Under The Lights with Ash and Roy
Under the Lights Podcast with Ash & Roy brings you straight into the stories of the Western world’s toughest and most talented — legendary horsemen, elite rodeo athletes, and powerhouse musicians.
No fluff. No filters. Just real conversations about the grit, setbacks, and breakthroughs that built these icons. Ash & Roy take you behind the scenes and under the lights to hear what it really took to get there.
If you live the Western lifestyle — or just respect the grind — this one’s for you.
Kick back, crack a cold one, and enjoy the show.
Under The Lights with Ash and Roy
Jessica Otten - Season 1 Episode 8
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Jessica Otten is one of the rising voices in harness racing media—a broadcaster, journalist, and marketing professional with deep roots in the sport as a third-generation horseman from Michigan. From her early days promoting racing on social media to becoming a familiar face on major broadcasts on Fox Sports, The Meadowlands, The Red Mile, Hoosier Park, and beyond, Jessica has built a reputation for her authenticity, energy, and knowledge of the game.
Welcome to Under the Life Podcast with Ashton Roy to bring you straight into the story of the Western world's toughest and most talented, legendary horsemen, police rodeo athletes, and powerhouse music. No fluff, no filters, just real conversations about the grip, the setbacks, and the breakthroughs that build these icons. Ashton Roy took you behind the scenes, under the lights, to hear what it really took to get there. If you live the Western lifestyle, or just respect the grind, this one for you. Kickback. Crack a cold one and enjoy the show.
SPEAKER_02Hey everyone, welcome to Under the Lights with Ash and Roy. I'm one of your hosts, Ashley Petrick, here with Roy Gingis, my favorite co-host. How are you, Roy?
SPEAKER_00Doing good. Excited for this episode.
SPEAKER_02This is a good episode because we're bringing in the young guns. Welcome to Under the Lights, Jess. How are you? I'm good. How are you guys? We're good. We're good. Um, this is kind of interesting because I feel like the tables have turned a little bit because I am not a broadcaster. But I am in Roy and I are amateur broadcasters, so we had to like reach out for the professional broadcaster to bring you on.
SPEAKER_04Well, I don't if you go into my DMs, I don't know if anybody would think I was a professional broadcaster. Um, but I have listened to every episode that you guys have put out, and I'm really enjoying them.
SPEAKER_02Oh, thank you. Um, just for those who may not be involved with harness racing, Jessica Ann is one of the rising voices of Harness Racing Media. She's a broadcaster, a journalist, a marketer, and her roots run deep in harness racing as a third-generation horseman. She is promoted on almost every platform social has available, including Fox and CBS Sports. So we're so excited because you have built your reputation with authenticity, energy, and your really your knowledge of the game through deep, deep roots. So thank you for what you're doing. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04Well, I guess uh um it's just something I've always loved. You know, people always say, um, you know, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. And sometimes I'm exhausted by the end of the day. But I I love what I do, whether I'm in the barn, whether I'm on the road, in front of the camera, behind the camera, helping put on event. I just truly love all aspects of it.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Well, we're gonna start first. Take us all the way back to Michigan growing up as a kid.
SPEAKER_04Oh gosh. Well, like you mentioned, I was a third generation uh horseman. So I was basically born in the barn. Um, born with a pitchfork in my hand. Uh, my dad really made me learn like from the ground up. Like I had to learn how to clean a water bucket before I could clean a stall, before I could brush a horse, get one ready, and then you know, obviously, so on and so forth. So I spent a majority of my younger years in the barn, and Michigan is really known for all of their fare racing, so it's like a fair colt steak circuit. And I spent all my summers on the road with my dad in the truck and trailer, and I fell in love with it, obviously. And one thing kind of just led to another. And I was one day I was in the barn, and the next day I was on TV. So you really never know uh what's gonna pop up next. But um I started working for my dad around the age of 10. You could get a groom's license in Ontario at 10. I'd go to the track and pat off horses and um and other jurisdictions owner that young to be able to go and take care of horses. So uh my dad put me and my sister on a couple of horses, and I guess the rest is like just history.
SPEAKER_02I've never gotten away from it. When you were in the barn working through school, did you ever have a dream of being a broadcaster or promoter of this sport?
SPEAKER_04Well, when I first got out of high school, I said to myself, I didn't really want to be fully involved with harness racing. I wanted like a separate job. I was always like, Oh, I wonder what it'd be like to come home from work and not have to work type of thing. And so I actually started a degree at Mock Community College for criminal justice, computer fraud, and I was taking classes in that, um, which a lot of people don't even know that. And um I went to the Meadowlands in 2016 for the Breeders' Crown, um, with post time with Mike and Mike, and they asked me to come and do some stuff with them, and I did, and it was after I was doing Facebook Lives for Northville Downs, it was like when Facebook Live like was first a thing. I took people like a night at the races with one of my horses, and it was from start to finish, and it got a lot of views and a lot of hits, and we continue to do it. Um, but after I visited the Meadowlands in 2016, um I came back to school. It was the middle of the first semester, and I finished out that semester and I changed my degree to marketing the very next day. Yeah, you just that was your calling.
SPEAKER_06It was it, it was like you really can this is you can really be like Hannah Montana, you can have the best of both worlds. I get to work with the horses and I get to market the sport. So sometimes I feel like I'm Hannah Montana.
SPEAKER_00So so I got a question for you. So you grew up in Michigan. I grew up in Pennsylvania, so I I wasn't that far from the Meadowlands. Uh, when I was a kid, I grew up ricing at uh Rosecross. And back then we had like Cam's card shark came there, like all the big horses. We had big races, so it wasn't that far. Now, Michigan, your little distance from big races. Like, did you ever like did your dad ever take you to the big races or you or how how did that well not really?
SPEAKER_04And this this sounds bad, but like I was so young that none of it was really like a thing to me, you know. Like I was just basically going around to the fairs, but I honestly never really paid attention to any of the big, you know, the big wigs or the big stakes races until I was probably like 14 or 15 years old. Then I like learned what they all were about. Um ironically enough, my dad's actually really good friends with Greg McNair. So we've kind of sent horses back and forth to each other. So I always kind of knew what was going on in Canada, like the big races, the North America Cup and stuff like that, because of Greg and Dougie. But um, Hazel Park used to have like a couple of big steak nights, but I was so young that it was all kind of irrelevant to me, I guess you could say, because I didn't really know what was going on.
SPEAKER_02And was it just like impactful?
SPEAKER_04Right. Like I had no idea what was even happening.
SPEAKER_00Like I was yeah, I I remember uh Arts Place is actually one of the greats that hidden park. You're probably too young, so yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, maybe just a little bit.
SPEAKER_02When when you're one of the things that have has always marveled me, you do very, very well, is kind of what you said in the beginning, where like when you're younger and you're racing county fairs or racing specific racetracks, that's the center pinnacle of your world. It's the lingo, it's the jargon. And what you've done extremely well that blows me away, is you can broadcast and speak of racetracks now from all over the country. And that is a very difficult thing to do when you're not immersed in certain racetracks. It's almost like we see some higher-end rodeo announcers, some of them they just know their people and they really don't know outside of the people, which is totally okay. But you've taken that to a whole nother level. Do you spend a lot of time studying other tracks, or do you think it's mostly immersion?
