Planting Seeds: Amplify Horse Racing Aims to Blossom Nationally

by Sara Gordon and Katie Petrunyak

How do we guarantee a future for horse racing? Many will offer answers such as increased equine and track safety, improved wagering opportunities, and modernizing and embracing technological advancements. And though those are all extremely important, it will all be for naught if there is no incoming generation to grow the fan base and ultimately, hopefully, join the industry's workforce.

That's where Amplify Horse Racing comes in.

Founded in 2019 by Annise Montplaisir, now the Executive Director, and Madison Scott, a member of the Board of Directors, Amplify Horse Racing was created with the mission of serving as the youth arm of the Thoroughbred industry by creating pathways for youth and young adults to learn about mentorship and educational opportunities within the industry. Now in its fourth year of operating as a 501(c)(3), Amplify is ready to launch its biggest project yet with a nationwide expansion effort.

Founded with a Vision

The organization was the brainchild of Montplaisir, inspired by her own pathway into the industry and officially launched during her time on Godolphin Flying Start, a two-year international Thoroughbred industry management and leadership program.

“I developed an interest in the Thoroughbred industry when I was around 12, after watching a horse racing movie, and then somebody sent me information about the Godolphin Flying Start program. At that moment I said, 'I'm going to do that program someday,'” said Montplaisir. “It was such a source of inspiration for me, but beyond that I didn't see a lot of other youth educational initiatives to really guide my path [into the industry]. So, it was really important to me to create this national youth program so that when there's another 12-year-old out there that has no idea how to get started or doesn't really have that source of inspiration to keep them motivated, Amplify can be that.”

Amplify mentees visit with Godolphin's Gerry Duffy | photo courtesy Amplify

Since its inception, Amplify has not only grown its collection of educational resources but also expanded its outreach, highlighted by a mentorship program launched in 2021.

Offering two separate sessions of the program in both the spring and fall, Amplify pairs young adults who have an interest in the horse racing industry with experienced industry professionals that work within the field they're interested in. Though geographical location is taken into account, mentorships are not restricted by that. The program is conducive to both virtual meetings and face-to-face meetings, when possible, between mentees and mentors.

“To say that we want to bring youth and young adults into the industry is a big project because you're working with a wide variety of age groups and there are a lot of ways to potentially tackle that,” said Montplaisir. “We tried to be really intentional at first in how we could create the best 'big solution' to get us started, which was our mentorship program. That's really targeting high school and college students, giving them an entry point into the Thoroughbred industry by pairing them up with an industry mentor who they can work with.”

This past year, Amplify introduced a new travel award that granted four outstanding mentees the opportunity to attend an immersive, behind-the-scenes experience in mid-November in Lexington, Ky. Recipients traveled from Texas, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire to visit eight renowned facilities including Ashford Stud, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program and Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.

“That program is a great prerequisite for those young people to have a better understanding on where they go from here,” noted Montplaisir.

Since its inaugural year, Amplify's mentorship program has connected 75 mentees from 25 states or territories with professionals that work within the industry, resulting in dozens of graduates venturing further into the industry to pursue educational opportunities, internships and jobs.

After gaining momentum in 2021 and 2022 through a partnership with the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), along with support from major entities and organizations across the industry, Amplify went out on its own in 2023. As a result, the organization was able to hire its first two full-time staff members.

While serving as the host for prosperous mentorships that have ultimately created a growing network of young adults passionate about finding a career within the industry, Amplify has partnered with a handful of industry organizations since its inception, including Keeneland.

A prominent entity known for its mission to perpetuate the sport of racing through a commitment to fan development and longstanding engagement with the local community, Keeneland has been a supporter and partner of Amplify for the past three years. Coming together to support each other's shared goals, Amplify has been a constant presence at Keeneland's College Scholarship Day and Kids Club Family Day since the partnership began. Along with setting up an interactive booth and serving as a one-stop resource for all questions and inquiries regarding the Thoroughbred industry, Amplify offers behind-the-scenes tours of the paddock and winner's circle.

