MediaVista 27
Monmouth St. Suite 4 Red Bank, NJ 07701 |
Phone: |
(732) 747-8060 |
| Phone: |
(800) 647-6571 |
| Fax: |
(732) 747-8955 |
E-mail addresses:
Editor / News Stories:
editor@thoroughbreddailynews.com
Advertising: advertising@thoroughbreddailynews.com
Customer Service: customerservice@thoroughbreddailynews.com
FAX SUBSCRIBERS: On the move? You now have two ways to stay in touch!
Call us, like always, at (732) 747-8060 to give us your temporary fax number,
or access your TDN through the web--a free service to all subscribers.
(And if you forget your password, just give us a call for that, too...)
MOBILE USERS: We've got a special layout just for you!
Mobile users now have a better way to see TDN's Top News, formatted specifically for mobile browsing.
TDNMobile.com will take you directly to the enhanced site.
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Originally founded in the
mid-eighties, the Thoroughbred Daily News was acquired in its entirety
by MediaVista, Inc. in 1993. A three-to-five page daily fax with 120
subscribers at that time, the TDN quickly grew from an industry upstart
to everyone's favorite daily read, now received by thousands of daily
subscribers. The TDN is published in Red Bank, New Jersey in the Jersey
Shore region by the busy staff of 15 listed below.
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Barry Weisbord
President / Co-Publisher
BarryWeisbord@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
cell: 732-673-1273
After attending the University of Pennsylvania, Weisbord began his racing career working on the backstretch for trainers Allen Jerkens and Walter Kelley in 1972. Two years later, he took out a trainer's license. After operating a small racing stable in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania with lifelong friend Alan Goldberg, Weisbord turned to bloodstock management, creating the Executive Bloodstock Management Corp. in 1979.
In 1983, he co-established the Matchmaker Breeders' Exchange, which introduced a new means of selling stallion seasons and shares via public auction, much like a stock market for racehorse futures.
From 1991 to 1993 Weisbord served as architect and president of the American Championship Racing Series, a coast-to-coast tour of televised championship events for older horses on ABC and ESPN.
In 1993, Weisbord co-founded MediaVista, which purchased a controlling interest in the Thoroughbred Daily News and became its publisher, moving the paper from Kentucky to New Jersey. The TDN has gone on to become the most influential daily newspaper in the Thoroughbred industry, serving nearly 10,000 daily readers.
In 2003, Weisbord was introduced to Trakus, a cutting-edge tracking technology originally applied to hockey. Weisbord was instrumental in the application of that technology to horse racing. Weisbord is now Trakus's Chairman of the Board, and has helped to develop their systems to allow the public to better follow their horse and understand racing. The technology has been perfected to create a real-time graphic display which continually identifies each horse during every stage of a race and produces the most complete set of data available, including the actual feet traveled per runner. The internet-compliant technology provides an easier introduction to the sport for new fans, and should help to introduce newcomers to the sport. Trakus systems are currently installed in racetracks throughout North America, including Woodbine, Keeneland, Del Mar, and others. The first international system was deployed July, 2008 at Deauville, France.
A Philadelphia native, Weisbord has owned and bred racehorses, and has been a commercial thoroughbred breeder for 30 years. He continues to operate a small racing stable, mostly in the New York and New Jersey area, highlighted by his co-ownership of 1989 Eclipse-Award winning sprinter and 1990 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Safely Kept. He is also an active participant in stallion investment and stallion portfolio management.
He is the chairman of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's principal annual fundraiser--an auction of stallion season options and unique experiences in Saratoga Springs, New York. The TRF is the nation's oldest and largest foundation dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and lifetime shelter of former racehorses.
In June, 2008, he was elected to the board of the Breeders' Cup Limited Members and Trustees.
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Sue Finley
Vice President / Co-Publisher
SueFinley@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
cell: 732-614-3124
Sue Finley spent her childhood commuting to Belmont Park from her home in Weston, Connecticut. A cum laude graduate of New York University with Bachelor's Degrees in French and Journalism, she began an internship in the NYRA press department while still a senior at NYU and accepted a full-time position at the track in her final term. She earned a scholarship for NYU's Master's program in French, but the lure of Belmont Park proved to be too great, and she left graduate school after a semester to concentrate on her racing career. She remained at NYRA for eight years, rising to the position of Senior Media Coordinator, and left in 1991 to work as a researcher for ABC's Wide World of Sports. In 1992, she took a job at one of ABC's properties, the American Championship Racing Series, where she served as Director of Administration and Publicity.
