'Women in Racing' panelists share stories of determination

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A panel of seven accomplished women with careers in racing, including two members of the sport’s highest honor roll, entertained and regaled a packed audience at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Sunday morning with stories and advice from their experiences in the racing industry.

The panel, which included Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone and Hall of Fame trainer Janet Elliot, began the morning session by recounting their best moments in racing, resulting in a string of quips and anecdotes that had the enthusiastic crowd of 250 laughing, applauding, or both. Krone talked of loving those days when she rode multiple winners on a card, mentioning a five-win day at Saratoga, while Elliot, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009, cited her win in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase.

And Linda Rice, the leading New York trainer, recounted how she went into the last day of the 2009 Saratoga meet as the leading trainer by wins, up by one over Todd Pletcher, and the anxiety she felt as she looked at the card to find that Pletcher had a number of highly regarded horses on the card, and she had a few longshots.

As they arrived at the paddock that day for the first race, she said Pletcher told her: “Don’t win anything too soon. Let’s keep this interesting.” Rice held on to the title when neither got to the winner’s circle that day, becoming the first woman to take a training title at Saratoga or any other top-tier U.S. track.

The panel, entitled “Women in Racing,” was organized by the Hall of Fame in advance of its unveiling next year of a special section of the museum honoring women’s contributions to the sport. One night earlier, the Hall of Fame debuted a new bronze of Krone, who was inducted into the Hall in 2000 after becoming the most successful female rider of all time.

In addition to Krone, Elliot, and Rice, the panel included Gabby Gaudet, an on-air racing analyst at New York Racing Association tracks; Blythe Miller Davies, a top steeplechase rider who is now a trainer; Stella Thayer, the owner of Tampa Bay Downs and a former president of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations; and Charlotte Weber, the owner of Live Oak Stud in Florida and a member of The Jockey Club.

The invariably effervescent Krone, who was a popular guest of late-night talk shows during her career, was the star of the panel early on, holding the audience in thrall as she told of her early years learning horsemanship from her mother, riding the bush tracks of Michigan, rising to the pinnacle of the sport even as she battled against gender stereotypes, and then retiring, with her new focus the raising of her daughter and her work to find homes for retired racehorses. (Krone is married to Daily Racing Form columnist Jay Hovdey).

“For me, it was always being told no, just because of my gender,” Krone said. “And so what I did, it just jacked me up and made me more and more want to say, ‘How did I get them to say yes? What more can I do to get them to say yes?’ I might have been discouraged by it a few times, but I don’t remember being discouraged about it more than a few times.”

Miller Davies, who started as a flat rider, said he drew inspiration from Krone because of her work ethic and her competitiveness.

“Her and Mike Smith were real good friends, and they would see who could do the most push-ups, and I would say, ‘Aw man, I gotta work harder,’ ” Davies said. “She was always an inspiration, and she was so kind to me.”

“She was sooooo good,” Krone interjected.

Gaudet recounted growing up in a racing family and seeing an “entirely new side of the industry” open up to her by her work after college for a local racing paper, The Saratoga Special, run by Sean and Joe Clancy. She then began pursuing work on the front sides of racetracks, and she quickly became one of the most sought-after paddock and racing analysts in the country. She was hired by NYRA in 2016.

“The easiest way to get rid of nerves is preparation,” Gaudet said. “And that’s why I am always going to prepare 150 percent.”

Thayer, who bought out George Steinbrenner as a partner in Tampa Bay Downs with her brother in 1986, said she is encouraged by the number of women who currently have roles in racetrack management, including at Tampa Bay Downs, where women occupy the positions of racing secretary, director of security, and director of communications.

“We see much more involvement by women at all levels,” Thayer said.

Rice said that when she was 17, she told her father, a trainer, that she wanted to be a trainer as well, and he replied, “God, it would be a lot of easier if you were one of my sons.”

“When he told me that, I said, ‘Dad, I didn’t say it was going to be easy. I’m just going to have to work harder. I’m just going to have to work harder than them. But I’ll make it work,’ ” Rice said. “There’s lots of no’s throughout racing. But you have to keep showing up with a smile every day, and sooner or later, the doors open.”

More than 30 years after that conversation, Rice is the winningest female trainer of all time. But she’s only in the Hall of Fame as a visitor – or a panelist for a discussion about the obstacles facing the other outnumbered members of her sex.