By Dick Jerardi
Since Let’s Go Racing began in the early 1990s, we have had a number of behind-the-scenes helpers. Only one stuck around for a few years. And only one made a real difference.
Bruce Casella and I knew quickly that Trish Bowman, then a student at Holy Family University and working in Kate DeMasi’s barn, was going to do great things in horse racing. She was smart, hard-working, loyal and knew as much and often more about the sport than we did.
When Keith Jones or I would make a mistake during taping of the show, Trish would wait until we stopped and then gently remind us what we got wrong. Which was and is the beauty of taping.
One year during the Pennsylvania Derby live show, the odds board went out and Trish immediately updated me with odds from her phone so I could give the viewers at home accurate information.
Trish was a great teammate. She had ideas for the show. She was fun to be with. She became a wonderful friend.
Her horse racing journey, which began 22 years ago because of an infatuation with Smarty Jones, has been fascinating to follow. It’s an example of what perseverance and preparation can do for any of us.
I took Trish to the 2015 Kentucky Derby as a graduation present and as a thank you for all she had done for us through the years. The day after we got to Louisville that spring, I got a call from a representative of what was then the Darley (now Godolphin) Flying Start program. Trish had applied and used me as a reference.
I told the representative everything I have written so far in this story and anything else I could think of at the time. Trish’s application was brilliantly conceived and, thankfully, she was accepted into the program.
And it gave her exactly what the name of the program promised – a Flying Start. The program took her to Ireland, England, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. She also spent time in Lexington, Kentucky. While in the program, she was also able to visit France and Hong Kong and see the racing there.
It was while Trish was in the program that she began to see her future in horse racing. She wanted to be a steward.
So after graduating from Flying Start, she had several jobs in the game. She worked in the Jockey Club’s registration department in Lexington, the racing offices in Maryland and New York and as a safety steward at Oaklawn Park before getting appointed as a state steward in Indiana where she spent four years during the Horseshoe Indianapolis meets.
All of it led to the announcement two weeks ago that Trish Bowman would become the Jockey Club Steward at the New York Racing Association tracks – Belmont Park and Saratoga. Just over two decades after she got into horse racing, she was in a position that put her at the very pinnacle of her chosen profession.
“Everything happened so fast,” she said June 24 when she visited Parx to tape a segment for Let’s Go Racing. “One minute, I’m here behind the camera with Bruce and the next I’m officiating races at Saratoga. It’s been a crazy journey, but a very worthwhile one.”
Crazy maybe, but not really surprising. Sometimes, you just know.
You can only imagine how proud Bruce and I are to have been a small part of Trish’s journey. We always knew it was just a matter of time. Trish took her time, paid her dues and got exactly what she worked for and deserved.
“When I was on Flying Start, they kind of give you a little bit of an open avenue to kind of choose whatever you want to do in the industry,” Bowman said. “When I first went in there, I thought maybe I wanted to do something more like media related.”
Then, she came to her senses.
“When I was on Flying Start, part of the program was being able to do the racing official’s accreditation program,” Bowman said. “And, for me, with the 10 people I was on the course with, everyone had something that was their niche and that they were really good at. For a while, I was trying to figure out what mine was. I was trying a bunch of different things.”
“Once I was really able to immerse myself into that program, it was a week-long intensive program, that is what clicked for me, that’s what I felt like I was good at and that’s kind of the moment, where I was like okay, this is the direction I want to take with my career.”
That she was able to get hand-on experience while in the program was critical.
“When I was on Flying Start, I was able to be an apprentice steward in Australia and in Dubai so that really, really helped me get my foot in the door,” Bowman said.
Now, after those years in Indiana, the door has opened wide to a steward’s job in one of America’s very best racing jurisdictions.
“The people out at Indy are amazing people,” Bowman said. “It really helped me get a foundation for stewarding. It’s definitely the type of job, where unless you are really doing it, hands on, you don’t know.”
“There were a bunch of times in Maryland where I was able to watch the guys and they were able to kind of guide me and show me what they do and let me ask questions. Until you are actually doing it, you really don’t know. Indiana gave me plenty of that experience…Now, I’m excited for the next step.”
So, Trish Bowman is at Saratoga for the summer meet. She will be at the new Belmont Park when it opens Sept. 18.
“I’m really nervous because, with the experience I had in Indiana, I know the expectations,” she said before heading for Saratoga. “I know the type of microscope New York is under. Belmont’s going to be different. I’m really excited to get to be one of the first people in the new building and see what that’s all about.”
After three years at Saratoga, the Belmont Stakes will return to Belmont Park in 2027. As will the Breeders’ Cup for the first time since 2005.
And presiding over the day-to-day racing and those mega events as one of three stewards will be Trish Bowman, Let’s Go Racing alum on her way now to fulfilling the greatness we saw then and everybody in the sport is going to see now.