In 1993, she and ACRS founder Barry Weisbord took over the production of the Thoroughbred Daily News. Finley's written work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Daily News, the Thoroughbred Record and the Blood-Horse, among other publications, and she served as a feature producer for numerous ESPN horse-racing telecasts.
She lives in Fair Haven, New Jersey with her husband, Bill, a writer, and their two children.
She is the First Vice President of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, a national organization dedicated to the humane retirement of former racehorses, and is currently pursuing a Professional Certificate in fundraising from NYU's George Heyman Center for Philanthropy.
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Editorial |
Andy Belfiore
Editor-in-Chief
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
A native of Massachusetts, Andy Belfiore grew up riding horses and found a love for the sport of racing. She
started in the industry as a hotwalker, and later worked as a groom, exercise rider and assistant trainer. Finally,
she switched to the frontside to work for the New York Racing Association's press office and has been working in
racing media since that time.
Andy joined the TDN in 1993, and currently holds the title
of Editor-In-Chief. Her role includes writing and editing major
articles of interests, race reviews and race summaries for the
TDN, as well as overseeing the editorial staff that compiles
the daily editions of the publication. She is also a writer
for the Newark Star Ledger, where she covers thoroughbred racing
for the widely-circulated NJ newspaper. Andy is a resident of
Middletown, NJ.
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Jessica Martini
Senior Editor
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
A lifelong resident of Monmouth County, NJ, Jessica graduated with a Bachelor
of Arts Degree from the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station, NJ. A love
of writing and of horses led her to the publicity department of Monmouth Park racetrack
where she spent two summers before joining the TDN staff in 1995.
When not slaving over a newsletter, she spends time with the two men in her life:
a fun-loving German Shepherd named Hajj and Brian, an exuberant ex-racehorse
with an irrational fear of trees.
Because pain is cathartic, Jessica enjoys distance running and has completed three
marathons. She is a lover of Irish literature, Cary Grant movies and mocha frappaccinos.
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Alan Carasso
Associate Editor
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Born and raised in suburban Chicago, Alan joined the TDN staff in September 1998. After receiving an advanced degree in German from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, he held various jobs outside the industry before pursuing his "dream job" in horse racing. A fan of the game ever since cashing a $17.80 show ticket on Tolomeo in the 1983 Budweiser (Arlington) Million, Alan would frequently attend morning workouts and rarely missed a weekend at the races. Now a resident of the Jersey Shore, Alan is the proud "Papa" to two little girls and recently became a new dad with the birth of Jake in June 2009.
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Marie Kizenko
Associate Editor
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
At age five, Marie Kizenko compelled her parents, on a family car trip,
to tune the car radio to the Belmont so that she could cheer Alydar past
Affirmed, to no avail.
While working towards a Bachelor's Degree at the University of Chicago,
Marie continued to maintain a keen interest in everything equine, and
undertook an extensive pedigree research project that detailed the progeny
of famous broodmares. She continued to maintain and expand this catalog while
working as an Analyst for Bankers Trust in New York City after graduation.
The knowledge gained through her independent research, along with the
quantitative skills developed at Bankers Trust and her unsurpassed enthusiasm
for horseracing, helped Marie secure a position at Werk Thoroughbred Consultants
in Fremont, California, where she worked as a pedigree analyst for a year.
During her time at WTC, Marie gained an in-depth familiarity with the horseracing
and bloodstock industries, an insight that, in conjunction with her liberal
arts background, allowed her to enter the field of horseracing journalism
with little difficulty.
Upon relocating to the East Coast in 1998, Marie joined the staff of the TDN,
where she currently works as an assistant editor.
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Christina Bossinakis
Associate Editor
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Christina Bossinakis bred and raced homing pigeons for 15 years before moving into the world of horse racing. Initially employed on the backstretch working with standardbreds at the local racetrack, Hippodrome de Montreal, her love of animals and an interest in animal physiology drew her to a position at a local veterinary hospital, where she was employed for six years. Upon her graduation from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Science (double major in Biology and English Literature), she moved away from her tight knit Greek family in her native land to follow her love of horse racing.
Christina, who joined the team in 2001, currently serves as an Associate Editor at the TDN. Playing the role of a writer, editor and reporter during the week, she spends much of her free time on weekends doing what she loves to do most, spending more time at the racetrack and watching horse racing.
For those scarce moments spent away from the racing scene, Christina enjoys reading and getting her blood pumping through a wide variety of physical activity, including combat arts, kickboxing, yoga and weight training.