“I think one of the great aspects about Amplify is that it takes away some of the intimidation that some people might feel around the sport, and if people have a passion for the sport and for the horse at a young age, Amplify does a great job of breaking down the barriers so that they really understand what the opportunities are to be involved with the sport,” said Shannon Arvin, Keeneland's President and CEO. “Keeneland's mission since the beginning has been to perpetuate the very best of the sport of horse racing, and we can't be the best at horse racing if we don't have fans. It's critical to share that at a young age. So many people have the experience of being at the track with their parents or their grandparents. I think that those foundations need to be started at a really young age, so they can really develop that sense of awe that so many of us feel with respect to the sport.”

And the proof is in the feedback from those who have participated in Amplify's behind-the-scenes experiences at the Lexington track.

In a testimonial received by Nicholas, a sophomore at Midway University who joined one of Amplify's tours during College Day at Keeneland at the 2023 spring meet, he wrote: “Yesterday, I visited Keeneland for the first time. I attended hoping to receive a college scholarship. I was wandering around the facility feeling lost. That is, until I had the pleasure of attending one of your organization's tours. As soon as the tour began the feeling of being lost completely vanished. This feeling was replaced by a sense of belonging. I learned a lot during the tour.

“Prior to arriving at Midway, I had aspirations of getting involved in the horse realm. However, I have not been able to fulfill this desire of mine. I began to suppose that the possibility of getting involved may be nearly impossible. Yesterday felt like the revival of my interest in the subject.”

Outside of the racing industry, Amplify has expanded their outreach efforts by participating in and sponsoring a variety of equine events in Lexington and beyond. From setting up booths with educational activities pertaining to the Thoroughbred industry at Breyerfest or the United States Pony Clubs (USPC) Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park, to hosting tours for out-of-state college groups or presenting at a variety of conferences, the goal remains the same: amplifying education, mentorship, and career opportunities in the Thoroughbred industry for young people.

“It's been really important for us to go through and identify events where we can have a big impact for the Thoroughbred industry, creating touch points [along the way],” said Montplaisir. “These are kids who come from across the U.S., many different areas, but might have had very minimal exposure to the Thoroughbred industry.”

Amplify mentees visit Ashford Stud | photo courtesy Amplify

For Montplaisir, who forged her own way into the Thoroughbred industry and eventually made the move from her hometown of Fargo, North Dakota to the heart of horse country in Lexington, it's the ability to serve as a cohesive and unified 'welcome center' for youth and young adults interested in the industry that drives her to expand all that Amplify has to offer.

“I think when you're starting a new organization, it's easy to get pulled in different directions based on a lot of people with lots of great ideas and suggestions on what you should add. So, I knew from the beginning that Amplify was going to be really big and all encompassing,” said Montplaisir.

“I think Amplify provides such a proven model for how best to educate and expose youth to our sport,” added Arvin. “It's much more beneficial to have consistent messaging about our sport, and to have consistent ways of exposing young people to our sport, and Amplify does such a good job of providing just that.”

A Nationwide Expansion

Amplify is now looking toward the future with a vision of expanding nationally. Their first step is to create regional partnerships. With local relationships already established with Keeneland and Churchill Downs, Amplify is looking outward to other tracks and racing jurisdictions nationwide that might want to grow and improve their educational programming.

“We are now exploring working with other groups and entities around the country, from those who maybe don't have any sort of educational outreach to those who need help and support working on their outreach,” explained Montplaisir. “As we start to expand into these other regions, it all ties into having that unified messaging on how we're bringing youth into the industry and creating pathways moving forward. Rather than everybody having their own separate programing, Amplify can be a unified voice for education.”

Amplify was able to put a few of these initial plans in motion earlier this summer with a pilot program called the Morton Urban Equine Education Program. Carried out in partnership with the Illinois Backstretch Charitable Foundation (IBCF), which is the benevolent arm of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA), Amplify assisted in hosting five high school students at Hawthorne Race Course for a week-long program aimed to introduce youth to all aspects of the Thoroughbred industry.

Students participating in the Morton Urban Equine Education Program | photo courtesy Amplify

The students' experience ranged from participating in one or two pony rides to never having touched a horse, and none of them had been on the backside of a racetrack before. By the end of the week, the students had all ridden a track pony, visited the test barn, watched a blacksmith shoe a horse and learned about everything from conformation to the gaits of a horse.

“At the end of it as the students were reflecting on their favorite parts, the part that was the most meaningful to them was actually getting to feed peppermints to the horses,” Montplaisir shared. “We have this amazing opportunity as the Thoroughbred industry to leverage our tracks and our industry as centers for education to connect people with horses, because a lot of our tracks are in inner-city or highly urban areas where people might never get to see, much less touch, a horse.”

