NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 30, 2008
Contact: Robert Bolson, Director of Corporate Marketing
Blood-Horse Publications
(859) 276-6809; rbolson@bloodhorse.com
MARYJEAN WALL TO BE WEDNESDAY'S GUEST ON BLOODHORSE.COM "TALKIN' HORSES"
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Join Eclipse Award-winning turf writer Maryjean Wall for a special Wednesday edition of BloodHorse.com "Talkin' Horses" at BloodHorse.com/TalkinHorses on Wednesday, July 2, at noon EDT (9:00 a.m. PDT), sponsored by TrueNicks.com. Wall retired in June after 35 years as racing writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. On her final day of writing for the newspaper, she was at Belmont Park covering the Belmont Stakes and Big Brown's failed attempt at winning the Triple Crown. During her first year on the beat, 1973, she came in with a winning Triple Crown: Secretariat's. She's won three Eclipse Awards and has been nominated twice for a Pulitzer Prize.
Wall is now focused on finishing her Ph.D. dissertation about the horse industry in the decades following the Civil War. After she's earned her doctorate in American History, Wall plans to teach at the university level. In addition, she has set up a Web site, Maryjeanwall.com, where she will post articles about the horse in history and literature, as well as offering occasional pieces on various breeds of horses. History and general-interest articles were those that consistently proved most popular to readers of her stories, according to Wall, which is why she has started the web site. Her strong belief is that horse racing generally has failed to reach large audiences partly because general-interest readers were not offered the types of stories that the fan-on-the-street could read, understand, and enjoy.
Wall's interest in turf journalism evolved from her love of Thoroughbred racing. She grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, wanting to become a jockey. Women were not allowed to ride races at pari-mutuel tracks in North America at that time so she got involved in the sport through journalism. She was the first woman voted into the National Turf Writers' Association and served three terms on the Board of Directors.
Wall did not realize her dream of becoming a jockey. But she did learn to ride horses at a track with a storied history: the remains of Kenilworth Park in Windsor, where Man o' War ran his last race. By Wall's lifetime, all that remained on the grounds was the dirt oval of the race course, the entrance gates, and a single barn. But the ghostly hoofbeats of horses from the past were something she says she often thought about while riding on the old course. Wall has participated in Thoroughbred racing in a variety of roles, from groom to assistant trainer to pony person, while seeing many changes in the sport. She has also trained and ridden her own Arabian horses in dressage.
Her career as a racing journalist also went through many changes. The craft went from typewritten stories to articles filed by wireless on the Internet. She was one of the last of the full-time racing writers for a general-interest newspaper.
How to participate in the BloodHorse.com "Talkin' Horses"/ask questions:
Questions for Maryjean Wall can be submitted in advance now or during the online discussion by going to BloodHorse.com/TalkinHorses. The same Internet address will also carry BloodHorse.com "Talkin' Horses" webcast on Wednesday. BloodHorse.com "Talkin' Horses" is sponsored by TrueNicks.com and offers an entertaining and engaging opportunity for racing enthusiasts to talk online one-on-one with high-profile insiders, newsmakers and legends of the Thoroughbred industry.
Racing enthusiasts are invited to join in the discussion or simply enjoy and monitor the informative "Q&A" session as it occurs by visiting BloodHorse.com/TalkinHorses at noon EST on Wednesday. Each edition of BloodHorse.com "Talkin' Horses" is archived online and available 24/7 for later reading.
For more information, visit: BloodHorse.com/TalkinHorses.
About BloodHorse.com:
BloodHorse.com was voted the #1 horse industry Web site in 2007, 2005, and 2002 by the American Horse Publications Association, and was previously selected as a Top Seven Equestrian Web site by Forbes magazine. It is the preferred choice of industry professionals and racing enthusiasts alike for up-to-the-minute racing news and information. From award-winning, comprehensive editorial to fan-favorite Breeders' Cup and Triple Crown Mania channels and the engaging BloodHorse.com "Talkin' Horses" weekly feature, there is something for all Thoroughbred racing professionals and enthusiasts. BloodHorse.com is operated by Blood-Horse Publications, the Thoroughbred industry's foremost publishing company. Blood-Horse Publications also publishes The Blood-Horse, the leading weekly Thoroughbred racing and breeding news and information magazine; the award-winning The Horse: Your Guide To Equine Health Care, a monthly equine health care magazine; TBH MarketWatch, a newsletter for Thoroughbred investors and recipient of the prestigious Awards for Publication Excellence (APEX) for 2006 and 2005; the official Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup souvenir magazines; Auction Edge; and Keeneland magazine. In addition, Blood-Horse Publications also publishes equine-related books and videos under the Eclipse Press banner, and operates a family of award-winning Web sites including TheHorse.com, StallionRegister.com, ExclusivelyEquine.com, the official store of Blood-Horse Publications, BloodHorseNOW.com, and TrueNicks.com.
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For more information, contact:
Robert Bolson
Director of Corporate Marketing Services
Blood-Horse Publications
Tel.: (859) 276-6809
rbolson@bloodhorse.com
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