Jessica Paquette | Horse Racing Free Tips

Horse Racing Women’s Summit Topics, Speakers Announced

The second annual Horse Racing Women's Summit, to be held Sept. 27-29 at Santa Anita, will include three panel discussions, morning and luncheon keynotes and a Friday morning workshop.

Zoe Cadman, XBTV and 1/ST RACING Host and Analyst, will serve as the emcee for the event, which will kick off with a keynote from Reagan Cannon, an international leadership speaker and coach. Following the morning keynote, leaders at the front line of industry change will gather for a discussion on the State of the Industry, moderated by Millie Ball, XBTV and 1/ST RACING simulcast host.

State of the Industry featured speakers are: Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin; horse racing reporter Britney Eurton; HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus; and equine veterinarian Casille Batten.

The second panel, titled Running the Show, will feature a conversation among industry professionals in various facets of management from racetracks across the county. Moderator Michelle Yu will guide the panelists through a discussion focused on their careers, the ins-and-outs of racetrack management, current events, and their outlook on the future.

“I am a firm believer in the philosophy that 'a rising tide raises all ships' and this sport is so much better when we are able to come together, elevate and support each other,” said Jessica Paquette, Parx Racing announcer and Running the Show panelist. “I am honored to join so many women I respect in the industry for an event that is sure to be educational and empowering.”

Other Running the Show featured speakers are: SVP and General Counsel, Sports and Entertainment at New York Racing Association Joi Garner; SVP, Operations and Administration DMTC Ann Hall; and SVP and Executive Producer for Santa Anita Amy Zimmerman.

The third panel discussion, led by FanDuel TV's Christina Blacker and titled Looking Forward, will delve into a variety of topics including diversity, mental health, the backstretch community, and how the industry can improve.

Karen Chavez, General Manager of the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, who will join the Looking Forward panel said, “Attending the HRWS Meet Up in Saratoga was an inspiring experience that showcased the power of connection and empowerment within the horse racing industry, leaving a positive and lasting impact on the women of the backstretch community. I am excited to be on a panel at the second Horse Racing Women's Summit at Santa Anita Park, and continuing to build on the momentum that began one year ago.”

Looking Forward speakers also include: trainer and equestrian Chanel Minnifield; Los Angeles Chargers CAO Catherine Iste; and Amplify Horse Racing executive director Annise Montplaisir.

Friday's hands-on workshop is designed to identify areas of focus and specific action items for the Horse Racing Women's Summit Committee in 2024.

Tickets for the Horse Racing Women's Summit can be purchased here.

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TDN en Espanol: La Pionera Jessica Paquette Debutara Como Locutora de Parx

Jessica Paquette nunca imaginó que se convertiría en la narradora a tiempo completo en un hipódromo importante y tampoco nadie más lo hizo. El trabajo, desde que existe este deporte, ha sido una profesión que excluía en gran medida a las mujeres. Pero cuando se estén llegando al punto de salida de Parx Racing para la primera carrera del martes, Paquette estará en lo alto de la tribuna, nerviosa pero emocionada, y lista para hacer historia.

“Lo mejor que todos podemos esperar en este deporte es dejar el juego un poco mejor de lo que estaba cuando lo encontramos”, dijo. “Espero dar un buen ejemplo y hacer el camino más fácil para la generación que viene detrás de nosotros. Si puedo inspirar a una niña que piensa que esto es posible para ella y luego viene y lo hace mejor que yo, entonces estaría encantada”.

Los ejemplos de mujeres narrando carreras son pocos y distantes entre sí. Angela Hermann ocupó brevemente el puesto en Golden Gate Fields en 2016 después de que Michael Wrona se fué, pero finalmente fue reemplazada por Matt Dinerman. A principios de los años 60, Ann Elliott se desempeñó como locutora en Jefferson Downs en New Orleans durante unos cuatro años. Casi 60 años después del tiempo de Elliott en Jefferson, ninguna otra mujer había sido contratada como relatora a tiempo completo en un hipódromo en Estados Unidos.

Paquette entró en esto por accidente. En 2014, trabajaba en los departamentos de marketing y publicidad en Suffolk Down cuando el locutor habitual y colaborador de TDN, T.D. Thornton, no pudo llegar a la pista porque se retrasó, entre otras cosas, por un tornado. Se le pidió que reemplazara. Thornton finalmente llegó a la pista y Paquette volvió a sus otras funciones, que incluían servir como presentadora de transmisión simultánea del hipódromo y analista de paddock.

