Suffolk’s Paquette calls race in tornado, no prob
When a tornado touched down in Revere, Mass. last week Suffolk Downs’ Jessica Paquette wasn’t running for cover. Instead, the intrepid senior director of communications at the track was standing at the highest point of the racetrack, announcing the first race of the day. After track announcer T.D. Thornton got stuck in traffic as trees crashed down and rooftops flew off houses during the surprise weather system, Paquette was asked to wear one more hat, one of the many she dons for her favorite job. In addition to her communications director gig, she is also a handicapper and race analyst […]
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Sandsablaze book: A little TB with a huge heart
Equine author and equestrian Kimberly Gatto has written the Seabiscuit story of the show jumping world! In her new book Sandsablaze: Grand Prix Greatness from Harrisburg to the Olympics, Gatto follows the journey of a little Thoroughbred with tremendous heart, one who took his rider Buddy Brown to unimaginable heights, up and over a 7’ 1” wall in a 1975 puissance (high jumping) class in Toronto. In this tour de force for Gatto, the author of well-known grief reference Beyond the Rainbow Bridge, which offers stories coping with the loss of a horse, Gatto shifts into high gear to keep up […]
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How Valerie Ashker finds 4-star T-breds
In three minutes, Valerie Ashker can tell if a Thoroughbred on a racetrack backside is bold enough to become a four-star sport horse. “When you’re picking a horse out for someone, it’s that first impression that’s so critical, but it’s hard to explain,” says Ashker, proprietor of Crow’s Ear Farm in California, mother of top eventer Lainey Ashker, and Thoroughbred talent scout. “You have to look for a horse that wants to do the Super Bowl. I ask myself when I see a horse, ‘is there a keenness, is the head up and does he look like he’s the cock […]
