Jeannine Edwards

A native of Tenafly, New Jersey, Jeannine Edwards spent about 10 years on the backstretch as an exercise rider and apprentice jockey, and then a couple of years as trainer in New York and New Jersey before initially getting into television part-time as an in-house host. She began doing interviews and handicapping after moved to Maryland in 1993.

Edwards joined ESPN in 1995, when that network started the show "National Best 7", on which she was the analyst. It was a live show on ESPN2 that showed seven live races. Eventually, it was replaced with NTRA Today at the Races, which was on for 5 years. During that span, Edwards began doing more remote shows; reporting on horseracing as well as college football and basketball, and also doing some Sports Center work.

In her personal life, Edwards is divorced and currently lives in Maryland not far from Fair Hill Training Center; she has a horse from off the track and enjoys riding him and hiking with her two dogs in her spare time.

Jeannine says her passion for animals is a driving factor in her life, "I am not just a horseracing fan, but an animal lover first. I don’t like to see any animal misused, mistreated. I have a real soft spot for animals. I think more can be done on federal level and within sport to take care of the equine athletes. When you are breeding this many horses every year you have to stop and think where are all these horses going. It’s pretty gruesome and very irresponsible to horses in this country. I understand we have to have an alternative to slaughter because these horses cannot just be housed in shelters for the rest of their lives; they are lot of work and money. The question remains, 'What are we going to do with these animals?'."

We thank everyone for their questions below; the podcast will be available Tuesday, April 21.