Permaneció en Suffolk hasta 2019 cuando la pista cerró sus puertas definitivamente. Ella se sintió perdida. “Cuando Suffolk cerró, fue una gran crisis existencial para mí”, dijo Paquette. “Trabajar en las carreras no es sólo algo que hago, es lo que soy. No sabía cómo sería el futuro”. Paquette no le importaba viajar y se daría a conocer como analista de la transmisión simultánea en Colonial Downs y Sam Houston. En Sam Houston el verano pasado, la gerencia le permitió narrar algunas de las carreras de Quarter-Horse. Ella estima que ha narrado 50 carreras en total.

“Cuando relaté los Quarter-Horses en Sam Houston el verano pasado, la pasé muy bien”, dijo. “Al tercer día comencé a sentirme menos como si fuese un reemplazo y más como si fuese algo que realmente quería hacer. Estaba dispuesta a tratar de encontrar un puesto de locutor en alguna parte. Cuando resultó que Chris [Griffin] se estaba mudando, apareció mi nombre y dije '¿Por qué no? Hablemos'”. Tenía el respaldo de Griffin, quien también fue contratado como locutor en Monmouth Park.

“Ella sabe lo que esto significa y significa mucho para muchas personas”, dijo Griffin. “Espero con ansias que ella entre en la cabina y estoy emocionado de que haga su debut el martes. Tenemos un tremendo equipo en Parx y ella encajará perfectamente, es genial verla. Es hora de algunas voces nuevas en este deporte. Ella es una profesional de pies a cabeza y puede manejar esto. Estoy muy emocionado de que ella tenga esta oportunidad y, como todos los demás, estoy deseando que llegue”.

Paquette dijo que Griffin se encuentra entre un grupo de hombres locutores que la han tomado bajo su ala y la animaron a buscar un trabajo de narradora. “Algunos de mis amigos más cercanos en la industria son narradores”, dijo. “Jason Beem es uno de mis mejores amigos. Chris Griffin y yo nos hemos vuelto muy cercanos. Ambos fueron realmente alentadores. Por supuesto, pasando por Suffolk Downs tenemos a Larry Collmus y T.D. Thornton y pusieron la marca muy alta. Frank Mirahmadi ha sido extremadamente alentador y ha ofrecido críticas constructivas desde que empecé con los Quarter-Horses”.

Habiendo tenido relativamente poca experiencia como relatora, Paquette dijo que se ha estado preparando practicando carreras en la televisión. “No es lo mismo cuando no es real porque no tienes esa sensación de pánico que te palpita en el estómago cuando las puertas están a punto de abrirse”, dijo. 'Eso es algo que no puedes imaginar'.

¿Desaparecerá esa “sensación de pánico” el martes? “Espero que no sea así porque se trata de la emoción y la adrenalina que implica ser parte del deporte que amamos”, dijo. “Mi nivel de ansiedad es probablemente un 7 1/2 en una escala del 1 al 10. Entonces, voy a estar emocionada y nerviosa. Pero eso es algo bueno”.

Ella recuerda ese último día en Suffolk Downs y dice que vio la última carrera en la pista de East Boston desde el techo y estaba llorando. Nunca imaginó lo que estaba por venir.

“He sido muy afortunada de que los caballos y las carreras de caballos me hayan llevado a lugares que nunca creí posibles en la vida”, dijo Paquette. “Para mí, en este momento de mi carrera, me he divertido mucho en el paddock, hablando de handicap y carreras. Pero esto, el trabajo de narrador, es una oportunidad de hacer algo donde puedo ser la única. Es un verdadero honor.”

Traducción de Herman Guanipa. Para suscribirse a la TDN en español email noticias@thetdn.com.

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Trailblazer Jessica Paquette Set to Debut as Parx Announcer

Jessica Paquette never imagined that she would become the full-time announcer at a major racetrack. Neither did anyone else. The job, for as long as the sport has been around, has been a profession that largely excluded women. But when the field loads into the gate at Parx Racing for Tuesday's first race, Paquette will be high atop the grandstand, nervous but excited, and ready to make history.

“The best thing we can all hope for in this sport is to leave the game a little bit better than it was when we found it,” she said. “I hope to set a good example and make the road easier for the generation coming behind us. If I can inspire one little girl who thinks this is possible for her and then comes and does it better than me then I'd be thrilled.”