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Lucas Marquardt
Writer/Reporter
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Lucas Marquardt was born in Saratoga and raised in Schoharie, New York. His father, Robert, trained Standardbred horses before becoming a successful businessman. His mother, Jill McGrath, was a librarian who is now retired. Marquardt graduated Emerson College in Boston with a degree in Media Arts. He has lived in New York City since 2001. Marquardt has bred horses in New York and races at Charles Town in West Virginia with trainer John Dillow. Away from the track, his interests include the Dallas Cowboys, honky tonk bars, history books and competitive walking.
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Steve Sherack
Writer / Reporter
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Steve Sherack joined the TDN staff as Writer/Reporter in May 2003. He began his career in the racing industry as an associate editor with American Turf Monthly during his freshman year of college. The native New Yorker graduated from St. John's University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism in May 2002. Steve remains a correspondent for ATM, where he serves as a handicapper and writer. Along with the TDN and ATM, Steve’s photography has also appeared on the websites of IEAH Stables and Team Stallion Racing, as well as the JRA and Vinery. A sports fanatic, Steve rarely misses a season without catching a road game of his beloved New York Mets. His baseball stadium tour includes road trips to Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Montreal, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Steve resides in Franklin Square on Long Island, within close striking distance of beautiful Belmont Park.
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Brian DiDonato
Writer / Reporter
editor@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Brian DiDonato joined the TDN staff in April 2010. He is a 2009 graduate of Connecticut College, where he majored in Philosophy and minored in English. Brian was first introduced to horse racing as a child during summer trips to Saratoga with his father. In the beginning, he had no interest in the racing and spent most of his time playing on the track playground, but as he got older he became fascinated with the races, the horses, and especially the art of handicapping. His hobby developed into an obsession during his freshman year of college and Brian soon decided to pursue a career in racing. In the summer of 2008, he worked as a reporter for the New York Racing Association Press Office during the Saratoga meet. His experience confirmed that a job in racing was what he wanted. Brian is a native of Wethersfield, CT and currently resides about a furlong from TDN headquarters in Red Bank, NJ. He is an avid golfer and a big New York Yankees fan.
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Advertising |
Alycia Borer
Director of Advertising
Advertising@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Alycia has been with the TDN since 1993, starting as a member of the editorial
staff before taking charge of the advertising division in 1996. A native
New Yorker, she graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Radio,
Television and Film before earning her Masters in Screenwriting from New York
University.
After a short stint as an intern at Thoroughbred Racing Communications,
she joined the TDN and has been a staple ever since. Her role includes
creating and managing TDN advertising and working daily with farms and agencies
on developing marketing ads.
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Lia Kusch
Senior Advertising Designer
Advertising@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Lia grew up in Long Branch, NJ and is a lifelong Jersey Shore native. She received her Bachelors degree from Monmouth University in May 2003 where she studied both Graphic Design and Marketing to promote her career in advertising. She landed her job as Advertising Assistant/Graphic Designer with the Thoroughbred Daily News in May 2004, and as a lifelong animal lover, has been developing her knowledge and interest in horse racing ever since.
When Lia is not designing away at the TDN, she can usually be found walking the boards along the jersey shore or hiking the wooded trails of Monmouth County with her rescued Shiba Inu named Yoshi, a very cute dog with a lot of attitude. Lia is also a very big fan of "The Office" and makes sure she never misses an episode from her current residence in Oceanport, NJ where she is walking distance from Monmouth Park. During racing season, she can clearly hear the announcers and cheering racing fans from her backyard.
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Sarah K. Andrew
Advertising Assistant/Director of Distribution
Advertising@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Sarah grew up in Howell, NJ and received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Rutgers College in 1999. After a seven-year stint in financial services with Prudential, Sarah's lifelong love of horse racing led her to the Thoroughbred Daily News, where she serves as Advertising Assistant and Director of Distribution.
Since 2003, Sarah honed her skills as a horse racing photographer and has been mentored by some of the top shooters in the sport. Sarah's award-winning photography is displayed in galleries and has been published internationally in magazines, newspapers and racing media. She was a contributing writer and lead photographer for a book published in 2008.
An enthusiastic rider since childhood, Sarah has studied and competed in show jumping and dressage for over two decades. When not riding or shooting at the racetrack, you can find her in the front row photographing local and national rock and roll acts, including her husband Jonathan's latest band.
