Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, September 30, 2023

17

 
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Mountain Views-News Saturday, September 30, 2023 

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SANTA ANITA RACE 
TRACK HOSTS 2023 
HORSE RACING 
WOMEN’S SUMMIT 

Advances Racing By Empowering 
Women 

 

Arcadia, CA - After 364 days and stops in 
Kentucky, Arizona, Florida and New York, 
the Horse Racing Women’s Summit (HRWS) 
returned to Santa Anita Park on September 
29th. Over 150 women from 13 states and 
Canada gathered for the second Horse Racing 
Women’s Summit.

 

“What a difference a year makes,” said 
HRWS Chairwoman, Stephanie Hronis. “We 
can’t thank our community enough for their 
participation and investment in the Horse 
Racing Women’s Summit movement. One of 
the things that we are most proud of is that 
over 10% of our attendees this year are here 
because of Pay It Forward scholarship tickets. 
Those are made possible by our generous 
sponsors and individuals who want to 
be sure that this event is accessible to all. We 
look forward to growing that percentage in 
the future.” Generous support from 1/ST and 
FANDUEL TV led a total of 31 sponsors that 
made the extraordinary event possible. 

 

First to the stage was keynote Reagan Cannon, 
International Leadership Speaker and 
Coach, who discussed Conquering the Competence 
Complex. Cannon explained that 
when little girls are told to “be good, stay 
within the lines, follow the rules, don’t speak 
out of turn,” it follows them throughout their 
careers. Fighting that “be good” mentality 
takes relational courage, moving forward in 
the face of fears. She gave practical tips and 
techniques on how to develop relational 
courage and ultimately battle the competence 
complex that holds many women back. 

 

Kicking off the first panel, attendees enjoyed 
an inspiring video message from Keeneland 
President & CEO, Shannon Arvin. Arvin recognized 
the many challenges in the industry, 
but emphasized that “These challenges represent 
opportunities for racing, we just have 
to be smart, and creative, and work together 
to take advantage of the opportunities.” The 
panel, moderated by Millie Ball (XBTV & 1/
ST RACING), dove into current events and 
how “business as usual” is being challenged 
in so many facets of the sport. Panelists 
Britney Eurton (NBC & FanDuel), Joi Garner 
(NYRA), Lisa Lazarus (HISA) and Dr. 
Casille Batten (1/ST RACING) were realistic 
about the state of the industry, many identifying 
this year as a tipping point, but also 
aligned on themes of optimism and opportunity, 
progress, adaptability and efforts to 
invigorate interest from the next generation. 
Asked about the current challenges to HISA, 
Lazarus said that she is always listening and 
reacting when somebody makes a compelling 
point stating, “We don’t always get it right, 
but we care and we are trying to get it right - 
there is a freshness to that.” 

 

Following panel one, ground-breaking turf 
publicist Jane Goldstein took the stage to 
award Charlsie Cantey with the 2023 Jane 
Goldstein Award for Exemplary Leadership. 
Cantey’s impact on the careers of the many 
female horse racing television commentators 
was demonstrated in a tribute video. Cantey 
recognized the impact of Goldstein herself 
stating, “Jane put her shoulder to the door 
and opened it for all of us to walk through.” 
In her final comments, Cantey compelled 
summit attendees to keep on going - “You 
have your work cut out for you, but we are all 
here for the love of the horse and the love of 
racing. Please carry on.”

 

Thursday's lunch featured a presentation 
by Debbie Marshall, PNC’s SVP and Client 
& Community Relations Director, who 
gave impactful opening remarks at the 2022 
HRWS related to the worldwide economic 
gender gap. Marshall revisited the topic noting 
that the years projected to close that gap 
have come down from 257 to 169 years, which 
is still too long. She explained that the three 
major drivers are women being underrepresented 
in the workforce, women still having 
unequal access to credit, and the nature of 
unpaid domestic work. 

 

Moderator Michelle Yu kicked off the second 
panel which featured veterans Amy Zimmerman 
(Santa Anita Park), Ann Hall (Del Mar 
Thoroughbred Club) and relative newcomers 
Jessica Paquette (Parx Racing) and Claudia 
Spadoro (Hipica TV & Gulfstream Park). 
All commented on the role that social media 
plays in the industry, both positive and negative, 
referring back to Shannon Arvin’s comment 
that, “Social media gives an unearned 
voice to anybody with a cell phone.” Questioned 
about how she handles negative feedback 
on social media, Paquette stated that 
she is now good at “choosing grace and not 
striking back.” For final words of wisdom, 
she emphasized that “A rising tide raises all 
ships - clap for your friends and recognize 
who doesn’t clap for you.” Spadaro, originally 
from Venezuela, was in school for broadcast 
journalism when she had an opportunity 
to do an internship at Gulfstream Park. It 
is there that she identified a target audience 
with room for growth and her passion led to 
Hipica TV, which is now the biggest Spanish 
language horse racing channel. Zimmerman 
said, “I don’t care if you are a man, a woman, 
or a billy goat - if you are smart - I want to 
work with you.” Hall imparted, “It is about 
building relationships, supporting your team, 
getting support, and even supporting those 
above you.” Claudia said, “It is not a competition, 
it's an alliance - together we go further.”

 

Christina Blacker moderated the final panel, 
entitled Looking Forward, and featured 
Karen Chavez (NY Race Track Chaplaincy), 
Annise Montplaisir (Amplify Horse Racing), 
Chanel Minnifield (Let’s Ride & Zen Heart), 
Catherine Iste (Los Angeles Chargers). The 
conversation centered on education, inclusion, 
and entry points to racing, something 
that Montplaisir is singularly focused on with 
Amplify Horse Racing. She stated, “The ten-
year goal for Amplify is to have nationwide 
educational outreach programs serving a 
continuum of youth and young adults.” Iste 
emphasized that moving people up the ladder 
in an organization is key, stating that 
“Sometimes you need to find an interim spot 
for somebody to keep them moving up until 
their next spot opens.” Minnifield spoke to 
representation and inclusion for people and 
horses and urged the group to recognize that 
representation is important and that people 
need to see themselves in positions in order 
to be able to dream about being there themselves. 
Continuing on inclusion, Chavez said, 
“The backstretch community is the backbone 
of the industry,” and urged the group to work 
on including more backstretch representation 
at events such as this. In closing, Blacker encouraged 
the group to dive in, sharing what 
she tells her three daughters: “Being ready is 
not a feeling, it is a choice - you choose to be 
ready.”

 

On Friday morning, over 50 HRWS attendees 
gathered again for an opportunity to 
have roundtable discussions with the goal 
of identifying a 2024 ‘Pillar of Priority’ that 
will guide the HRWS efforts in the next year. 
Collective think tanks, attendee surveys, and 
a brand new membership platform are all 
key ways the HRWS is already empowering 
individuals in racing to contribute to the advancement 
of women in the industry.

About Horse Racing Women’s Summit 

Founded in 2022, the Horse Racing Women’s 
Summit (HRWS) has grown into a movement 
gathering national attention. The inaugural 
multi-day summit at Santa Anita Park and 
subsequent events brought together people 
from all facets of the horse racing industry 
with the mission of connecting and empowering 
women in horse racing. We look forward to 
continuing to inspire Summit members to be 
trailblazers, build networks, meet new friends, 
foster deep discussions, and ultimately Engage, 
Innovate and Invest!


Martha Miller, 80+, was one of the 
summit's more mature attendees. "I 
knew how to read a racing form before 
I could read mu 1st grade reader". 

S. Henderson/MVN

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