SPEAKER_04Well, I was really fortunate because at a short time there, I I uh my dad was down on horses. So in the summertime of 2017 or 2016, 17, and 18, I moved to Indiana to work. Uh, I worked for Trent Stoller for a summer, and then in two other summers, I worked for uh Peter and Melanie Wren. So when all of like the bigger guys would come there, um, I kind of would introduce myself and just kind of you know pay attention to what was going on because there was always stake races at Hoosier. And I spent a lot of time in Ohio. So I feel like before I even moved east and experienced that, I knew who all of these people were. And I was really fortunate when I did move east that uh everybody was so welcoming. The horsemen were great, and there's a lot of people that come from the Midwest that went there, so I didn't feel like I was completely unknown, I guess. Because as you know, like it's a different culture, it doesn't matter if you're in the horse racing world or not. The East Coast is so different from what I was used to and growing up too. So um, I spend a lot of time watching stupid amount of races, like it's what's my favorite show, RTN. Like, that's my favorite channel, unfortunately. Um but I just I just enjoy it. So I feel like when you enjoy something, it's not really working or studying. It's you you basically just pick up what you're watching and you just go from there. Like I have to write down everything I do to remember it, but like stuff about the horses, like if I just see it on a TV, I'm like, oh, I gotta remember to watch that horse next week or something along the lines of that. So I do study a lot, especially when we go on like uh Fox. Obviously, you don't want to bearish yourself on national TV, but some of it just comes natural because you just watch them all the time. Like I watch all the races at Northfield. Uh, I've been going to Hoosier a couple weekends, so I watch a lot of races at Hoosier. My boyfriend races over at the meadows, so I watch the meadows and watch Mohawk on my nights off and Meadowlands on the weekend.
SPEAKER_06So, I mean, there's always some sort of racing going on.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what amazes me, and I always watch you and Dave Little, right? I that was a different dynamic. Like sometimes uh watching the broadcast, like you two it seems sometimes, it seems like you two are like butt heads, like a little banner back and forth, but it was a great dynamic. But what amazes me with what you do, and like say Gabe and Dave and all y'all are never at a loss for words. I would be like, uh, yeah. I mean, is that something natural or you have to learn that?
SPEAKER_04Well, when I first started hosting the show at the Meadowlands, I would come on like maybe once enough once a month. Dave Brower would always make me go on there and I would curse him every single time because I felt like I had to write out everything I wanted to say. And then when I kind of was like thrown into the position of taking over his position when he passed away, I started to write everything out, and then I realized I don't have no time to do this. Like I better just remember what I want to say. Um, I do like to say that I'm a professional BSer sometimes, but I mean, all of it is true. Like, I know what I'm talking about, but sometimes you do have to like drag it on. Um, but Dave Little and I had such good chemistry because he saw things from the gambling aspect of it where he forgets a lot of times that horses aren't machines that you gotta remember. So that's kind of when I would reel them back into the horseman side of it. Like Gabe and I, I feel like have been such a dynamic duo and partnership over the course of the last three or four years by doing Fox because he really enjoys the gambling part. And I mean, of course, I like to throw a couple bucks on a horse once in a while, but I reel him back in with equipment changes, shoeing, um, you know, talking to the trainers about how the horse's weeks were because I think that makes a really good balance for our shows.
SPEAKER_00It does, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It totally does. And one of the things I think that um has set you apart is that you're a horseman first and a broadcaster second. And I mean, for all the broadcasters out there, doesn't mean that it makes you a better handicap or anything like that, but it's a perspective that I think has been lost for quite a few years. And you did a really good job like bringing that back. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, sometimes I have to remember that people don't always care about that kind of stuff, and I do have to pay attention to like the gambling side of things. What I think Dave and Gabe both have helped me. Like before I started working with Dave Little, I would have never really paid a whole lot of attention to how much money horses were taking, you know, stuff like that, like in previous starts. Like that's not something I always looked at. Now, when I look at a program, it is something I pay attention to. See how much money they took at a certain racetrack or a certain type of class, which I'm sure we'll get into a little later. But um, they've taught me a lot of it too, obviously. Um, because like I'm not a big gambler. I like to like to enjoy races and watch them, and they've helped me kind of you know look at races a different way. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Tactical and like strategic, right, right.
SPEAKER_04Numbers basically, where I'm out there looking to see how much pace did that horse finish up the mile with because that's not what the program tells you. Like that it tells you nothing about that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like last quarter was 27 and 3, but he was locked on the rail and he had nowhere to go.
SPEAKER_04Right. I always had to remind Dave Little that just because it's a fast lax quarter doesn't mean they're always pacing forward these days. You got to go back and watch. Sometimes they're going backwards in 26 and 2, like, but we were a really good balance, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I like that uh sit at home and you chuckle a little bit back and forth. Yeah, this is Dave Brouwer, and and I'll say this right now. Uh Dave, uh, for people that don't know, he would write the handicapping uh comments on each horse. Dave Brouwer is probably the most brilliant handicapper, or like he watched every single horse, he was absolutely brilliant. So you bring up, and I just have to say that I miss Dave, and uh many of us do.
SPEAKER_04And best he would always write down comments in the program after the race, like every like on the actual race of the horse racing, and it's kind of something I picked up on. Um, like when I was working full time uh at the meta lands, like I would write trip notes and go back, keep that program, bring it back the next week and see who I could find for like a best bet or a sneaky price play um or something like that, because he was always watching literally everything that was going on on the track.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, it's like like a utilized tool because you never did go to school to learn how to broadcast, correct?
SPEAKER_04No, I took a couple of I took one class that helped with public speaking. Um, we I had to do a radio uh commercial and we had to do like a bunch of like skit acting. Um, but other than that, no. Uh I took some public speaking classes in high school through FFA um that I talked about horse racing in, but I never had a coach per se or any other classes on camera etiquette or um anything like that.
SPEAKER_02No. Oh my that's crazy. Um, you spend a lot of time behind the camera, and we're kind of dying to know is there any like stories that like maybe you could share that maybe were like a little embarrassing or just funny things that people would never know happened.
SPEAKER_04Well, a couple of times, um, like you know when a graphic's supposed to be over your face, so like you just like kind of turn your TV face off and like whatever. I've done that a couple of times and it's popped up, and I'm like um, but the one funny thing is, and a lot of people do know it because I actually didn't even know it. We were at the Breeders Crown last year in Mohawk, and they were using the winner's circle interviews for Fox, like the walk back. Um, we were they were using them for Fox and in-house, and it was a dead heat. It was a three-year-old Philly Pace and it was like waiting and waiting and waiting. Well, live TV is a little delayed, and I wasn't able to like talk to Gabe and Jenna, who are sitting at the desk. I'm talking to Fox in my dead mic through my IV in my mic. Well, I thought Fox was unmuting my mic for in-house and fox. No, that wasn't the case.
SPEAKER_06Mohawk unmuted my mic and Fox unmuted my mic, and Gabe is just a chit-chatting away.
SPEAKER_04And I said, Would someone tell Gabe to shut up and throw it to me?
SPEAKER_06This is going over all of Mohawk's feed. My phone went nuts. I'm like, You're getting me. And then everybody, so I typed Gabe, I'm so sorry. He's like, What? I said, I may or may not have told you to shut up. So uh that was I felt so bad after that. And then I was like, Well, he kind of deserved it, even shut up. So we joke about it. I mean, I guess that'd be uh not really embarrassing, maybe a little bit, but definitely definitely uh funny.
SPEAKER_02That is so and if you know babe and your personalities, that's just kind of funny. But I could see where like the public would have been like mortified, right? Right.
SPEAKER_04Um, he was announcing at Northfield uh like a month or so ago, and I posted the video on uh Facebook where I was waving to him from the winner circle, and I was so prepared for him to say something back like someone tell Jessica to stop doing that or something like he didn't, but I was so prepared for it.
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh, I love it.
