Joe Appelbaum purchased his first horse in 2001 and fourteen years ago founded Off The Hook – a breeding, racing and sales company.
Off The Hook has developed and campaigned dozens of graded stakes winners, most notably, Breeders Cup & Eclipse Award winner Informed Decision as well as other star performers such as Zivo, Faypien, El Deal, Pashito The Che, Turbo Compressor, Paulina’s Love, Zipessa, and Korean Champion, Gamdonguibada.
Off The Hook maintains two-dozen broodmares in Kentucky, New York and Florida. We break and train another fifty horse per year at our facility in Ocala, Florida.
Joe is currently the President of both the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) as well as the national recognized Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (THA). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Racing Association (NYRA), New York Jockey Injury Compensation Fund (NYJICF) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA).
When Arrogate prevailed over California Chrome, Joe won the 2016 edition of the Breeders Cup Betting Challenge.
Joe graduated from Yale University and has had two previous careers, coaching college football (working with Wayne Chrebet and Victor Cruz) and founding Oasis Children’s Service LLC, a provider of after-school and summertime programming for children. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children. If you are at Belmont, Saratoga or Aqueduct you are likely to see him.
