Donna Barton Brothers
Encyclopedia
Donna Barton Brothers is a former jockey
who won over 1100 horse races and serves as an horse-back riding reporter and analyst for NBC Sports
Triple Crown
coverage and a reporter and analyst for TVG Network
. She also exercises horses at Churchill Downs
. She is one of the most decorated female jockeys of her time, retired in 1998 with more than 1,000 career wins and still ranks second on the money list. Brothers hails from a family of riders, including her sibling, as well as her mother who was, in 1969, one of the first women to be licensed as a jockey. She resides in Louisville, Kentucky
.
' first call jockeys in the 1990s and rode numerous stakes winners, at the time making her the second leading money-earner of all time among female Thoroughbred
jockeys.
Of her 1130 wins, the biggest was the 1996 Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes
, aboard Boston Harbor
, trained by D. Wayne Lukas
. She also came in second on another Lukas-trained horse—Hennessy in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Juvenile
.
In terms of earnings, Barton still ranks third among female jockeys even though she retired in 1998.
Barton retired in 1998, married trainer Frank Brothers
, and then became involved in television broadcasting. Brothers started as an interviewer at the Fairgrounds Race Course in New Orleans then as an on-air racing analyst for Churchill Downs where she joined their other analyst, Mike Battaglia. She was "discovered" by NBC Sports in 2000 when NBC was at Churchill Downs for observation in advance of assuming Derby coverage from ABC in 2001. She began working for NBC that fall doing their Breeders' Cup coverage as their only reporter on horseback. She attended college from 2002-2005 but became too busy with reporting duties for NBC Sports and other networks and moved to full time work as a reporter and racing analyst in 2005.
Brothers served as a racing analyst for Churchill Downs' "Paddock Preview" show from April 1999 to November 2002. Additionally, Brothers did on-location work for TVG, a horseracing network, providing on-site reports from both Churchill Downs and the Fair Grounds from November 1999 to November 2002. Presently she covers Keeneland's Spring and Fall meets for TVG and has been doing that since 2009.
At Triple Crown races, Brothers positions herself near the starting gate and rides around the track backward, passing the horses who are racing, thus getting in position to be the first to interview the winning jockey.
Brothers also covered the PBR Professional Bull Riders events for NBC Sports and covers the World Equestrian Games
, the Rolex Kentucky Three Day
show, and the Hambletonian Stakes, all for NBC.
In 2011 she released the book, "Inside Track: Inside Guide to Horse Racing".
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
who won over 1100 horse races and serves as an horse-back riding reporter and analyst for NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
Triple Crown
United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...
coverage and a reporter and analyst for TVG Network
TVG Network
TVG Network is an American specialty channel dedicated to horse racing. The company broadcasts from Los Angeles, California and is available in the United States on Dish Network and DirecTV as well as select cable companies...
. She also exercises horses at Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...
. She is one of the most decorated female jockeys of her time, retired in 1998 with more than 1,000 career wins and still ranks second on the money list. Brothers hails from a family of riders, including her sibling, as well as her mother who was, in 1969, one of the first women to be licensed as a jockey. She resides in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
.
Career
Donna Barton's mother Patti Barton was a jockey. So were her brother and sister. Although her mother never insisted she follow the same career path, at age 21, Barton listened to an agent who said she should try being a jockey. Brothers began her professional career as a jockey in 1987. She was one of D. Wayne LukasD. Wayne Lukas
Darrell Wayne Lukas is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S...
' first call jockeys in the 1990s and rode numerous stakes winners, at the time making her the second leading money-earner of all time among female Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
jockeys.
Of her 1130 wins, the biggest was the 1996 Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes
Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes
The Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late September as part of Kentucky Cup Day at Turfway Park in the Cincinnati, Ohio suburb of Florence, Kentucky....
, aboard Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor (horse)
Boston Harbor is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by William T. Young's Overbrook Farm near Lexington, Boston Harbor was a son of Capote who won the 1996 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was voted that year's U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt.Trained by D...
, trained by D. Wayne Lukas
D. Wayne Lukas
Darrell Wayne Lukas is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S...
. She also came in second on another Lukas-trained horse—Hennessy in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Juvenile
Breeders' Cup Juvenile
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships....
.
In terms of earnings, Barton still ranks third among female jockeys even though she retired in 1998.
Barton retired in 1998, married trainer Frank Brothers
Frank L. Brothers
Frank L. Brothers is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who in 1991 won two of the three U.S. Triple Crown races...
, and then became involved in television broadcasting. Brothers started as an interviewer at the Fairgrounds Race Course in New Orleans then as an on-air racing analyst for Churchill Downs where she joined their other analyst, Mike Battaglia. She was "discovered" by NBC Sports in 2000 when NBC was at Churchill Downs for observation in advance of assuming Derby coverage from ABC in 2001. She began working for NBC that fall doing their Breeders' Cup coverage as their only reporter on horseback. She attended college from 2002-2005 but became too busy with reporting duties for NBC Sports and other networks and moved to full time work as a reporter and racing analyst in 2005.
Brothers served as a racing analyst for Churchill Downs' "Paddock Preview" show from April 1999 to November 2002. Additionally, Brothers did on-location work for TVG, a horseracing network, providing on-site reports from both Churchill Downs and the Fair Grounds from November 1999 to November 2002. Presently she covers Keeneland's Spring and Fall meets for TVG and has been doing that since 2009.
At Triple Crown races, Brothers positions herself near the starting gate and rides around the track backward, passing the horses who are racing, thus getting in position to be the first to interview the winning jockey.
Brothers also covered the PBR Professional Bull Riders events for NBC Sports and covers the World Equestrian Games
World Equestrian Games
The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale . The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive Summer Olympic Games, since 1990...
, the Rolex Kentucky Three Day
Rolex Kentucky Three Day
The Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event is an eventing competition held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The Rolex Kentucky is a CCI**** eventing competition, and the only four-star show in the Western Hemisphere. Four stars is the highest level of competition, the same level of...
show, and the Hambletonian Stakes, all for NBC.
In 2011 she released the book, "Inside Track: Inside Guide to Horse Racing".