SPEAKER_00So obviously, you've been doing this longer than your sister. So does your sister ever come to you and say, Hey, uh, what do I need to work on? Give me some advice because she she's doing a great job.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, she uh honestly. So my sister actually graduated with a bachelor's degree in sports psychology. So when she the year she graduated, literally like two weeks later, they called her from Soyota and asked her if she wanted to be like an on-air commentator because they asked me if she would be, and I was like, I don't think so, but here's her number you can you could try. And I mean, she has excelled at every single level. She's one of those people that when she puts her mind to something, she is excuse me, she's not giving up. And I mean, if you've met her, I don't know if you've met her, Roy, but I don't met her.
SPEAKER_06She is hard-headed, she's sassy, and she is not giving up. Oh, I always say I'm the nicest her because she will literally tell you how it is.
SPEAKER_04She tells Timmy teacher he drove bad, she does not care.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, she does not care. She got a smart ass side to her.
SPEAKER_04She does. She is a smart ass. Yes, but um here for she doesn't necessarily come to me for advice. Um, we kind of talk things out. We work really good together as a team when it when it comes to stuff like that. We work really good together as a team.
SPEAKER_02She is an absolute Jenna is an absolute palette. I love being around her. I feel like she embodies the Midwestern soul of like zero flying F's to give. Like, and I just love that she eats all the boys up and they love it. Like they they absolutely love it. Like, if you know Jenna, you love Jenna. But I could see her like wearing some wearing some folks down out there.
SPEAKER_04She gives you a run for her money, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So we we see your personalities are very, very different. But you know what blows me away is both of you girls are very structured in what you do. If you do something, you do it very, very well. That has to attribute a lot. I mean, obviously, to your mom, who's lovely that I've had to meet, gotten to meet a few times. Do you think that is attributed to just being a horseman?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I do because um, like I said, uh my dad made me learn how to clean a water bucket before I could properly clean a stall. And if you still asking to this day, I don't know how to clean a stall, and I'm almost 30. So um, I but I think work ethic is something that is not embedded in the children's brains, the younger generation anymore. And I'm feeling we're very fortunate that both of our parents, you know, we had chores to do, we had to take care of the farm, we had the barn to clean up, we had the track to drag, to grade, the garden to pick, the love, the lawn to mow before we could do anything else. So um, when we get told to do something or we have a task to be put on hand, I might procrastinate it, but it gets done and it gets time to add a it gets done to my full and best ability. Um, but I think that's something our parents really strive for for when we were younger was our work ethic, don't be lazy. And if you're gonna do something, don't half-ass do it, do it with everything you got.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You you mentioned earlier that you had made the big move from the Midwest to the East Coast and how different that is. Um how did you you went from a big family unit to kind of on your own? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_04Well, I always thought I wanted to like just have a change. Uh I had moved to Indiana, like I mentioned, a couple of times, and I was like, this this could be. This could be cool, but I was such a family person. Like, we always had family dinners, whether it was, you know, my grandma and grandpa or my cousins. Um, and then I moved out east, and like the first three months, I was like, This is awful. I have no friends, I don't want to be here. Somebody moved me back home. I was like stuck. I was like, Well, I gotta stick out for at least a year. Like, I signed a lease. Um, and then I started to really meet people and um become friends with a lot of people. And weirdly enough, like it was right before uh right before COVID when I moved out there. So then I got to go home during COVID. And when I came back, is when I became like better friends with people, Ashley and Timmy, uh Nifty Norman and his wife, and their daughter Stephanie, and you know, uh the McDermott's. Like I became really good friends with the McDermott's and the Skinners. So after COVID, I realized that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Um, but it was definitely a culture shock. Like I come from a town where if I was stuck in traffic, it was because there's a tractor on the road, not because there was eight lanes one way at the standstill on the turnbike. Um, but it was something I think that was really good for me. And I feel like I'm glad I did it then because if I didn't do it at the age of 21, I was never gonna, I was never gonna do it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, I believe I girl, I'm with you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, East Coast is a different beast for sure. So so you've done that. So how how's the transition been to to going back to racing horses?
SPEAKER_04It's been fun, it's it's um, it was good for my soul. I felt like I was getting a little bit burnt out. Um, you know, there's a a lot of responsibility I had with my title, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world. But it's nice to be close to home. Like I've got three little cousins that are growing up. Um, they're one, five, and eight. I've got, you know, very good family friends of mine that I've grown up with that have kids that are growing up, and I'm close to them too. And I always said, like, the horse always comes first, in my app in my opinion. And I've owned horses over the last several years uh with my dad and stuff, but to be back in the barn, it's like a breath of fresh air. I I still get very uh nervous and anxious when the horses are right because I put a lot of work in, like I care. I feel like that's something that shows that I care, like I want there to be a good outcome. And this is the first year where I've had horses um for other people, not just horses I own. So I want to make sure that I'm doing my best of my of my ability so that their horse is feeling as close to or 100% every time they step on the track. And I'm lucky I have a good owner, so that makes everything easier too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that helps. I uh I went back uh last week uh to Kentucky, uh to my brother. Yeah, Oak Grove, and he's got a he's got a uh place there. And uh so I got to I I I can say like maybe you can't relate, but I don't miss going to the barn every day. I don't miss jogging 10, 12, 15 horses a day, right? But it's nice to go back and visit and jog a couple, right? And uh I do watch every race, I I watch every race he races, and I watch all the big races, so uh it's kind of nice to sit back here in Texas and and watch on my screen go visit. Uh but that everyday grind I don't miss.
SPEAKER_04No, see, I I didn't know if I would miss like getting up every day and going, but it is nice because I'm basically my own boss. I can show up at nine or six thirty, which is very rarely, but nine, nine thirty. And I've got a couple guys that help me out, and it's um it's nice. Sometimes when I'm not there, I'm like kind of anxious because I'm not there. Like, is Justin actually gonna do what I tell him to do? Is he gonna put things back where they go? Um, but it's it's it's all good fun.
SPEAKER_02Now you're back in the barn full time, but you're still doing a lot of broadcasting work on the side. Where have you been? Like, give us the last month of Jess Otten. Where have you been?
SPEAKER_04Um, hoping and praying that warm weather comes back first and foremost. Oh my word. It's been a rough one. It was snowing last night. So this is April 19th. There was a mid-snowstorm. Like last race at Northfield, it was awful. Um, but I've been going over to Hoosier a couple of times, uh, help them out over there, which has been a lot of fun. And I just recently got signed on at Sota um to help them. They're, of course, home of the breeders crown this season. They have Ohio Supernight there, and they have a couple of other major stake races. Um, so I'm gonna help them out with marketing, events, social media, TV, um, and stuff like that. Because what a lot of people don't know is when I worked at the Metalance, I wasn't just a face on TV. I ran all their social media platforms, help with all of the events. Um, I worked under uh Rachel Ryan in the marketing department, so I did a lot of you know advertising and marketing and stuff like that. So I'm excited to use that part of my knowledge and help Soyota Downs because they're located in a great spot, they've got a great meet, they've got a great facility. Um, and of course, they raise all summer long. So I'm I'm pretty excited about that.
SPEAKER_02Is this the first time that the Breeders Crown's been at Soyota?
SPEAKER_04Oof, I I don't I want to say yes, but I don't know if they had it like way, way back when they used to have like uh two-year-olds at one place, maybe three-year-olds at another, or something like that. I'd have to go back and and see because I know they did they used to split it up or something. I don't know if Soyta had it or not, or if it was a different track.
SPEAKER_00I something says that they used to have yeah, yeah. But uh don't quote me on that, but something sticks in my head that it did.