Examples of females calling races are few and far between. Angela Hermann briefly held the job at Golden Gate Fields in 2016 after Michael Wrona left but was eventually replaced by Matt Dinerman. In the early sixties, Ann Elliott served as the announcer at Jefferson Downs in New Orleans for about four years. Nearly sixty years after Elliott's time at Jefferson, no other female had been hired as the full-time announcer at a U.S. track.

Paquette got into this by accident. In 2014, she was working in the marketing and publicity departments at Suffolk Down when regular announcer and TDN contributor T.D. Thornton couldn't get to the track because he was delayed by, of all things, a tornado. She was called upon to fill in. Thornton eventually made it to the track and Paquette went back to her other duties, which included serving as the track's simulcast host and paddock analyst.

She remained at Suffolk until 2019 when the track closed its doors for good. She felt lost.

“When Suffolk closed it was a huge existential crisis for me,” Paquette said. “Working in racing isn't just something I do, it is who I am. I didn't know what the future was going to look like.”

Paquette didn't mind traveling and would catch on as the simulcast analyst at Colonial Downs and Sam Houston. At Sam Houston last summer, management allowed her to call some of the Quarter-Horse races. She estimates that she has called 50 races total.

“When I called the Quarter Horses at Sam Houston this past summer I had such a good time,” she said. “By the third day I started to feel less like I was filling in and more like it was something I really wanted to do. I was open to trying to find an announcing position somewhere. When it turned out that Chris was moving on my name came up and I said 'Why not? Let's talk.'”

She had the backing of Griffin, who has also been hired as the announcer at Monmouth Park.

“She knows what this means and it means a lot to many people,” Griffin said. “I'm looking forward to her getting into the booth and excited for her to make her debut Tuesday. We have a tremendous team at Parx and she will fit right in. It's great to see. It's time for some new voices in this sport. She is a professional through and through and can handle this. I'm very excited that she is getting this chance and like everyone else I am looking forward to it.”

Paquette said Griffin is among a group of male announcers who have taken her under their wing and encouraged her to seek an announcing job.

“Some of my closest friends in the industry are announcers,” she said. “Jason Beem is one of my best friends. Chris Griffin and I have become very close. They both were really encouraging. Of course, coming up through Suffolk Downs we have Larry Collmus and T.D. Thornton and they set the bar high. Frank Mirahmadi has been extremely encouraging and offered such helpful criticism since I got my feet wet with the Quarter Horses.”

Having had relatively little experience as an announcer, Paquette said she has been preparing by practicing calling races over television.

“It's not the same when it's not real because you don't get that stomach-throbbing sense of brief terror as the gates are about to open,” she said. “That's something you can't recreate.”

Will that “sense of brief terror” go away on Tuesday?

“I hope it doesn't because it's all about the excitement and the adrenaline involved with being part of the sport we love,” she said. “My standard anxiety level is probably a 7 ½ on a scale of 1 to 10. So I'm going to be excited and nervous. But that's a good thing.”

She looks back to that final day at Suffolk Downs and says she watched the last race ever run at the East Boston track from the roof and was crying. Never did she imagine what was to come.

“I've been very fortunate that horses and horse racing have brought me to places I never thought possible in life,” Paquette said. “For me this at this point in my career, I've had lot of fun in the paddock, talking about handicapping and racing. But this, the announcing job, is an opportunity do something where I get to be the only one. It's a real honor.”

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Jessica Paquette Named New Parx Track Announcer

Jessica Paquette, a New England native with nearly 20 years of experience in horse racing, will be the new voice of Parx Racing starting in December. In accepting the position, Paquette becomes the only full-time, year-round female track announcer in the United States.

“I am grateful for the women in the racing industry who have paved the way for my generation to work in so many different areas,” said Paquette. “My hope is that I can similarly help inspire young women who may want to be part of our sport.”

Paquette has previously called races at both Suffolk Downs and Sam Houston Race Park. Additionally, she has been a racing analyst at Colonial Downs Racetrack and Sam Houston and most recently worked as the Director of Communications for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jessica to the Parx family,” said Joe Wilson, Chief Operating Officer for Parx Racing. “The high regard with which she is held in our industry along with a tremendous work ethic makes her the perfect person to usher in this new era for Parx.”

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