positioned for growth. As a key member of the organization’s Leadership Committee, he provides strategic financial guidance to the CEO and other members of the management team.
Lavalette joined NYRA in July 2016 from ION Media Networks, Inc. where he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. Prior to ION, he built a significant career in professional sports—serving in a number of senior executive and financial positions with both the New Jersey Devils and the New Jersey Nets.
Lavalette provides the NYRA management team with extensive experience with two major professional teams in perhaps the most competitive sports market in the country. As Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration for the Devils, he provided significant leadership in every aspect of the planning, construction and operation of the $400 million Prudential Center in Newark. As Chief Financial Officer of the Nets, Lavalette oversaw significant improvements to the financial position of the team, and in 2004, coordinated the due diligence process for the sale of the team.
Senior Vice President, Operations & Capital Projects
As Senior Vice President, Operations & Capital Projects, Glen Kozak oversees the New York Racing Association’s facility and track operations, which encompasses a $50 million operating budget for the maintenance of Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course and Aqueduct Racetrack, including all 14 racing surfaces and fleet equipment. In addition to his daily operational responsibilities, Glen is responsible for directing $34 million worth of annual capital improvement projects which are geared towards improving NYRA’s safety measures, operational efficiencies, and revenue generating areas.
Prior to joining NYRA in 2008, Kozak worked for the Maryland Jockey Club where he served as Vice President of Facilities & Racing Surfaces. In this role, Kozak was responsible for the maintenance and planning of facility operations, as well as the fleet and racing surfaces at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and Bowie Training Center. At Laurel Park, Kozak was part of a group that took part in a $30 million project that rebuilt the turf and dirt tracks. At Pimlico, home of the Preakness Stakes, he was involved in the construction of the track’s turf-side dining pavilion, Corporate Village, Top of the Stretch, and the Clubhouse Turn Suites. Before joining the Maryland Jockey Club, Kozak served as the Track Superintendent at Suffolk Downs in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Kozak also serves on various industry boards and committees. He is a member of the Jockey Club’s Grayson Welfare and Safety Committee for Racing Surfaces and also serves on the board of directors for the Racing Surfaces Laboratory.
Chief Revenue Officer, President, NYRA Bets
Chief Revenue Officer President of NYRA Bets - NYRA TV Tony Allevato is responsible for overseeing NYRA Bets, NYRA’s national Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADW) platform; and for the format, content, talent and all production elements of NYRA’s television programs.
Allevato joined NYRA in 2016 from High Hand Media, based in Los Angeles, where he served as Owner and President of the Sports Television, Racetrack Marketing and Digital Media Production company. His clients included NYRA for which Allevato oversaw the launch and rebranding of NYRA Rewards to NYRA Bets, which debuted at Saratoga’s 2016 racing meet.
For NYRA, Allevato was responsible for obtaining regulatory gaming licenses in various states and for transitioning the regional MSG Network television programs from taped shows to the critically acclaimed multiple “live” shows, Belmont Park Live & Saratoga Live. Also, he negotiated a national television rights deal with Fox Sports to air more than 80 hours during the 2016 and 2017 Saratoga race meets, which represents the most extensive national TV rights deal in racing history. Allevato also negotiated a 50-hour regional network TV rights deal with Altitude Sports network that aired Saratoga Live during the 2016 season; and launched Saratoga Live on the NYRA HD App that is available on IOS and Android and ROKU, and soon on Xbox, Playstation 4, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
Allevato has spent much of his career building state-of-the-art wagering and television production platforms for a variety of sports organizations. While at High Hand Media, he oversaw ADW marketing, inter-track TV production and out-of-state wagering revenue at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, CA. Also, he introduced and implemented new strategy for video content for DRF.com; and served as Coordinating Producer for the launch of The Jockey Club Tour series for FOX Sports 1.
Previously, Allevato served as Coordinating Producer at the NFL Network, where he oversaw day-to-day operations of the network’s flagship show, NFL Total Access. Prior to that, Allevato was the first production hire for TVG, rising to its Executive Vice President Television/Executive Producer. In other roles, he was Feature Producer at KCBS News of Hollywood, CA as well as Executive Producer/Broadcast Media Liaison at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, CA.
