Jill Byrne's Blog

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Jill Byrne was born into a horse racing family and is herself an accomplished horsewoman. Her father, trainer Peter Howe, who trained two Eclipse Award winners, gave her a leg up on her first race horse at age 12 and she was hooked from then on. She studied political science at The University of Virginia but spent every vacation at the racetrack. She worked as an assistant and exercise rider for her father and Hall of Fame trainer "Scotty" Schulhofer prior to meeting her husband, trainer Patrick Byrne. She worked with Patrick as assistant and exercise rider during the campaigns of Eclipse Award champions Countess Diana and Horse of The Year Favorite Trick as well as Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Awesome Again.

Jill is a regular handicapper for the Churchill Downs race meets doing the race analysis and picks for the daily program and the web site. She is a contributor to the Kentucky Derby web site and a representative speaker at related handicapping seminars. Jill also works for the TVG horse racing network as a reporter and racing analyst at the premier race meets in the country and is a contributor to TVG's popular Works Show. Jill's extensive background in the thoroughbred industry gives her a unique insight to behind the scenes information from a horseman's perspective.