SPEAKER_02Um Soyota has really just grown so much, and their grandstands and like their their marketing has been really, really a big deal recently. Um, that's pretty awesome to see our Midwest tracks grow.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, uh they they really truly care about all aspects of it, which is great. They just built a brand new, I think 15 or 16 race paddock last year was the first year they used it. Um, they just built a new watching deck um this year. Um, they the Caesars really cares about racing. Joe Morris is is a fan himself. He's a breeder, he's an owner, he's he's my owner. Um, but he cares about racing. Like he wants every aspect of it to succeed. And and I think um, you know, Soyota and Hoosier Park, same way, that they have a really good team that cares about the racing, they care about the marketing, they care about the horsemen, the fans. Um, I'm excited for the Midwest to to show the Breeders' Crown at Soyota this year because they've got a lot of cool things that maybe you know other tracks don't have, like they're located in a great spot. You can really just pinpoint like your basic fans that come out to the track.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I'm excited for that because uh for one, I'm gonna come up to Soyota and I love the British Crown. But you talk about marketing and sponsorships and all that. How do we and I know Soyota is trying to get Harriet, which I think is a great addition. Um yeah, look, we're all not sponsored.
SPEAKER_02I just love it.
SPEAKER_00But how how do we get like local sponsors? Like um, I I think with local sponsors or big sponsors, uh, it only adds to the value in the sport of harness racing. Like uh let's have let's have a contest, like get a local truck dealer to to give away a truck, right? I mean, how logistically possible that is, I don't know, but hey do this and now let's let's get the fans involved, right? You whoever picks the most winners, that way they're vested in every race, right? The whole card, right? Whoever has the most points at the end of the night, you can bet on drivers, whatever. You win a truck. Like, who wouldn't come out to win a free truck, right? So I'm just saying, like little things like this. Um, because we all love the sport, want to see it uh you know flourish, but that's not saying uh what can we do more to to bring the people in and to to get invested in every race? And I know I'm rambling here, but I'll leave you with this uh the wiener dog races. How many people bring in? We see it bring in a ton, right? For three or four races, and then once the wiener dogs are done, they disappear. How do we how do we keep the retention? How do we keep people there?
SPEAKER_04Well, in my opinion, you gotta have something more for them like food trucks, giveaways, handicapping contests. Um, that's kind of my goal this summer is to see um what kind of crowds I can bring out and um what kind of events we can put on. And it's gonna take, I think, a year to really see what sticks. You're gonna have to throw a bunch of ideas at the wall and and see what kind of things people like and don't like. Um, it is difficult. Like I never realized this, but there's so many rules you have to follow at every property because of casinos or sports books or stuff like that, which is so unfortunate. It it really is like but I agree with you with the um the sponsorships. I think that a lot of tracks that do sponsorships are always stuck with let's ask the same people for $25,000 every year and give them the same package every year. In my opinion, let's reach out to those local businesses. Hey, you got a coffee shop? Bring out a coffee cart one night, and you know, we'll do some sort of um, you know, collaboration with you there. Uh, we're working on some stuff with the Breeders' Crown Charity Challenge, which I think it will, I'm hoping that they'll like it. Like a tiered sponsorship. Let's start with $250 where the little people can get involved in their name, get out there. Let's get everyone involved, not just the people that you see over and over again. And don't get me wrong, we're always thankful for that money. But we really need to get, you know, the smaller people involved too. And I think that's something that we can work on this year as well.
SPEAKER_00Totally agree. I like the way you think, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's a trial and error, right? Like there's going to be things, and one of the things that I've recognized in my little land of marketing is I will get so excited about something because I think it is gonna hit so well, and it is a flop. And the things that I think are so stupid, or like I really didn't want to do it, and not not stupid and you know, making fun of myself, but things that I was like, oh, this isn't gonna really work, shoot through the room. So you have to almost have you have to have the kind of brain that can like take the hit, which we know you can take the hit because I'm gonna be able to see your DMs, yeah. Like you're you the couch jockeys come out in full force after you. Yeah. Do we have like okay, so we have couch jockeys for for thoroughbred racing. What do we have for rodeo? I always forget what it is, not buckle bunnies, but all we got into like quarterback Monday morning quarterbacks for football.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02We need to coin something for harness racing, yeah, where everybody thinks they can do it better.
SPEAKER_04They just all think they can do your job better. So I just want to be like, here, you go do it then. But I just keep my mouth shut. There's a lot of times where I want to bite back, but well, yeah, I know deep breath. Jenna would Jenna does.
SPEAKER_00Jenna would for sure.
SPEAKER_05Jenna does.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you two are like total opposites.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. It's I love the yin and yang of it. Speaking of handicapping, I one of the things that so Roy and I created this entire podcast just for we sincerely feel like the Western lifestyle is such a vibe. It's who we are as people, it's a it's now it's cool, it's in you know, the world of everybody that is, you know, loves the Western world. There's no reason why harness racing shouldn't be a part of that western lifestyle. One of the things within the Western lifestyle is a lot of people don't know about handicapping, right? How to read a program, how to gamble. Um, so I don't want to put you like on the spot or anything, but I was wondering if I pulled up a race program. Would you yeah, would you maybe just kind of talk like a total newbie into what that okay, okay. So producer Brett, um, who already has a program, would you mind pulling up um for those of you who are listening on RSS feed and not video? We apologize, we'll link the YouTube video, but we are going to look at a physical race program sheet um so that we can just talk through it a little bit and see exactly where you know how we can you can teach us. But who while while we're doing that, who taught you how to read a program, Jess? I feel like that's just something that come naturally.
SPEAKER_04I mean, obviously my my dad, I guess. Um, you know, the first thing you do when you got to the fair was you jump out of the truck and you'd go get a program, you get your numbers or whatever. So I just feel like it was secondary to me. But um, if you throw this at somebody just walking by you, they're definitely not going to know what they're looking at. And um, something I do want to bring to Soyota this year is maybe people who are on the apron during big nights have a t-shirt saying, I can teach you how to bet or have a question ask me type of thing. Because I do think it's important that the general public, general fans do throw a couple bucks on a horse they'd like. Like if you like a name of a horse, go ahead. If you like the color of the horse, go ahead. You like the driver, go ahead. But um it's it's obviously foreign. Like when I worked at the Metal Lands, they'd have people uh walking up the escalator asking me who I'd like when they're coming out of the sports book. Well, of course, they're gonna you know take those numbers. That's really easy to understand compared to this lingo, because this isn't always easy for people to read, but I can I can walk you through how I look at a program.
SPEAKER_02Um first, before I because I want to do that for sure.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_02First, let's if you were talking to a green bean person that got this for the first time, could you just talk us through like what the top means, what race it is, the date, the track, and all that. We would love to hear that.
SPEAKER_04So in the top left, you'll see the big 13. So that's the 13th race, and right next to it, it will say their gate, the distance, which is typically a mile, and the money that they're going for. So this is a one mile pace. The purse is $8,400. Um, so that's basically what you need to know when you go to a window is what race you're betting on. So then if you go to the middle of your program, it's gonna uh this program shows what wagers are offered. So this one's Exacta, Trifecta, 10 cent super, um, high five, and a 10,000 guaranteed pool in that high five. Um, so Xacta is top two horses, trifecta is the top three horses, and the 20 cents super um is a the top four horses, and then the ten thousand dollar guaranteed pool is how much money that they guarantee in the pool, and then the high five is the top five finishers. So you have to have those in order, or if you want to get really complicated, box a bunch of numbers, but we'll save that for a different time. Um, underneath of that is the classification of horses, which is something important when we're gonna go over um the horses later on. So this is non-winners of 3,500 in the last four starts. Um, also eligible non-winners of a thousand per star in 2026. So the $3,500, um, they can't make any more than $3,500 in their last four starts, unless they average a thousand per start in 2026. And then if you have a horse that you want to put a tag on that is way over his head, maybe money-wise, also eligible, ten thousand dollar claimers. So that means somebody can take your horse if you put in a claim and you get the claim. And then on the right side of it, uh, that's the track where we're wagering slash watching this northfield park, and this was Wednesday, April 15th, 2026. I will remind everybody it was a monsoon that night. Um, and then you're gonna have you know anywhere from five, six horses to ten horse fields. We're gonna look at a nine-horse field here. So um, do you want me to just kind of go over what I look at first?