Montplaisir is confident that initiatives like the Morton Urban Equine Education Program can be executed throughout the country. Next up on their agenda, Amplify will be on hand at Saratoga for four weeks in August. The organization has had a presence during the race meet there for the past several years, but this year in partnership with the New York Racing Association, they will be expanding their tours of the backside. The initiative will be targeted specifically toward young people interested in the racing industry.

With Amplify's vision to implement regional ambassadors, programs like these will be conducted nationally and year-round, rather than having to rely on Montplaisir or other full-time Amplify staff members traveling to events. Local, part-time contractors would be trained and paid by Amplify to conduct tours, visit classrooms and career fairs, and connect educators with industry professionals. Tracks and racing organizations would have a local ambassador they could call upon to help lead educational programming.

Students attend a tour of the backside | photo courtesy Amplify

Back at their home base in Lexington, Amplify also has plans to roll out a mobile education unit that would travel throughout Kentucky and beyond to events like school presentations, career fairs and college or family days at racetracks.

In addition, Amplify has their sights on putting together educational tour and curriculum models that would be prepared for individual racetracks and farms. Designed specifically for student visits, these programs would be adapted for various age groups. Depending on the location, tours would be conducted by one of Amplify's regional ambassadors or Amplify would train an employee of the track or farm. They also plan to offer specialized training to employees of facilities that wish to enhance their educational programming.

All of these plans will be rolled out in the coming months as a result of Amplify's upcoming initiative, the Amplify Impact Campaign. The fundraiser will launch in August with the goal of raising $1 million.

“Over the past couple years, we've had a chance to pilot a lot of programing and we've reached this pivotal point where we know what works and we also know what we have to do to grow, expand and continue filling our role as the youth arm of the Thoroughbred industry on a national basis,” said Montplaisir. “We're kicking off the Amplify Impact Campaign in order to build a mobile education unit, develop a pretty awesome curriculum and then start implementing regional Amplify Ambassadors who can help us carry out our educational mission and work with our regional partners in a much more meaningful way.”

Pat Cummings, the Executive Director of the National Thoroughbred Alliance (NTA), is a member of Amplify's Board of Directors. He said he has chosen to support Amplify since its advent because he wished there had been a similar program in existence when he first got involved in the industry. He also added that due to the diminishing number of regional racetracks, he believes the number of in-person encounters young people will have at a track in the coming years is limited, so there is a crucial need to engage any youth who might be interested.

“Amplify is doing a tremendous service for track operators, for farms, for any organization tied to the sport,” said Cummings. “It's something that I think should be embraced by organizational leadership and supported at every possible turn. Horse racing has to build infrastructure for the future and I think you could reasonably argue that over the last 20 years, the infrastructure investment in horse racing has maybe not been what it should. Amplify to me is part of a next generation of infrastructure for horse racing and its workforce.”

Many of the young people that Amplify aims to engage are in college and high school, although some are as young as elementary school-aged. Cummings pointed out that the impact of educating this younger generation will not be obvious overnight.

“One of those sayings is that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the second best time is today,” said Cummings. “Amplify is trying to plant seeds for the sport. I really do believe firmly that every organization across the sport, whether it's the for-profit sector or the nonprofit sector, should be participating in this. We want to plant new trees for the sport and you're not going to see the payoff tomorrow. You're not going to see it next year. You have to do this now and know that it is an investment for way down the line. It might make us feel good today that we're doing it, but the actual payoff is going to come much later down the road.”

At this point in its young history, Amplify is just starting to see the impact their early efforts have had on building the next generation of industry participants. They have big ambitions for the future and plenty of room to grow, but the only way they can achieve their goals is through the support of the racing community at large.

“My goal is that within the next few years, the entire industry–from small tracks and regional breeding jurisdictions to the largest tracks–would recognize Amplify as the national youth arm for education,” said Montplaisir. “To get there, I would encourage people to consider partnering with Amplify. We're stronger together as a united industry, working together with one goal of bringing young people into the industry. Amplify can help all of these different groups do that together with unified messaging and resources. I think that we're going to be able to achieve that. I have so much hope for the future of the industry. There are so many amazing opportunities for young people if we can come together to have this national education movement.”