NY College’s Racing Management Program Rising to Head of Class

[Wandering Eyes]

Stephanie Preston’s official title at Morrisville State College, State University of New York (SUNY), is faculty director of the equine racing management program. But her real mission and passion since taking over that job in January is getting the word out about the best-kept secret in obtaining a practical two- or four-year degree to bolster a student’s chance of landing a good job within the racing industry.

Preston has been involved in both the Thoroughbred business and in various higher education positions for some three decades, but she readily admits she had never heard of Morrisville’s racing management program until she came across a job posting for the position last year. A lot of other industry insiders also seem to be unaware of this hidden gem, even though it’s located just 2 1/2 hours west of Saratoga Race Course and about the same distance east of Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, with numerous breeding farms dotting the landscape in between.

“I had no idea that I would be really interested in taking a job in upstate New York in January,” Preston said with a laugh in a recent phone interview. “But after visiting and seeing the uniqueness of the program, the hands-on emphasis, the real desire from higher administration to make this a program that produces kids with skills that are employable, and then looking at the facilities, there was just no way I could turn it down.”

Morrisville’s equine science program is currently second largest program of about 80 offered at the college, Preston said. The school also has a decades-long involvement with harness racing and breeding, hosting its own an annual sale of about 80 Standardbred yearlings.

But in recent years Morrisville has been trying to incorporate more Thoroughbred-related learning into the overall curriculum (the racing management program, like the breeding program, falls under the umbrella of that equine science heading). Preston’s recent hiring just might be the catalyst that will enable that endeavor to flourish.

After earning her bachelor of science degree in animal science at Texas A&M University in 1990, Preston worked as a Thoroughbred jockey, trainer, owner, pinhooker, and farm manager, most notably at Prestonwood Farm in Lexington and for Oxbow Racing, with divisions in Ocala and Lexington.

Along the way, she worked toward a master’s degree in equine veterinary medicine and surgery (also at Texas A&M), and in 2011 Preston obtained a doctoral degree in large animal clinical sciences and veterinary epidemiology from the University of Florida. She has done post-doctoral research and has been a visiting scholar for the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky, and has published significant, separate studies involving both lameness in young Thoroughbreds and the use of Lasix in racehorses.

But what truly resonates when speaking with Preston about the Morrisville program are three points: 1) The need for prospective students who are already focused on the racing industry to realize the value of a college degree so they’ll have more options later in life if plans change; 2) Drawing from the pool of students interested in other equine disciplines to show them career options in the racing industry that they might not know about, and 3) Making sure all students get one-on-one attention and the ability to tailor specialized areas of focus of their own choosing at an affordable tuition.

“When I went to school 25 years ago, there was not really a good educational way to open the door to Thoroughbred racing,” Preston said. “That’s become less of a problem now, but many of us 25 or 30 years ago ended up interning through our animal science degrees with some entity that could expose us to Thoroughbred racing. I really think that if we recruit the right kids and we educate and train them right, we’re going to be very instrumental in having the industry reaching out to us to find qualified applicants, which is a big need.”

Morrisville’s equine facilities are home to some 200 horses that comprise the breeding, hunt seat equitation, and Thoroughbred and Standardbred management programs, plus other horses that belong to outside clients of the school’s equine rehabilitation facility. There are three indoor riding arenas, a harness racing half-mile track with a starting gate, a trails network, and numerous outdoor riding areas. When Finger Lakes is in season, Morrisville races a string of 15 or so horses there, with students overseeing the daily training operations.

“The facilities here rival any that I’ve been to in Kentucky,” Preston said. “It is truly first-class, and when they developed the Thoroughbred racing management program, they built a new barn. And adjacent to our barn and training facility is a state-of-the-art, world-class rehab center.

“So as you and I are speaking right now, my students have two horses on the Aqua Tred [equine hydrotherapy system], two in the swimming pool, and one standing under the solarium,” Preston continued. “I think the highlight for people in the racing management segment are our rehab facilities, because a lot of people cross-train these days. Being adjacent and synergistic with the rehab facilities that we have, I have not seen that opportunity at any other school anywhere.”

Preston said it can sometimes be a challenge for teenagers already keen on working in the racing industry to get them to see the longer-term upside of earning a college degree versus going straight to work at the track.

“It’s really hard for kids who can get a job walking hots for $500 a week to see beyond that,” Preston explained. But, she tells them, “Do you think you’ll still want to be a groom at age 45 when you’re trying to support your own family?”