SPEAKER_02Or do you want to do that? Show us about like let's let's show them the nine horse, Brent. We're gonna go to the bottom horse and nine and show us like the dates, the track, the what those lines mean. You don't have to get too specific, but just so it's so somebody knows.
SPEAKER_04Okay, so at Northfield they go eight on the gate, the nine is a trailing position. So here, this is RJ Maverick. Um, he had the nine holes, so he has to follow the horses. Um, he can pick who he follows as long as there's no one next to him. So there's nine horses in the race, he's got the trailing tier. So the nine will show what number they are on the racetrack, which is purple. And then underneath of it, that's the morning line odds, which is something I always like to look at because Trackmaster does them and um it's always just interesting to me. So you see RJ Maverick, that's the name of the horse, and above that, Justin Irvine, that's the driver of the horse. So then um, underneath of it, you'll see how much money he's made last four starts, uh, which is $3,930. So in this case, he fit that other condition of a thousand per start in 2026. Um, and then below that you see uh the dates he's raced. So you see he pretty much races just about every week, uh every seven to ten days. Um, he kind of had a jump around from class to class, which we'll get to. He hasn't left Northfield, so you'll see NFLD, that's Northfield Park. And then next to that, you see the purses he's going for. So you can kind of see um he started out racing, you know, down in February a little bit lower of a class, and then he raced really good a couple times, and we were racing in pretty tough. So that kind of you know tells you what kind of horses are racing against when the purse money um goes up a bit. Then right next to that is um track conditions. So you can see FT is fast, S Y is sloppy, GD is good, and it gives the temperature of how warm it was out and if there was any allowance on the racetrack. So 49 degrees, 50 degrees. There was a uh sloppy racetrack, so they were allowing a second there. Um, he's not on LASIK, so you won't see the L as you do with the horse above him, which is not on that. So then the next column is yeah, so then the next column is the classes he was in. So he started racing in the nones of 2500 last four, and then he jumped all the way up to the non-wares of 6,500 last four, and then he got to drop down to the non-winners of 5,000 last four, and then you saw at the top of the page now he's in that 3,500 last four. Um, for first time gamblers, I would say the next part really is not so relevant because it's a lot, but if you're really gambling, obviously the professional gamblers, it's the time of the race. So 27 seconds to the quarter, 55 and three to the half, 124 to the three quarters, 153 and two to the to the finish. Yep. So if if I'm a first-time gambler, I'm only looking right at that last quarter. Um just to see how fast the race was and to see if he was really in contention. So right after that is the post position he had. So we got pretty lucky. We drew a couple rails in a row, three-hole, four-hole, two hole, and then he had the eight-hole on the bottom of the screen. Um, and then we're gonna move into the fun stuff, which is as much as the race line. So I was a little skeptical. I didn't know if we wanted to use this or not, but he actually did race really good when he didn't make any money, he was just in way over his head. Like he is a very consistent now owner's a 2500, now owners of 3500. Um, but his owner loves him too much. He won't let me put a tag on him. So we had to race him in the 6500. Um, so this will take, for instance, if you uh we'll go down like the fourth line where where he did win that race. Um he sat the pocket and then pulled the pocket and won. So he came home with 29 and two, 156 and two. And I believe that track was listed slot.
SPEAKER_02And when you say he sat the pocket, he was tucked right. When you say he set the pocket, he was behind on the rail. Yep. So he had like a little another horse breaking the wind for him so that he could sit down. Right.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_04Right. So if you look at the race before that, where no Nobody come and covered him up. He led the race every step of the way. He got gunned down and got beat a half a length. So when you watch a lot of races, you tend to know what their racing style is. I might have had a couple of choice words for my driver after the race because my horse hates the front, but we just got unlucky that night because nobody came and covered us up. We tried to, the horse wouldn't clear. So he actually raced really, really good. I wasn't too mad at my driver that night. Um, but that the so you see where they finish. Uh a terminology I like to use when I'm handicapping and on air is lots of bold numbers. I like seeing those bold numbers on the program page if they're continuously racing in the same class. So he's got a couple um on his, and he was racing really good. Um, so you when you finish one, two, or three, it's a bold number. Um so next to where they finish is how fast they come home, which is always something I like to pay attention to. Like I said earlier, you really got to be a replay watcher because sometimes they can be pacing backwards and it looks like they're coming home quick. Um, so the top line, he came home in 30 and four. He did throw a shoe on his bad foot. I was a little disappointed with him that night. We uh cold blood because actually had an infection, so he was a little sick. Um, so he he got a you know a pass, I guess, and he was in over his head. But the week before, I thought he overperformed. He finished fifth and against a really tough group of horses, 29 and 2, 54 and two. Um, and we thought he raced very well. And then the week before that, 29 and 3, 55 and 2, he was in way over his head, and against horses who were dropping out of you know, some higher classes. Um, you go to the next line, that's who's been driving the horse. Um, so you see Justin Irvine, David Lake at the bottom, and then P dot into the other side. But the numbers that's in between how fast they went and the driver, that's the odds. I said this earlier. I I never really would have paid attention to how much money horses took unless Dave Little didn't point it out to me. Now, as you can see, the higher up in class he got, obviously didn't take any money. Um, but the when he got to drop that back down into a group of horses where he had success at over the course of the last couple months, he'd take plenty of money, like five to one, fifty cents on the dollar. Then he jumped way up in class, 76 to 1, 26 to 1, 52 to 1 type of thing. So that's where you can see how much money they've taken the last how many ever six starts. Uh that's on the program page. When you get really into detail, if you know all the horses, that's how they finished the week prior.
SPEAKER_02So that's that's the intense version. Before we skip away from this, before we go back to the main page, uh right here, trainer Pete Otten. Um, bae right under Pete Otten, we've got a Bay Yelving nine-year-old, yep, by Western Maverick, who is his father, out of Lane Laugh's Last, who's his mother, and her sire is as promised, owned by Joe Morris of Lexington, Kentucky, and of Brett Morris of Versailles, Versailles, excuse me, Kentucky. Um, and then you see the breeder on the right, and then you'll see like the lifetime's earnings and lifetime marks. But um, let's go ahead uh and go back to the main page and just run us through what you look for as a handicapper, like you know, the ABC's version.
SPEAKER_04So I weirdly, oddly enough, when my horses are in, I kind of handicap the race just to kind of see not necessarily how the race is gonna play out because you know, every there's a plan A, B, and C, but you can typically figure out who's gonna leave the gate and so on and so forth. So if I'm looking at this program, I'm first kind of looking just to overall see who's in the race. I know we've raced uh move by the spirit a couple of times. I know Fernetti has a lot of gate speed. I also know that Lancaster Hill is a really good $3,500 um horse, like he's consistent at this level. He shows a couple of wins a couple of starts back. So I'm just kind of put picking out horses I've I've seen race good um in the last couple of weeks. And then I then I'm looking to see. Um, I talked about the classification where they've all been racing. Uh Lancaster Hill, he was just second at this level last time out. He's probably one to beat. Um, he had the nine-hole, now he gets to put his nose on the gate. Um, I told you guys before that the nine-hole trails at Northfield. So now he's gonna be right up on the gate, the starting gate. Um, Lakeside Buddy, this horse has been sharp in his last two. He's now gonna jump up just a little bit after having a win, but he's been sharp, so I like that. And then I know that for Netty, he's got nothing but gate speed off of the wing. So those are a couple things I'm looking for. And those are you know, the morning line on horses that um are the lowest. Now, when if I was handicapping this program as a as a gamblerslash race analysis, I would know that knob light also can leave the gate, and they gave him a bit of a break, and he's usually pretty sharp when he get when he gets a break. So you see that top line where it says qualifier, he qualified, which means you know he had a couple of weeks away or months away from the races, so he's been off since no uh December tw uh 14th. So it's he qualified on the 9th of April, so that's a pretty good qualifier. You don't ever always want to over-exert your horses in a qualifier. So, in my opinion, I think 12 to 1 on the morning line is a bit much, but there's horses that have been racing good. So I'm gonna look for something along the lines of that. Like I said, I know that horse is usually pretty good when he gets a break. Um, I'm also looking, in my opinion, to see um how the race is shaped up because it can get a little western in the Northfield Park, they can be with some cowboys sometimes. So if you see a horse that might be parked um and gets to draw inside, that's something I always get to look at as well. Uh, but in my opinion, in this race, I would I would handicap it that Lancaster Hill would probably be the one to beat. His morning line odds say that, his last couple of starts say that, where he's been racing in the classes. It says that um Lancaster Hill, Fernetti, and Lakeside Buddy would be the three that I would pick as my top three, just off of basic information. The not even going back and watching any replays, classification, post draws, and um the last couple of starts.
