Fox Sports 1 host plus fellow media personalities Ian Rapoport and Lindsay Czarniak are minority owners in Brad Cox-trained longshot
USA: The Kentucky Derby could enjoy a significant social media lift thanks to the presence of longshot Jace’s Road in this year’s field.
The eyes of the Thoroughbred racing world will be on Churchill Downs on Saturday [May 6] but inclusion of th
e Brad Cox-trained three-year-old opens the event to a new audience through his minority owners, US media personalities Joy Taylor, Ian Rapoport and Lindsay Czarniak
As the trio have a combined social media following of more than 4.5 million on Twitter alone, it’s a fair bet there will be extra eyes on this year’s Run for the Roses – and not just to learn what these influencers will be doing, wearing or who they will be hanging out with during their visit to Louisville.
As participants in the Jockey Club’s fan development arm America’s Best Racing’s ‘A Stake In Stardom’ initiative, they will be right at the heart of the action.
In a partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds, the new owners took their stake in Jace’s Road, who was taking part in the Road To The Kentucky Derby yet with no guarantee he would make the field. Third place in the Louisiana Derby fell just short of the cut-off until his promotion into the 20-runner field following a scratch.
“I’m very excited,” says Taylor, who has 600,000-plus followers on Instagram. “It’s always been a bucket list item for me to go to the Kentucky Derby.
“It’s obviously one of the biggest events in sports and it’s a place where history happens. Being somebody that works in sports for a living, it’s always been exciting for me to be able to experience something new in the business, particularly something that isn’t the easiest place to go.
“So I am thrilled to be checking this off the list, but also have a very unique experience as a minority owner of one of the horses that is running in the Kentucky Derby.”
Taylor, 36, hosts a daily sports talk show, SPEAK, on the Fox Sports 1 network where the NFL and NBA are the dominant topics, rather than who will triumph in racing’s Super Bowl.
“I’ve been a partner with America’s Best Racing for several years now,” Taylor explains. “I’ve been out to the Santa Anita Derby with them and this year they presented me with the A Stake In Stardom programme.
“It was very intriguing to me, not just for the opportunity to go to the Kentucky Derby as a spectator, but to experience it as an owner with equity.
“I came to the sport as a novice, and in many ways I still am. It’s not as if you can see through the owner’s eyes in these big leagues so it was a very unique opportunity.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Taylor studied broadcast communications at Barry University in Miami, where her brother Jason played defense for the Miami Dolphins for 13 years. She produced and presented shows on radio until moving to Los Angeles to join Fox Sports seven years ago.
Taylor has covered the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, MLB All-Star Weekend, the US Open, and the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight.
SPEAK, which he co-hosts with Emmanuel Acho and LeSean McCoy, is the third Fox Sports show involving Taylor, who in a recent interview described “being a woman, being a Black woman, being an opinionated woman” as a challenge during her rise to national prominence.
“I’ve come up through all ranks of the business but it’s still a very unique space to be in, considering what I am and what I represent,” she says.
Taylor will be sharing her Kentucky Derby experience with her fans through her social media channels, including the latest updates on Jace’s Road who was installed 50-1 on the morning line.
“I know he is a bit of a longshot in the odds but I am very confident in Jace’s Road,” she says.
For those more interested in her Kentucky Derby day outfit, she adds: “I already have my fascinator and my stylist has already sent me several options but I can tease ahead that it will be red. We’ve got to match the roses.”
• Visit the America’s Best Racing website
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