6 minute read
It’s Horses and Plenty More for Megan Connolly
It’s Horses and Plenty More for Megan Connolly
By Vicky Moon
“I’m proud of the last 13 years being at the Virginia Gold Cup and International Gold Cup as a color commentator. Will Allison and Al Griffin’s vision for racing excellence is a testament to what happens when strategic ideas and partnerships come together, making for a day of absolute perfection that encompasses pageantry, beauty, exhilarating sport, hospitality, fun and the pure adrenaline of steeplechase racing at its very best.”
Anyone who’s attended the Virginia Gold Cup and the International Gold Cup at Great Meadow in The Plains over the past thirteen years has likely seen Megan Connolly, an “on air” trackside reporter, analyst and color commentator for the telecast of the events.
Megan is a horse girl through and through. She grew up in Manassas and once contemplated fashion design. She did a bit of work as a Radio DJ, and thought it might even lead to something bigger, maybe even Hollywood. After all, her grandfather, Myles Connolly, was an Academy Award nominated writer for iconic producer and director Frank Capra and her oldest brother, Myles Connolly III, is an award-wining IMAX documentary filmmaker.
It didn’t quite work out that way. Shortly after heading off to college, she quit. Truth be told, she was madly in love with horses and has since worked every imaginable racetrack job.
“I speak Spanish,” she said. “It comes in handy.”
Megan’s horse interest started with her father at a very young age. “We’d always watch the Triple Crown on TV,” she recalled, adding that her grandfather was also an avid racing fan and took her to the Bowie racetrack. Her mother also brought her to Virginia point-to-point races.
“I thought it was exciting,” Megan said. “Then we went to the Virginia Gold Cup at the old Broad View course in Warrenton and my fascination grew even more. My full-on passion was set ablaze after attending the Middleburg Spring Races at the incomparable Glenwood Park. I was hooked.”
In Florida, at Gulfstream, Calder and Hialeah, Megan began working on the backside, and then the front side. She learned to break yearlings, foal mares and “muck a lot of stalls.” She studied pedigrees “like nobody’s business” and read The Blood Horse, and Andy Beyer’s column in The Washington Post. She also closely followed the careers of jockeys Kent Desormeaux and Edgar Prado, who went on to Hall of Fame careers.
At the racetrack in Charles Town, West Virginia, she walked hots, learned to put on standing bandages, apply rundown wraps and take the horses to the paddock and saddle them. She went to racehorse auctions in Timonium, Maryland and Belmont, N.Y. and studied the pages of pedigrees.
Before long, she was galloping horses and breaking yearlings, and took a job working for trainer Don Yovanovich at the Middleburg Training Track. She often took his horses over to the nearby swim center, studied the condition book, made entries, and learned “the ins and outs of racing in general.”
Her first day on the job, Don asked if she could ride. She said yes.
“We were on the sandy oval in the morning, and I was part of a set with other riders thinking ‘how cool is this?’ I could not have been happier.” Megan eventually took some of Don’s horses to the races.
“I was the one-woman show on the road running horses up and down the Mid-Atlantic tracks,” she said. Eventually, she earned a trainer’s license, representing Don at the tracks. “I was absorbed in all aspects of racing.”
Then came the next step. Don, who serves on the board of The Gold Cup, asked Megan to take on her current position on race day at Great Meadow. She works as a paddock analyst, providing insight on each field and offering wagering selections on the top three or four horses. After the race, she interviews winning owners, trainers and jockeys, all of which is broadcast on closed circuit screens at Great Meadow and live streamed on the National Steeplechase Association website.
She also records promos for the races at Great Meadow on social media. She chats with trainers at their barns. Then she edits the video, which plays on race-day during the live broadcast and on the live stream.
“The problem with all of that was none of it was full-time, seasonal only, and I was struggling to meet the financial goals I set for myself,” Megan said. So, she started doing public relations work for all types of businesses.
She still gets her horse fix by frequently riding for Don and works as a patrol judge at a handful of the local point-to-points. She also serves as a placing judge at the Middleburg Spring Races, hosts the National Steeplechase annual awards gala and was a co-host for the Virginia Steeplechase awards dinner on March 1.
She said she is “too smart to own horses--they cost money.” But she still rides for Don because “I cannot imagine my life without riding daily.”
“She knows her stuff, is reliable and a hell of a hard worker who strives for perfection,” Don Yovanovich said.
Away from her work, Megan and her boyfriend Grug Russell, travel extensively. They explore new countries and cultures and attend musical and ballet performances at the Kennedy Center as well as visiting museums and galleries in Washington.
And oh yes, did we mention Megan Connelly’s full-time job? Since 2012, she’s worked for Oracle, selling technology solutions to the cruise industry.
Gates open at 10 a.m.
The 99th Annual Virginia Gold Cup
Eight races include the $75,000 Gold Cup Timber
And the new $150,000 Commonwealth Hurdle Stakes
Saturday, May 4, gates open at 10 a.m.
Great Meadow, The Plains, Virginia
Tickets must be purchased in advance
Prices from $50 for general admission, plus parking $100 Packages up to $14,000 for 150 guests in 40X40 tent on Members Hill
Place your bets at an official machine or smartphone app
Hat contest at 2 p.m. and Tailgate contest at 12:45 p.m.
www.vagoldcup.com
