Women in Racing: In Their Own Words

by John McEvoy, Julia McEvoy

Overview

Women currently occupy a wide variety of extremely significant roles in Thoroughbred racing. Their presence and influence are apparent in every aspect of the sport, which is remarkable when one recalls that hardly more than a generation ago racing was still—as it had been for centuries—almost completely dominated by men. Where did these women come from? What prompted them to penetrate this male bastion and seek such vocations as jockey, trainer, owner-breeder, television commentator, veterinarian, photographer, track official, clocker, chart caller, pari-mutuel clerk, and groom?

In Women in Racing, John and Julia McEvoyprovided the answers by interviewing eighteen women whose backgrounds ranged all over the socio-economic spectrum, from the landed gentry to former migrant worker, with a rich layer of twenty-first century Americana in between. Donna Barton Brothers, Barbara D. Livingston, Zoe Cadman, and others tell their stories and affirm that they were driven by a shared passion: a love of horses and Thoroughbred racing. This updated edition includes an interview with horse-racing pioneer Diane Crump, the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493069644
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Edition description:	Updated Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 8.71(h) x 0.65(d)

About the Author

John McEvoy (1936–2019) was a former newspaper reporter and college English teacher who subsequently served as Midwest editor, then senior writer for DailyRacing Form. He authored Great Horse Racing Mysteries: True Tales from The Track, published in 2000 and updated by Lenny Shulman in 2022, as well as a profile of the iconic racehorse Roundtable. McEvoy also wrote the1995 book Through the Pages of Daily Racing Form, a historical overview of American Thoroughbred racing based on material that had appeared in that newspaper’s first one hundred years.

Julia McEvoy is Senior Editor, Education and Equity at KQED in San Francisco. In her career in public radio, McEvoy has produced and edited award-winning documentaries and won the 1991 Eclipse Award for Best Radio Coverage of Thoroughbred Racing. Her stories have aired on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition, as well as Marketplace and Latino USA. Formerly, McEvoy was director of television at Arlington Park and a publicist at Gulfstream Park racetrack in Florida.

Table of Contents

Introduction 5

1 Linda Rick

Not Afraid of Hard Work 9

2 Patti (Barton) Browne & Donna Barton Brothers

Pioneering Spirits 33

3 Charlsie Cantey

Network Natural 59

4 Jenine Sahadi

Against the Odds 79

5 Alice Chandler

In Her Father's Image

6 Francesca (Maria) Rabadan

Spit and Polish 110

7 Barbara D. Livingston

Passionate Vision 121

8 Mary Scollay

Speaking Their Language 135

9 Christine Janks

The Nonconformist 152

10 Jane Goldstein

Premier Publicist 169

11 Christine Salvino

The Soprano in the Paddock 181

12 Donna Porter

Traveling Team 194

13 Sheryl Stefanowicz

Nine Stories a Day 208

14 Zoe Cadman

Bold and Determined 222

15 Maryjean Wall

The Write Stuff 237

16 Dot Sibille

The Relationship 255

17 Charlene Burkhardt

Tattoo Artist 268

18 Diane Crump

"When You Love Something, You Do It" 286

Acknowledgments 301

About the Authors 302

Photo Credits 303

Editorial Reviews

No one who has seen it will ever forget the sight of horses coming through the morning mist a sight the women interviewed here list as one of the perks of their early-rising jobs. John McEvoy (Great Horseracing Mysteries: True Tales from the Track) is a former writer/editor with the Daily Racing Form, while daughter Julia, an independent writer and producer, has won the Eclipse Award for Best Radio Coverage of Thoroughbred Racing. Their book provides interviews with a wide range of women, from landed gentry to migrant workers. In addition to the voices of women jockeys, grooms, trainers, and veterinarians, we hear from women clockers, chart callers, and pari-mutuel clerks whose jobs are little known outside the racing business. Though their perspectives vary, these women all share a love of horses and a belief in hard work. Readers who liked Scooter Toby Davidson and Valerie Anthony's Great Women in the Sport of Kings: America's Top Women Jockeys Tell Their Stories (LJ 4/1/99) and Joe Drape's The Race for the Triple Crown (LJ 4/15/01) will like this book. Highly recommended for collections in horse racing, women's studies, and vocations. Patsy E. Gray, Huntsville P.L., AL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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