SPEAKER_02It is amazing how the US Trotting Association has been able to put so much information on one dang piece of paper.
SPEAKER_04It's it truly is, yeah, it is. It's still it still leaves question marks. Um yeah for you know troubled trips and stuff like that. So if I'm getting ready to broadcast a night at Northfield, I would go back and watch a couple of replays, not all of them by any means, because that's just a lot, but a couple of them that I would really want to pinpoint and see, you know, exactly what was going on. Um, if I thought a horse should have won a race or should have been better, did they get locked in, which means they had nowhere to go, or if the fractions were just not it? Like if you go a slow first half and you're sitting last nine times out of ten, you're not gonna make up any ground.
SPEAKER_02Um other than that, it's crazy. Well, we um Britt, you can go ahead and take this off. Take take our our program done. We're gonna leave all those little points up to you to do the homework because what you what we like you to do is share your socials with us so that like if somebody wants to follow you, so that they can say, Hey, I know um that you know Jess did her homework and I'm not I don't have time to do the homework. Where can they follow you?
SPEAKER_04Uh on Twitter or X, I guess now that they call it. It's at Jessica Otten1. So my full name, uh, just with the number one afterneath uh after it. And if you DM me or tweet me, I'm usually pretty good about getting back to them uh unless you're mean. If you don't got anything nice to say, then don't do not reach out to me. Um but uh my sister always makes fun of me because she tells me I don't do as much homework as I should, and that I eeny meeny miny mo it more often than not, which sometimes you just have to do it. Sometimes races are wide open. Um sometimes, like no offense, but sometimes the lower level conditions, if you get into like a really low track master race or a 1500 race, and it doesn't look like any of them could win the race, I could go out there and win it. I eny meeny miny mo it it works sometimes. You literally never know. That's the greatest thing about gambling. Nobody knows, even though everyone thinks they do, nobody knows the answer.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, where do you have any superstitions? Like, do you look for something specific when you're watching horses on the track?
SPEAKER_00On the track, uh, not really. I I uh I mean uh it's always nice to see if there's sound, right? Yeah, that's so we don't have a little head nod out there, absolutely, and like here's like how you know they own the bit, what's going on, is the driver scoring them down fast to get aggressive, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So um, but if I'm handicapping I I I look into things like that, but mainly what's on the program is is what I base it off of, and sometimes that means nothing because right now what I expected.
SPEAKER_04I will say when Gabe and I get to do these uh fox broadcasts, we usually set ourselves up so that we can see the odds board live and that we can see the track because I'm a firm believer in some of those big races. Like if you see somebody scoring a horse down aggressively, that typically means they're gonna be nose on the pointing forward. And I'll always remember this. Um, one of the first fox shows I did was back when Captain Corey won the Breeders uh Hamiltonian, excuse me. I was doing the show by myself, been a big fan of the horse. Um, and I said, I was like, wow, Aki's really scoring this guy down aggressively. Like it was kind of a wide open handbook that year. And I was like, you know, if if I was live betting, like this would be the one I'd want. I said, he's scoring him down, he looks flawless. And and Derek Givner, who I give high regards to in the sport, he actually sent me a message or posted something and was like, you know, that was a very good eye because he wasn't being shown on the TV screen at the time when Aki was doing that. So you gave really good insight. So if I see something like that, which uh I try to point out because I think it's important. Like at Hoosier, we have a great view of what's going on at the track. You can only see so much when it's on the TV. So you see a horse being scored down aggressively, or the horse is usually hot and they're not, and you think that's a good sign, or if they're being assisted by those amazing outriders that we have, little things like that, I think are really important if you're on track. Now, obviously, not everybody has that um in their back pocket of being on track. So I think that's when it comes to that's our that's our spot to tell you guys what's going on.
SPEAKER_02I love it now.
SPEAKER_00Have have you ever thought uh gambling wise, uh, would you change things up? Or I mean, have you ever thought, hey, how do we get the public more uh bang for their buck, things like that?
SPEAKER_04Yes, I uh I do. Um I know that Mohawk does that swinger bet, so it's like I think you have to have like two of the top three or something like that, which I guess it's for like quick turnaround, but why why are we still wagering just on horses? Like, why are we not wagering on drivers? I mean, Dan Noble can win six horses, six races a night here. Why can't we have an over-under? Uh Ron Burke has a big Toyota, Chris Page. Why why can't we have like uh wagers like that? Um second place finishes, how many times can so-and-so be the bridesmaid? Like things like that, because I said that earlier. I said this earlier. If you throw that program page at one of those young people in the sports book, they're gonna throw it back at you and be like, why would you throw me this? It's not easy to read, and they're gonna go into that sports book and read those numbers, and they're gonna get an overunder, and they're gonna bet that because it's easy, it's what they know what to do, it's what the younger generation is. Um, so if we're really looking to get the younger generation to replace the elderly generation that um is dying off, that's awful to say, but they they are like they're getting older and they're not always coming to the races anymore and and wagering and stuff like that. That's how we're we're gonna have to do it. We are going to have to mold ourselves around change, and I think that's one thing that hardness racing has a hard time with is change. I know we all love doing things like we have in the past, but I really do believe that if we don't start changing our rate ways about some things, um it's not gonna be good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you know, when I was at Lexington this last fall, uh I see some college kids there from UK. They came up with obviously they're putting two bucks or ten bucks on, right? And they don't really know the odds, they just oh hey, here's the favorite, whatever. So they one to nine, and they're like, Oh, I won't and they go to cash their ticket and they're getting 10 cents back. Right, it crushes like why am I even betting? So uh I think I think uh and I've seen it because I spent a lot of time in in Pompano in the winter time, and Wally was known for one to nine shots, right? And now Aaron Merriman one to nine, or what you know, whatever. Why don't we have triples that you can play horses that finish fourth-fifth six?
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_00Because if a one to nine comes in, it ruins exact, it ruins the triple. Now, unless you get some bombs in it, but most of the time it uh it's not even worth betting, you know what I mean? So mix up the exotics. Let me let me bet a horse for four fifth six, a try, exact uh, or like you said, let me let me bet a horse to finish seventh, right? Whatever it is, and uh I I actually own uh part of a third that raced uh yes two days ago, and they had the finish line, and then there was another poll afterwards. So I'm I'm looking, and you know thirds are all about the the head nod, the head. Why couldn't we do something with that? Have a second finish line, like the first finish line pays the owners and the trainers, the same as always. But how many times have you seen a foot past the wire, five feet past the wire? A horse gets by lots. No, I'm I'm betting the second line instead of the first. So, I mean, there's all kinds of ways we can mix this up and get people interested, and you know, just more bang for the buck.