Preston offers her own life experience as an example. She always loved horses, but as a working mom later in life, she wanted to try a related profession away from the farm and the track. And that wouldn’t have been possible, she said, without having gone to college first.

“The only reason I am sitting here today talking to you about this program is because I have an education that got me a job within the university system,” Preston said. “Once you have an education, no one can ever take it away from you. And that’s powerful–because it’s something we all forget at times: We go to school to get the degree to put it on the wall to move on and get a job. And you don’t really have the capacity as a young person to see beyond that next job. Yet, if you have an education, it gives you that opportunity–a passport to the world, I like to say.”

Preston likes to point out Morrisville’s affordability (about $7,000 for in-state students; out-of-state students on the associate’s degree track pay roughly $11,000 per year) and flexibility in structuring how students obtain their degrees.

For example, Preston said, a student could initially aim for a two-year associate’s degree in racing management, then continue on for two additional years to dovetail a bachelor’s degree in the breeding program.

And with the ability for students to choose a specialized area of focus–like aftercare or conversational equine Spanish–“I’m able to customize an individual concentration for a student in a way that they may not be able to do at some of the other comparable schools,” Preston said.

Preston also noted that at Morrisville, a student is considered full-time by enrolling in 12 credit hours of coursework. But if ambitious students want to take 18 credit hours instead, they are not charged for those additional credits.

“Which is a huge benefit, because most university systems that I’ve been involved with, you pay a per-credit fee,” Preston said. “So if you’re taking extra credits to maximize your educational experience at school, it won’t cost you more. Here in the SUNY system, the kids are not charged for anything beyond 12 credits.”

It is mandatory for students to select and complete a 15-week racing management internship. Current students have internships lined up at Saratoga (one with trainer Todd Pletcher), and on the backstretches of Aqueduct and Finger Lakes.

The program currently has 15 students, and Preston would like to eventually grow that number to around 50 or 60 in incremental steps. “I wouldn’t be able to offer the same teacher-to-student ratios if 80 kids showed up tomorrow, so I want to evolve gradually toward that goal,” Preston said.

Another of her goals is to let the New York racing community know Morrisville’s facilities are available to them as outside clients.

“There have been a couple of people within the New York industry who have been very supportive of that already, so we’re developing those relationships where we can provide services,” Preston said. “That’s one of the challenges, to expose both prospective students and industry people to the program, because there are real resources here, not only in the rehab facilities, but in the services we can provide, like breaking and training at a reduced rate. It helps train prospective employees for the industry, and it exposes our students to real-life situations.”

Erin Clancy, a sophomore from Rochester, said she chose Morrisville as a way to kick start a bloodstock career

“When I came to visit I was very impressed with the hands-on learning we get to do,” Clancy said. “I get to be in the barn with horses every single day. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s also very rewarding. I’m getting my associate’s degree in Thoroughbred racing, and then going on to get a bachelor’s degree in breeding. That in and of itself was very attractive to me. I chose Morrisville because I couldn’t have the option to do both at any other school.”

After graduation, Clancy said, “I hope to either be working at a breeding farm in either Kentucky or New York, managing mares and foals–that’s my primary interest. Having my own farm, breeding my own mares and caring for the foals–that’s the end goal.”

Hanna Frederick, a sophomore from near Albany, is working on a four-year degree in racing management.

“All the programs are very, very hands-on. That was the main thing I was looking for,” Frederick said. “Even in classroom settings with all of the different labs that I’m involved in, and in the barns, everything is very one-on-one with my professors. It’s a country setting and a medium-sized school. I didn’t want a school that was too small, but I also didn’t want it to be so big that I couldn’t get that ideal student-to-professor ratio.”

And a couple years down the road?

“Ideally I would like to be a trainer for Thoroughbreds at a track, and also I’m interested in breaking babies,” Frederick said.

Preston will point those two students–and all her others–in the right direction, opening a few doors for them along the way. But once armed with degrees, it will be up to those students to march through those doors on their own to see what lies beyond in the racing industry.

“It’s such a wonderful business, but it has many barriers to entry, such as accessibility and longevity,” Preston said. “My goal is to train and educate people to contribute to the workforce and have future industry, or even non-industry, career opportunities. If that goal succeeds it will feel like an important win-win achievement for people, education, and the industry.”

To learn more about Morrisville’s racing management program, click here.

To read more on Morrisville’s equine rehab facilities, click here.

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