Allevato began his broadcasting career as Assistant to the Producer at ABC Sports in New York, where he served as Production Assistant, Researcher and Assistant Producer of two landmark shows, Wide World of Sports and Monday Night Football.
Senior Vice President, Racing Operations
As Senior Vice President, Racing Operations, Martin Panza provides strategic leadership and management oversight of all racing functions at NYRA, including program planning and the international development of racing operations. Under Panza’s leadership, NYRA has developed its “big-event” concept, the bundling of major stakes races into major days like the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, Travers Day, Whitney Day and the Stars & Stripes Festival.
Panza joined NYRA in 2014 from Betfair Hollywood Park in Inglewood, CA, where he served as Vice President of Racing and Racing Secretary and was responsible for all aspects of the daily racing operations. Previously, he was Hollywood Park’s Director of Racing and Racing Secretary.
Panza served two terms on the American Graded Stakes Committee, and is currently a member of the Breeders' Cup Selection Committee, the Dubai World Cup Selection Committee, and the Jockey Club’s North American Ratings Committee. Panza has also served in a variety of racing positions at tracks and organizations including Nad Al Sheba Race Course in Dubai, Santa Anita Park, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and Woodland Race Course in Kansas City, KS.
Panza created the American Oaks, a prestigious turf race for 3-year-old fillies that earned a Grade-I ranking in its initial year of eligibility. In doing so, he produced a sponsor, American Airlines, and built the reputation of the race by recruiting horses from Europe, Asia and Australia. Panza also created the first guaranteed wager in the United States, a guaranteed Pick 6 for $1 million, in 1998.
Panza is a graduate of the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona.
Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Vice President, Chief Information Officer Harshal Kadakia leads all aspects of NYRA’s information technology (IT) strategy and ongoing digital transformation.
In his role, Kadakia directs the planning and implementation of enterprise IT systems in support of NYRA’s operations and use of IT to drive cost effectiveness, service quality and business development. In the last several years, Kadakia and the IT team have integrated technology-driven systems into many parts of the organization, from parking to food & beverage, merchandising, ticketing and guest services.
Kadakia joined NYRA in 2002 as Programmer Analyst in which he was responsible for application design and development. He was then promoted to Director of Information Technology, where he oversaw the development of NYRA’s platforms, applications, technology and Infrastructure. In 2018, Kadakia was promoted to Senior Director – Technology Strategy & Development, where he expanded his role into Network Infrastructure Strategies and System design while continuing to support and manage the IT requirements of the company.
Kadakia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from Bharati Vidyapeeth University in Pune, India. He earned a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University.
Vice President, Human Resources
Tatiana Torres leads, manages, and directs the strategy for all NYRA’s Human Resources and Labor Relations functions. These functions include recruitment; compensation and benefits; employee relations; labor union relations with 24 unions; and the overall development, retention, and succession management of all NYRA’s employees.
Torres returned to NYRA in 2019 after working as an HR professional for a large residential real estate firm in Manhattan. She first worked for NYRA from 2016 to 2018, as an HR manager. In that role, she administered collective bargaining agreements and served as NYRA’s domain expert for HR analytics and employment issues.
Torres began her career while she was still an undergraduate, working at the Building Service 32BJ Benefit Funds, the benefit funds of the largest property service union in the U.S. There, she gained expertise on day-to-day issues related to the administration of benefits in health, pension, legal, profit sharing, 401(K) and training funds. Later, while working toward a Master’s degree, she served as the primary benefits analyst and administrator for a New York City-based cleaning contractor with 11 unions and more than 2,700 unionized employees.
Outside the office, Torres is the Founder and Executive Director of RIEcuador, a charitable organization that raises money to provide educational opportunities, school uniforms, shoes and supplies for children in rural Azuay, Ecuador.
Torres earned a Master of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from the City University of New York’s Baruch College, where she also holds a B.A. in HR Management.
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