SPEAKER_04You could even you could even um go as far as or as little as literally wagering on the first quarter or the opening half, like you you can like there's so many different ways I think that we could really evolve. Obviously, I know there's a lot of logistics and uh you know laws that go behind it, that are beyond that other stuff, like it's not just that easy. Um, but I do think if it ever does get passed, brought up any whatever, pushed through, that it would really bring out a whole different yeah, culture of people, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think you're right. I think I think you're so right. And there's so many things like we love to sit back, and Roy and I talk about this a lot, and we feel like it we're so blessed because all of our guests we we all have the same goal, right? It's like we love this business and we love horses and this life so much that we we see kind of like the little corners that we've not been keeping up with over the past 30 years, and how that's manifested into like a place where now we need major change because we didn't keep up with the Joneses, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, there's actually go ahead, Jess.
SPEAKER_04I was just gonna say there's there's so much room for improvement, and there's still things that you can keep the same, but I still think that there's a lot of things that we should be able to change. And I know there's a lot of logistics that go behind multiple different things, like we were talking about, but I do feel like there's there's room for change, yeah, yeah, and we're ready for it.
SPEAKER_02You watched a lot, a lot, a lot of races. I mean, uh you're a lot younger than me, but you watched way more races. Talk, tell me what your favorite, favorite race was to watch.
SPEAKER_04To to watch. Well, I guess I work a lot of them. Um, yeah, I will say the one that I know I sent you one, but one that I didn't send you that I actually just got to watch it as a fan was when By the Missile won the little brown jug in 2022. Um, Chris Page was driving, and very, very good friend of mine. Um, he married my best friend, my childhood best friend. Um, that I don't think I've cried for anybody winning a race ever, other than myself, maybe. But like it was so cool. He's uh Ohio boy, grew up in watching Little Brown Jug, like Delaware, um, stuff like that. So I didn't actually have to work that race, which a lot of them I do have to. Um so that one is that one holds a pretty uh pretty near dear spot to my heart.
SPEAKER_02You could ugly cry and not be on camera.
SPEAKER_04Literally, yeah, yeah, yeah, literally. So then um the other two that I sent you, I did have to work. Uh one of them was more sentimental than the other, but yeah, um, I'll work backwards. So the this past year, the little brown jug, Ronnie Wren, obviously, a Michigan boy. Um, his dad and my dad were best friends. His dad unfortunately passed away 10 or 12 years ago, maybe. Um, they were each other's best fans and their weddings. Um, and his mom and my mom were friends. So we've been like really close family friends for like a long, long time. Um, friends with his sisters, um, and him and go over to his house and stuff like that, his wife, Bree, and his kids. So it was pretty cool to see him win the little round jug. And then I got to interview him afterwards because yeah, it's like he like comes to it's surreal, I guess. Like I used to chase him around at the Michigan fairs, like it was Ronnie Wren, and now I'm literally running after you with a microphone on Fox Sports on national TV. So, like running around from a Michigan fair and then on you know national TV, that was pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02That is pretty darn pretty cool, pretty cool.
SPEAKER_04Like, get to give him a hug and a fist jump, and then yeah, I did say we should have brought a Michigan flag and planted it in the middle of the winter circle, but I don't think I would have gone over very well.
SPEAKER_02Listen, Ohio is gonna let's not blow up Ohio, you know. Let's just be careful with that. Listen, Jess. Um, wait, I always have to go to Roy first. Roy, I want to go to quick fire questions, but I always want to make sure you don't have anything to throw out there before we go.
SPEAKER_00I just want to touch something real quick. I know time is gone, but um, and talk about social media and and I think it's a huge uh part of getting it out there. Jess just as TikToks always pop up on my for you page, which I love, right? And and I think I put some out a couple weeks ago or a month or so ago that just it uh just goes viral when I talk about that. But um when I say uh bring influencer, and and I'm not even saying Tratter House, right? I'm I'm just talking to anybody. It was good to see Lauren at the Red Models.
SPEAKER_03That was so cool, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And somebody had a rebuttal. Oh, I don't think uh tracks need to spend 10 grand or whatever to bring you know influencers, micro influence. Well, here's the deal I agree, I think everybody should post. I don't care if you have two followers or you have a million, right? Everything you're gonna hit some algorithm and you're gonna reach somebody. The thing when you have a micro influencer that has you know not very many followers, they don't know how to put a video together per se.
SPEAKER_04That would be me. I call myself the Amish, that would be what I'm doing, but you're doing it.
SPEAKER_00I love it, yeah. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04Hit that little red button and go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I I think if you're having and and Lauren does a great job, uh you know, I like her stuff, and I don't I don't consider her a micro influencer, but I think when you bring influencers out that have followers for when you hit a bigger demographic and they know how to put videos together, they know how to showcase the event, right? So but anyway, uh what do you think? Like is social media big thing that should be in the sport more 100%.
SPEAKER_04Um, that was something I always strive for when I worked uh at the Metal Lands was obviously posting things and stuff like that. And there's a fine line between you know a million posts and something that has meaning to it. But like if our industry is so unique, there's so many things, so many stories. Um, but people literally genuinely just love the small moments. I posted a video of Justin, I caught him. Um, Justin Irvine, the guy who's driving RJ Maverick, um, caught him snuggling on RJ's nose, kissing him like a little dweeb. I posted that video on Facebook to the song Mr. Lover Lover over 120,000 views. You have to be my friend on Facebook. Like, I have that shit like 120,000 views just on Facebook. Yeah. There's silly little TikToks that I make too that have gotten outrageous views. So I've always been super into educating people about our sport. Like they're not race cars, they all have their quirks. Like, I'm with these horses every single day. I can tell at a drop of a penny when one of them is off. I can tell you every little quirk they have, what they have to do. I'm with them all the time. I know them better than I probably know myself. And if I can bring awareness and show people that they're like my best friends and people are interested in it, like I think Mary McDermott does a phenomenal job and she's very creative. I have zero knowledge on how to put all those little videos together. I try, I really do. I also don't have like a whole lot of extra spare time to sit there and edit a video. Um, but I really do try, and I think that if if everybody, you don't even have to make a stable page, you literally just under your name, make a couple of videos. If somebody has a question, go ahead and answer it. Like, we're only helping ourselves by teaching and educating literally random strangers on a social media platform to help everybody as a whole. Like I had somebody come out in a TikTok video a handful of weeks ago. Um, I hashtagged Ohio and they said, I've gone to such and such fair in Ohio. Will this horse be racing there? And I said, Oh, well, maybe like I I don't I don't know. I'm not familiar with the Ohio uh fair circuit. I said, but we did Sacred of the Ohio Stallion series and the fairs. They went on to say that they've gone to the fairs, this blah blah blah blah blah, they've lived there. Like what? Like that's but it's literally so many the connection, yeah.
SPEAKER_02They so connect to it, yeah. It's that's the key, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, and and with Justin and the horse, it's relatable, it pulls the heartstrings.
SPEAKER_04Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you just have to post the littlest, silliest videos, get ready with me videos, pack like showing people that these horses get care, like the littlest things bring so much awareness and attention that if we can't tell our own stories as individuals, who's going to want to be to tell your story for you? Like you're gonna be able to tell it the best. I mean, I've worked at a racetrack, I understand that you know, we're supposed to broadcast and talk about the horses. We don't know everything about every single horse, so unless somebody tells us or you know, you post it or you say, Hey, you know, this horse is named after whatever, you know, like cool little stories like that are fun to you know point out on air. But I think social media is a big, big, big, big thing. You're able to tell your own story, you're able to show everybody your day-to-day things. Um, even if it's just a picture, it doesn't even have to be a whole video, it can literally be just a picture. I think it goes a long way.
