The inaugural edition of the Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) is just three weeks away and the planning committee behind the buzzed-about event is so enthusiastic about spreading the word that they say down with the TDN to share how the multi-day summit is gaining national attention and discuss why it is important that the event will be bringing in women from all facets of the industry.
“The Horse Racing Women's Summit is designed to empower, connect and remove barriers in leadership in racing,” said Jodie Vella-Gregory, a member of the planning committee and the Director of the Office of Innovation at 1/ST Racing. “It's really for anyone who is interested in pushing the industry forward and is ready to discuss not only how to overcome challenges, but also how we can identify growth opportunities. We see it as a place for leaders, future leaders and any industry participants and we see it as a catalyst to start a conversation and bring people together.”
The summit will be held September 28-30 at Santa Anita Park. Susan Packard, the first woman to join the Churchill Downs Inc. Board of Directors and a key player in the launch and development of CNBC, HGTV and HBO, will be the keynote speaker. Thursday's session will include three panels called Thriving Through Challenges, Looking Ahead–Opportunities for the Industry and Industry Integrity–A Brighter Future. Each panel will feature notable industry participants from various aspects of the sport and will end with a Q and A session.
The event will conclude on Friday, which is also opening day of Santa Anita's fall meet, with a handicapping seminar from TVG's Christina Blacker. HRWS attendees will have access to reserved box seats throughout the weekend of racing at Santa Anita, which will be highlighted by two Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' races.
Committee Chair Stephanie Hronis of Hronis Racing was the visionary behind the event. She explained how the idea formed last summer after a Thoroughbred Owners of California women's luncheon at Del Mar was a smashing success.
“Seeing women come together with the opportunity to network there was such a good energy,” Hronis said.
From there, Hronis formed a team and started putting out feelers on how a national summit would be received by the industry.
“It was kind of like tapping into a sleeping giant,” Hronis explained. “The wave of interest was huge. What started out as a vision for bringing women together has really grown into this movement of a summit and bringing people both from within the industry and outside of the industry, which you will see with our panelists and our keynote speaker Susan Packard.”
HRWS committee member Jordyn Egan, who is also the Executive Director for the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said that they received immediate interest from a vast array of women in the industry.
“The feedback was very diverse,” she said. “It was everything from, 'I want to become an owner but I'm intimidated' to 'I've been working in this industry for 20 years and I don't know what to do next.' We had to really think about what we are going to do with this event that will help address, connect and empower all women in racing so that regardless of where you are, this is a great professional and personal development opportunity.”
The HRWS planning team laid out the five core pillars that they hope will be accomplished through the event: to remove barriers, to empower, to build inclusivity and leadership, to mentor, and to develop and grow the sport.
Committee member Kellie Hill, who is involved in the industry as the CEO of Stay Classy Horse Racing and who also works outside of the sport as the Sr. Vice President of MedWest Realty, talked about how the concept of removing barriers will benefit horse racing as a whole.
“What they have found with so many different studies, from Harvard Business Review to the London Business School, is that the more you have gender equality, the profits go up, the innovation goes up and the efficiency goes up,” Hill explained. “So when we're saying that we want to remove barriers, it's so that we can get equal representation across the board in order to propel the whole industry up.”
1/ST Racing and FanDuel TV will be the presenting sponsors for the event with over a dozen other organizations also backing the summit. Hill said the support they have received from the industry through sponsorship has been overwhelming.
“I can't tell you how shocked I have been by the level of sponsorship that has come in and embraced this event,” she explained. “Most of our sponsors pretty much immediately said, 'Yes, no problem' and they have made a bigger leap than we anticipated. I think that put the wind in our sails when we first started this so that we knew that we were headed in the right direction and that this is absolutely needed.”
Shona Rotondo, the Head of Marketing at MyRacehorse, serves as the unofficial East Coast representative of the HRWS committee. She said their team does not shy from the fact that they must receive support from organizations outside of California in order to properly represent women in racing from all across the country.
“This is not just a West Coast Thing,” she said. “We understand that the travel and investment in getting people from the East Coast to the West Coast is a little tricky, but it's also an opportunity to challenge your company to invest in women.”
“I would not take the location as an excuse not to go out there or not to push your company to give the opportunity,” Rotondo continued. “I have said to a lot of businesses, including my own, to invest in your women, send leaders in your organization who are smart and capable and passionate, and let's all get together and come up with some really actionable ideas.”
To learn more about the Horse Racing Women's Summit and to purchase tickets, visit womeninracingsummit.com.
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