New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher today announced Governor Chris Christie has appointed Michael Gulotta, Dr. Richard S. Meirs and Mark Mullen to the New Jersey Sire Stakes Board of Trustees.

“All three new members of the Sire Stakes Board currently serve as directors of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey and bring extensive knowledge of the harness racing industry to the Board,” said Secretary Fisher.

Michael Gulotta is the chief executive officer of Deo Volente Farms, LLC of Flemington, which was named ‘Farm of the Future’ by the United States Trotting Association in 2009. Among the world champions he has raced are Worldly Beauty, Lis Mara, Holiday Road, and Crys Dream.

Dr. Meirs has served as the general manager of Walnridge Farm, Inc. with operations in Cream Ridge and Elizabethtown, PA. He is also a principal in the Walnridge Equine Clinic veterinary practice and has served as a past president of the New Jersey Association of Equine Practitioners.

Mark Mullen is the president and co-owner of Fair Winds Farm, Inc. of Cream Ridge. He was named co-breeder of the year in 2009 by the United States Trotting Association and was the breeder of 2011 Hambletonian winner Broad Bahn.

Re-appointed to the board of Trustees by Governor Christie was Thomas A. D’Altrui of Hillsborough. D’Altrui has served on the Sire Stakes Board of Trustees since 2001. He is the owner/operator of D.I. Farms and was named North American Breeder of the Year in 1988. He previously served as first vice president of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey. D’Altrui will serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees.

The Sire Stakes Board is responsible for the administration of the Department of Agriculture’s stakes racing program for two- and three-year-old pacers and trotters sired by registered stallions at New Jersey breeding farms as well as the Standardbred Development Fund, which provides a stakes program for the progeny of mares who spend a minimum of 150 days in New Jersey and foal in New Jersey.

For more information on the Sire Stakes Program, click here.

(New Jersey Department of Agriculture)