SPEAKER_00It does, yeah. It's gonna hit somebody.
SPEAKER_02It is and if us fools can do it, y'all can too.
SPEAKER_04Literally, uh at work, my they always called me the Amish girl because I didn't know how to use the printer, couldn't figure out how to use my computer. I mean, I'm so foreign when it comes to that stuff.
SPEAKER_06I didn't have an iPad when I was a kid, okay?
SPEAKER_02I didn't know. All right, Jess, before we let you go, we're gonna run you through some quick fire questions. I don't want you to overthink it. They're dumb, and that's our favorite part. Um, but first, before I do it, I forgot you're a coffee drinker, aren't you? I am.
SPEAKER_04I cannot go a day without caffeine. I did um, I try to make my own coffee at home, but Justin literally just told me today I spend too much money at Starbucks.
SPEAKER_02We totally understand. We are so thankful. Under the Lights Podcast is partnered and sponsored by Cow Puncher Coffee. We are so excited to have them as our partner. They took us on before they had any clue what the heck we were doing, which shows how great they really are. Their coffee is incredible. Roy loves the blueberry.
SPEAKER_00Texas, Texas coffee, blueberry. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I love the pignon, it's amazing. So um, we just are so thankful for cow puncher coffee. Brett, if you get a chance, can you go ahead and roll that little clip for Cow Puncher?
SPEAKER_01Thank you to our great sponsor, Cow Puncher Coffee. Spur the day. It isn't just a cup, it's a kick in the saddle. Bold, smooth, and built for early mornings and long days. It fuels the kind of determination that gets work done. Rich flavor without the bitterness, strong enough for the arena, smooth enough for the porch. Find it at cowpunchercoffee.com. So we we want to give me some of that.
SPEAKER_04We're gonna send it to you. You know what? I'll make a TikTok video on it.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, that's what we're talking about. Okay, so for real this time, quick fire questions. Don't think too hard. Favorite movie? The blind side. Oh, what plays in the car when you drive?
SPEAKER_04Well, recently it's been literally Hannah Montana ever since that uh 20th anniversary, and I've just been kicking it up with Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana. But um, I love listening to podcasts and anything country, really. It depends on the day. It depends on if I wake up tired or if I wake up happy or grumpy or with a migraine. It depends on the day. I'm a beer kind of girl. Give me a good old nice ice cold beer. Night owl. Although Justin will um he will attest that I says I want to be in bed early because I'm an old lady and I hate waking up in the morning. I mean, I will wake up when I have to, but I can stay up later than I can wake up earlier.
SPEAKER_02Who's your biggest cheerleader?
SPEAKER_04Probably my parents, my mom, first one to tell me I do a good job. Um, first one to tell me good luck, proud of you, stuff like that. Um, so probably my mom and dad. And then um my sister might not admit it, but I do think she cheers for me a lot. And then obviously Justin. Um, without like when I'm gone, he takes care of the horses, and vice versa. When he's gone, I do it. And um, when I text him when I said to Gabe to shut up, he said, Oh, people will laugh at it.
SPEAKER_06You'll be okay. I'm like, Yeah, you're right, I guess.
SPEAKER_02Who's your toughest critic? Those keyboard warriors.
SPEAKER_04Um myself, I would say, um, like I said, I strive to do everything at 100 and 110. I don't want to ever let anybody down, whether it's people watching the broadcast show, coming to an event, my owners, um, anything like that. I think I'm I think I'm my biggest critic.
SPEAKER_02What was your last impulse by?
SPEAKER_04Well, um, I I did want to start making my own coffee at home, but so I bought a nugget ice machine, and it's faulty.
SPEAKER_06I have to return it and get a different one because I was so mad. So I don't even get my nugget ice, and it's literally sitting on the counter, and I have to go return it.
SPEAKER_02Why is the good ice so important?
SPEAKER_04The good ice just makes it better. The well, the bridge that we have doesn't make ice, so it's not like I want to like constantly crack those giant ass cubes. So I want the nugget ice, I want the nugget ice. So, and of course, I would have to buy one that's faulty, like why? And I have had zero time to return it and go get another one.
SPEAKER_02Okay, last one before we let you go. Name a famous person you'd love to meet.
SPEAKER_04Well, Roy already hinted at it. The Lauren Pinkston who came to the Red Mile, I followed her for like a year and I told Emily about her because she lived in Lexington, and I had no idea she was gonna show up there. I literally almost fell off the stage in Lexington trying to run down and like go meet her because I thought we were like best friends because I followed her on TikTok. Um so we're still friends, we chit-chat like and stuff like this. So um I've already got to meet her, so I'm gonna pick a different one and say either Reba McIntyre or Zach Efron.
SPEAKER_02Okay, well, before we move on though, or we uh give me her handle so that you can share with everybody exactly who she is. Can you look it up real quick?
SPEAKER_06Yes, I can.
SPEAKER_02I believe it's uh we want to make sure she gets the shout out she deserves so that others can actually follow her.
SPEAKER_04Yes, okay. So her tick tock is at jeterky, j-e-t-e-r-k-y. That's her tick tock. And if people want to follow along with my silly little videos on TikTok, it's at J underscore Otten.
SPEAKER_02Okay, and then um she's also on Instagram.
SPEAKER_04And okay, so this is random, but you just like randomly found her and like she like randomly came up on my TikTok. Um, probably let's see, it's 2026. Emily came to the Metal Lands in 2025, so the end of 2024, she popped up on my TikTok and I was like, Oh, she seems kind of cool. Um, so I followed her, and she's so spunky and down to earth and funny and like so real.
SPEAKER_06I was like, I could be best friends with her.
SPEAKER_04And I told Emily about her because she wanted some influencers to come to the Red Miles. Like, this girl lives in Kentucky, she lives in Lexington, Kentucky. Like, you gotta get a hold of her. And Emily's like, Okay, that was the last time we talked about it. That was March of 2025.
SPEAKER_05And Jenna gave her like a tour, and they were walking below me on the stage, and I literally was like, more than Pinkston, and I surprended, you don't know me, but I know you. And I was like, I've been like your biggest fan for like the last year, and totally fangirl. Oh, I fangirl seven thousand people.
SPEAKER_04One yeah, it was a little bit embarrassing, but then I got to interview her, we got to hang out. She invited me to come down to her new farm this year when they got it all renovated. Um, yeah, she's super freaking cool.
SPEAKER_00And she loves the horses, so is she coming back to the red mile this year?
SPEAKER_04I hope so. I'm gonna see if maybe we can get her to come to Columbus.
SPEAKER_02Oh, oh yeah, yeah. Look at you. See, we got big plans, Jess. Thank you so much for your time. We had a blast. I hope you did too.
SPEAKER_04It was a lot of fun. Thank you guys for having me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we appreciate all of your help and teaching our fans and all the keys about um, you know, behind the scenes program work. So thank you so much. We can't wait to watch you and cheer you on the rest of the year. And we hope to see you soon.
SPEAKER_04Thanks for having me. And if if my tips don't help everybody out, don't come at me.
SPEAKER_02Ouch, jockey. Yeah, awesome. All right, thanks so much. We'll see you soon. Thanks everybody for following and listening.
SPEAKER_01That was another episode of Under the Lights with Ash and Roy. Thank you to the sponsors and how budget coffee for this episode. Whether you're headed home from the arena or just getting your day started, we're glad you spent some time with us. Around here, it's all about the stories behind the grind. We want you to be part of the story too. So comment, connect, and follow right here on this platform. And don't miss a hook. Wherever life's got you riding, stay tough, stay true. And we'll meet you right back here next time, under the light, with Ask and Ross.