On the Rise: Courtney Reid

A job for 3 summers on the Virginia Racing Fee whereas Courtney Reid was nonetheless a pupil at James Madison College launched her to the world of horse racing, one thing she knew little about apart from watching the Kentucky Derby (G1) on TV. However Reid, who graduated from school in 2012 with a level in science and psychology and later obtained a masters in public well being from Liberty College, was so drawn in by horse racing she pursued it as her profession of alternative.

After a number of positions within the business, Reid, 34, started working full time for the Breeders’ Cup in 2019 and immediately serves because the group’s senior director of racing & business relations below Dora Delgado, the manager vice chairman & chief racing officer. 

Reid was interviewed Oct. 16, and her solutions are edited for readability and area.

BloodHorse: How have been you launched to horse racing?

Courtney Reid: I grew up in Williamsburg, Va., which is about 25 minutes from Colonial Downs, and through my school summers, I labored for the Virginia Racing Fee doing licensing at Colonial for his or her summer season flat meet. Actually, I did not know a lot about racing on the time, however I picked up increasingly more every summer season. After which from there I used to be in graduate college and I labored for (the fee) full time. Ultimately, I went to work for the Nationwide Steeplechase Affiliation. My journey continued once I labored at Saratoga every summer season with the jumpers and I additionally was in a position to work within the (New York Racing Affiliation) racing workplace concurrently. That’s the place I met Dora (Delgado) and I informed her I’d love to come back work for the Breeders’ Cup someday. She invited me to assist on the occasion for 2 years in a row (2017, 2018), and when a place opened up on the racing workforce, I jumped on the likelihood and right here we’re.

BH: When do you know that you just wished to pursue racing as a profession?

CR: I believe it was once I went to work for the Nationwide Steeplechase Affiliation and I used to be in a position to spend these summers in Saratoga the place I used to be uncovered extra closely to the flat racing aspect. That pulled me in; getting to fulfill all these stars and attending to know the house owners, trainers, and jockeys, and see all of the unimaginable athletes, up shut and private. I additionally obtained to journey to different racetracks with the NSA—Monmouth Park, Suffolk Downs, Parx, and the precise steeplechase meets, up and down the East Coast. I obtained to journey lots and meet totally different and fascinating folks. That is once I fell in love with it.

BH: What are a few of your duties on the Breeders’ Cup?

CR: Clearly, I contact on a variety of areas. I handle the Breeders’ Cup Problem Collection and the Filth Dozen Bonus Collection, our two predominant racing applications. Inside that, I attend races year-round, not just for these applications but in addition to recruit high horses from world wide for the World Championships. 

I additionally deal with the communications with members, the house owners and trainers that we’re recruiting and are doable starters for the Breeders’ Cup, ensuring they keep updated on guidelines, security protocols, and different basic updates for the World Championships. 

I work carefully with our veterinary workforce to handle messaging round horse welfare and security. This 12 months we launched a brand new complete veterinary information together with a sequence of movies which I used to be actively concerned with growing.

After which, on high of that, I handle entries, (compile) correct monitor information for the monitor applications, and ensure every proprietor’s silks are listed accurately in this system and on NBC.

After the occasion, I curate the commemorative coffee-table books that we ship to our members as keepsakes.   

BH: What are your feelings when the Breeders’ Cup lastly arrives after working towards all of it 12 months lengthy?

CR: Oh gosh, it is intense. We work 24/7; it is a full-court press. Pre-entries (two Mondays earlier than the occasion) and entries the Monday of (Breeders’ Cup week). We solely have 32 full-time workers, so we depend on a variety of part-time assist to get all of it achieved, everybody is mostly a well-oiled machine, and we placed on one of many world’s premier sporting occasions. 

Our racing division could be very small, however a extremely efficient workforce of simply 4 folks. Everybody on our workers performs a vital function, and the fervour and power inside our workforce is simply unimaginable and it is wonderful to be a part of one thing so particular. 

BH: What’s it wish to work for Delgado, probably the most outstanding ladies serving in an business function?

CR: Dora has been an unimaginable mentor to me and our total workforce. It is me and Dora, Erin (McLaughlin) and Josh (Christian) working within the racing division. Dora has been with the Breeders’ Cup since its inception and is an incredible chief within the business. She conjures up our workforce to all the time goal for excellence, and has definitely supplied me with invaluable recommendation that has helped form my skilled progress. 

BH: Does one Breeders’ Cup stand out as bringing you specific pleasure?

CR: Certainly one of my most memorable experiences was when Allow gained the Turf at Churchill Downs in 2018. There was a variety of buzz for her coming to the Breeders’ Cup that 12 months. Though I wasn’t full-time but with the Breeders’ Cup, I used to be nonetheless a part of the workforce. Allow had gained the Arc, so it was actually, actually particular for her to come back run within the Breeders’ Cup. I work within the winner’s circle with Dora on race day and watched Allow are available there and Frankie (Dettori) doing his flying dismount. That was simply magic; I’ll always remember that second.

BH: What are you trying ahead to at this 12 months’s Breeders’ Cup?

CR: It is thrilling to have (members) coming in from everywhere in the world, and this 12 months’s Basic is shaping as much as be probably the most worldwide editions but, it is filled with a lot expertise … Metropolis of Troy is coming and horses from Japan. That international aptitude is what actually makes the Breeders’ Cup so particular. I am additionally trying ahead to Future Stars Friday. It is a enjoyable card watching all of the gifted 2-year-olds compete, giving us a glimpse of the way forward for our sport.

We have put a variety of effort this 12 months on the on-track expertise for our followers and members. It is going to be thrilling to see how that every one unfolds as folks get pleasure from the brand new vibe that we have got going—totally different elevated (expertise) areas all through the racetrack that folks should stay up for. We now have a Michelin star chef, Curtis Stone, coming again, and all our culinary experiences. We have additionally ramped up our concierge program for our race members to offer them a very nice expertise, from pre-entries to race day, to ensure they’re effectively taken care of. 

We’re again at Del Mar subsequent 12 months, however we plan to offer folks two totally different experiences from this 12 months to subsequent.