How I Got Hooked On Racing: TDN Staff Writer Patrycja Szpyra

I got into racing via horses who had nothing to do with racing, as it is for many people with no family ties to rely on. Horses were a side hobby for me due to competitive swimming taking up enormous amounts of my time (a contentious topic in my house when I entered those famously stable teenage years) and my introduction to Thoroughbreds was, ironically, thanks to a mistake on my part.

I had asked my instructor once what the fastest horse in the world was, as someone had erroneously told me it was the Morgan, and after she got done laughing at us, she cleared up any misconceptions on who in fact carried that crown. We'd only ever ridden or worked schoolmasters with traces of famous Thoroughbred stallions in their pedigrees, and to that point they'd been the fanciest creature my young eyes had ever seen. When I asked if she'd ever consider having a pure-bred in her program, she quickly declined the suggestion.

From there, the internet was my best friend. The more I saw, the more fascinated I became, and the wilder the dreams became of riding a fancy former racehorse.

My first experience with them in action was through my TV screen, however, thanks largely to either TVG or HRTV (whoever carried the most Florida racing at the time). The winner was a grey, it was on the main track. That's all I remember of it now. I wish I could recall their name because I'd love to know how they did after retirement.

By my high school years, I'd experienced Barbaro, Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, and Goldikova, and I was watching the races every afternoon when I got home from school. Swimming became an annoying side thing I entertained because of the 'sunk cost' fallacy, to my parents' great disappointment, but they eventually accepted that my heart had gone to something else. Still, I had no clue that I would end up working in the industry. I knew I wanted to study something revolving around horses, but the finer details were not my strong point. What came after was largely an afterthought.

For all its talk as being a changing point for others, university didn't change much for me. And boy did I try to find other interesting things to pursue outside of racing. Considering my job(s), the effort was an abject failure.

My major step into the industry came by way of an internship with the syndicate Pocket Aces Racing, and they haven't gotten tired of me, yet. Then came quick stints in other positions around Kentucky farms, and here I am today, taking up space in one of the industry's major publications.

Do I wish I'd taken a less roundabout path? Sure. In the end though, I don't know if I would be willing to change anything to do that, so I'll take what I've been dealt. It's been an interesting ride to get here.