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Thomas Rosati
Advertising Assistant
Advertising@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Tom grew up in Oceanport, NJ and received his Associates degree from The Art Institute Manhattan where he studied Graphic Design. While attending school, he moved to Brooklyn Heights where he was subjected to a “melting pot” of art and design, which inspired him to pursue a career in graphic design. He owes his time spent in New York City for truly opening his eyes to the art scene. Upon graduating in 2005, Tom moved back to his hometown to begin freelancing as well as working at Monmouth Park Racetrack. He still remembers the day he went to visit his mom at work, a teller at MP, and won his first $2 exacta bet. He is a former TOTE technician from the track where he developed an interest in thoroughbred racing and learned as much as he could about it. With an interest in thoroughbred racing and a degree in graphic design, Tom earned a spot on the TDN staff and couldn’t be any happier.
Growing up only minutes from the local beaches, he couldn’t imagine living anywhere but by the ocean. He likes to spend his free time in the water, summer or winter, as long as there are waves. Being so close to local surf spots has had an influence on his art style and has been the subject of many works on a variety of mediums. He recently got involved with airbrushing and would like to see his art some day on surfboards, skateboards and possibly on clothing as well.
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Customer Service |
Vicki Forbes
Director of Customer Services
CustomerService@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Vicki Forbes is a native of Frostburg, Maryland. She got her
start in racing freelance riding at farms in the Baltimore area.
She galloped horses at Pimlico for trainer Frank Bonsal, before
marrying trainer John Forbes and taking almost two decades off
to raise a family. Acting on a tip from bloodstock agent Eddie
Rosen, the Thoroughbred Daily News lured her out of retirement
in 1997 for what they claimed would be a temporary project...and
never let her go. She has risen to the position of Director
of Customer Services, where she serves as the TDN's primary
(and invaluable) interface with clients.
She lives in Holmdel, New Jersey with her husband, John, their
three children, and four-legged friends too numerous to mention.
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Information Technology |
Robert Williams
Director of IT/Webmaster
RobertWilliams@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Only Thoroughbred racing could lure Robert from the beautiful shores of his native Lake Tahoe, California. After brief stints in Los Angeles and Phoenix, including time at Cal Poly Pomona, Robert set sail for Lexington, Kentucky, and a future focused on horses.
Robert grew up on computer technology and began developing websites in the earliest days of dial-up Internet, including his first major e-commerce site in 1994 that took a small regional company to world-wide availability.
Melding his love for technology and racing seemed a natural fit. After a few years spent building a foundation in the Thoroughbred industry, Robert founded Williams Internet Design & Services (wids.com) in 1999. It wasn’t long before he had a number of the biggest farms and horse businesses on his roster of clients. In 2001, Thoroughbred Daily News decided to build a presence on the web. Robert developed the website at that time and the two have been partners ever since.
As TDN’s website grew, so did Robert’s concentration on the TDN product. In 2007, he joined the staff of TDN fulltime. Robert lives in Lexington with his wife, Jill, a freelance racing writer, and their three young daughters. They dabble in horse breeding and had their first Thoroughbred winner in 2005.
When not spending his time on TDN or with his family, Robert can usually be found scooping pots at the poker table.
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Gregg Casillo
Database Administrator/Programming Specialist
GreggCasillo@ThoroughbredDailyNews.com
Born in Louisville, KY, Gregg was raised by horse racing lovers (his parents have a nice collection of julep glasses from the 70's). Despite moving to places like Ohio and Kansas, he has always longed for his Old Kentucky Home.
Gregg took an interest in programming computers as many his age did: playing video games on an Atari 2600. A Commodore 64 soon followed, and he began learning BASIC by entering programs published in Compute! magazines. Years later in college, Gregg began experimenting with the Perl programming language to make his first web pages more interactive; he continues this work today. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in English, and has since worked with and learned from excellent people at Ernst & Young LLC and Kentucky Educational Television. Gregg has performed ColdFusion and Perl programming and SQL database management for Thoroughbred Daily News since July of 2007.
He currently resides just north of Cincinnati in Fairfield, OH with his wife, Betsy. He enjoys dabbling in the stock market, logging some miles on his road bike, competing in fantasy sports leagues, and creating a pop culture blog with Betsy.
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Marketing |
Gary King
Marketing Manager
Gary King is a native of Ireland, and grew up near the renowned Curragh racecourse. Although it cannot be determined where exactly his passion for horse racing began, jobs with Airlie Stud and Irish Thoroughbred Marketing fueled his interest.
Gary graduated with a Bachelor of Business Studies from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) in 2008, and then completed the Darley Flying Start course. This fantastic opportunity allowed Gary to work/learn/socialize, in that order, across the world for two years. During this time, he was fortunate to attend many of the world’s top races, and regards the Melbourne Cup as a personal highlight.
Gary joined the TDN staff in July 2010. He currently resides in Red Bank, New Jersey and has settled in well, despite the language barrier.
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