Women: Racing Ahead – 11/1/18

The Thoroughbred Women’s Network and Taylor Made host a Mentor Mixer

TWN offers newcomers and employers the opportunity to meet and mingle during the Keeneland September Yearling Sales.

 

The Thoroughbred Women’s Network is set to host a networking event Sunday, September 9th as part of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.  The “Meet and Mingle” will be held on the Keeneland Sale grounds between Taylor Made Yearling Sale Barns 2 and 6 beginning at 5:30 pm Eastern.

Recognizing a need in the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry to address the difficulties many newcomers experience in becoming professionally involved in the sport, the TWN hopes the ice breaker-style event will offer interested individuals the chance to learn more about TWN, as well as meet like-minded Thoroughbred industry professionals, role models, and potential mentors. Light snacks and refreshments will be served, courtesy of Taylor Made Sales.

Attendees are encouraged to mix with current TWN board members and participants, register, exchange information, network with peers, and sign up for a mentorship program the TWN expects to unveil in the near future. Registration and Information tables will be set-up for those interested in learning more about various professions in the Thoroughbred industry. Topics will include: On the Farm, At the Track,Marketing, and Industry Services_.

Women in Racing Symposium at the National Racing Museum & Hall of Fame

by L.A. Sokolowski, Equinista

 

Standing room only at the Women in Racing Symposium 8/19/18 in Saratoga Springs, NY

When breeding horses we understand the value of a great mare line and on Sunday morning, August 19, so did the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, presenting a Women in Racing symposium featuring six of the distaff side’s most thoroughly thoroughbred influencers in the sport: Janet Elliot, Gabby Gaudet, Julie Krone, Blythe Miller Davies, Linda Rice, Stella Thayer and Charlotte Weber.

The free-to-the-public event whet appetites for the Saratoga Springs, New York museum’s next major special exhibition – Women in Racing – to debut in the McBean Gallery in July 2019.

NYS Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund executive director and broadcast journalist Tracy Egan was guest moderator, and skillfully opened on a question that brought a flood of great answers:  “What has been one of your favorite moments in your career?”

Janet Elliot (2009 first female trainer enshrined in HOF, 4^th in all-time steeplechase trainer earnings $8.3+million): My first Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase win for owners George and Jan Chase (Census, 1986).

Gabby Gaudet (NYRA on-air analyst): Sharing, with my dad and family, his having a Preakness qualifier in the last year of his career (Concealed Identity, 2011).

 Julie Krone (2000 first woman inducted into HOF, most successful –3,704 wins/22 Grade I races – female jockey of all time): Those days when you wake up and know you could have multiple wins that day, on four or five great horses.

 Blythe Miller Davies (first woman to win National Steeplechase Association Jockey Championship, 7^th in all-time career wins – 204 wins, $5+ million earnings): Winning at Saratoga.

 Linda Rice (most successful female trainer in American racing history — 1,778 wins, $69.5 million earnings): Closing day at Saratoga in 2009 when I one-upped Todd Pletcher.

Stella Thayer (TRA past president, first woman NMRH president): Riding on the hay truck and watching the horses. I wasn’t allowed inside yet because the track didn’t allow minors!”

 Charlotte Weber (owner of Live Oak Stud, Breeders’ Cup winners Miesque’s Approval, World Approval): Being in the winner’s circle.

 There was also a short but touching tribute to the woman whose name is synonymous with racing, especially in Saratoga, Marylou Whitney, with Julie Krone presenting her with a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the museum and racing community.

And that was just the beginning!

Thoroughbred Women’s Network was proud to be there and enjoyed making new friends and watching its sign-up sheet list grow. We also had a giveaway, courtesy of Xpressbet, and gifted a lucky #distaffer a box to enjoy the races at Saratoga!

Julie Krone & L.A. Sokolowski outside the NMRH after the Women in Racing panel

Achieve Your Milestone

You slide open a stall door and can almost feel the warm muzzle reaching toward your palm.

Long expanses of fence block your path from one pasture to the next, but you can see the gate.

A furlong of dirt stretches out in front of you on the racetrack, but the finish line is in sight.

Achieving milestones in the Thoroughbred industry can require the extending of a hand, opening of a gate or push of strength and determination through a final furlong. The Thoroughbred Women’s Network (TWN) is an organization developed to reach out and create opportunities to encourage diversity in the Thoroughbred industry.

The Network is the foundation of TWN – from professionals to students, casual horse racing fans and every one in between, TWN connects and unites women of all levels. Once connections are made, the opportunities are endless. TWN Mentorship allows you to make contacts and meet influencers. The TWN Grant Fund can assist with the resources you need.

The Thoroughbred Women’s Network is not exclusive of men; we are inclusive of all women, and invite the men of the Thoroughbred industry to join us on our mission through support and mentoring.

Your milestone is unique and it’s part of you, regardless of age, knowledge or professional level. It can be as simple and thrilling as witnessing a field of Thoroughbreds race past you for the very first time, or complex and gratifying as a promotion earned after countless hours mucking stalls and showing yearlings.

The finish line is close, and TWN is here to help you achieve your milestone.