Latest news with #DailyRacingForm
Business Wire
25-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Affinity Interactive's Daily Racing Form Partners with Horseshoe Indianapolis to Launch Groundbreaking AI Handicapping Technology
SHELBYVILLE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Affinity Interactive, through its flagship brand, Daily Racing Form (DRF), is partnering with Horseshoe Indianapolis Racing & Casino to introduce a cutting-edge suite of artificial intelligence and data-driven handicapping tools. The collaboration will debut an industry-first virtual AI handicapper, 'A.I. Alan', and expand DRF's leading-edge analytics, offering fans deeper insight and engagement throughout the meet. A pioneer in horse racing analytics since 1894, Daily Racing Form has been at the forefront of developing next-generation technology to bettors. This latest partnership reflects DRF's continued evolution under Affinity Interactive, combining data science and proprietary content to deliver innovative wagering experiences across the sport. 'We are very excited to take this next step in horse racing with our new technology abilities, and Horseshoe Indianapolis is a great place to unveil our new package,' said Rich Rosa, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for DRF. 'We have been working closely with Eric Halstrom and his team in Indiana to perfect our graphics and information implemented into the racing production.' Building on the success of DRF's TimeformUS Pace Graphs and DRF Projected Odds—introduced at Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2024—DRF intends to showcase a full suite of enhancements including: Runner and Race Profile Data, AI Generated Insights by DRF Statline, DRF Formulator Facts, and a custom digital website landing page dedicated to Horseshoe Indianapolis. These tools are designed to empower bettors with intuitive, actionable information, driving deeper engagement with every race. 'We could not be prouder to partner with DRF on this project,' said Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. 'We have worked closely with DRF to customize their offering to what we feel our customers need and will be most beneficial to them. I believe they will be so excited to have all of this added information right at their fingertips for every Thoroughbred race we run this year at Horseshoe Indianapolis.' One of the most anticipated additions to the new platform is A.I. Alan, a virtual on-air handicapper powered by DRF's proprietary artificial intelligence models. A.I. Alan will appear during daily simulcast coverage with auto-generated insights tailored specifically to Horseshoe Indianapolis races. 'A.I. Alan is our new on-air virtual handicapper,' explained Halstrom. 'He will be featured daily with auto- generated facts from DRF's new AI data system. This information is specifically tailored to our racing product and his presence on our simulcasting program will be the first in the industry powered by AI.' To further celebrate the partnership, Daily Racing Form will serve as title sponsor of the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks, taking place on Indiana Derby Day, Saturday, July 5. As Indiana's first-ever graded stakes race, the Oaks continues to attract top three-year-old fillies from across the country. 'Having DRF as the title sponsor of the Oaks adds so much validity to the race,' observed Halstrom. 'We feel their association with the Oaks will catapult exposure and accelerate the race into the next level of competition.' The 23 rd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing runs through Thursday, Nov. 13. For more information on racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit or find details on social media @HSIndyRacing. About Horseshoe Indianapolis Horseshoe Indianapolis, owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR), holds multiple awards for customer service, entertainment, gaming, racing, dining, and diversity. Located just minutes from Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Ind., this one-of-a-kind property has wall to wall excitement on the 105,940 square foot gaming floor, featuring more than 1,600 slots and 72 table games along with a state-of-the-art World Series of Poker Room containing 20 tables. In addition, Horseshoe Indianapolis offers the only live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing in the state showcased on a one-mile dirt racecourse and a seven-eighths mile turf course. Simulcast and sports wagering is offered year-round at Caesars Race & Sportsbook, also located on the casino floor, with additional gaming provided at Caesars Race & Sportsbook in Clarksville, Ind. Players can reap benefits from Caesars Rewards, the industry's most lucrative bonus program now offered at more than 50 destinations. Please visit for more information and find Horseshoe Indianapolis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing at racetracks and 21 or older to gamble at sports books and casinos. Please play responsibly. If you think you or someone you care about may have a gambling problem, call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (1-800-994-8448). ©2025 Caesars License Company, LLC. About Affinity Interactive Affinity Interactive is an omni-channel media, online, and gaming industry leader with an expanded suite of casino and online gaming offerings. Combining leading regional casinos in Nevada, Missouri and Iowa with advanced technology, digital and media platforms, and an online betting presence, Affinity Interactive has nearly 1 million combined customers and is positioned to capitalize on the continued momentum in sports betting and iGaming globally. Affinity Interactive companies also include: the iconic Daily Racing Form, 'America's Turf Authority since 1894' for horse racing and sports enthusiasts throughout North America, one of America's fastest-growing online and mobile wagering platforms; and DRF Sports, which provides fans with exclusive up-to-date sports betting stats, insights and analysis on all major U.S. sports and leagues. For more information, please visit and Affinity Interactive is a portfolio company of ZCG Private Equity, the private equity fund arm of ZCG ( a leading, privately held global firm comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, and technology development and solutions. About Daily Racing Form Founded in 1894, Daily Racing Form (DRF) is the most trusted source for premium horse racing data, news, and analysis. For over 130 years, DRF has provided horseplayers and industry professionals with exclusive past performances, expert handicapping insights, and real-time coverage of the sport. Today, DRF continues to evolve, delivering innovative digital products and AI-powered tools that enhance the horse racing experience for bettors of all levels. As part of its expansion, DRF has entered the sports affiliate business, leveraging its multi-channel platform to connect sports bettors with leading sportsbook operators. By combining its deep expertise in horse racing analytics with a growing presence in the broader sports betting market, DRF remains at the forefront of the gaming industry. For more information, visit About ZCG ZCG is a leading, privately held global firm comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, and technology development and solutions. For nearly three decades, ZCG has invested tens of billions of dollars in private equity and credit-related strategies, through multiple economic cycles and across many industries, including consumer products, steel, steel processors, agriculture, consumer food, gaming, hospitality, manufacturing, specialty services, and automotive. ZCG's investors include prominent global sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, family offices, wealth management firms, and other financial institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. ZCG has a global team comprised of approximately 400 professionals. The company is headquartered in New York, with affiliate offices located in Pune and Mumbai, India, and Riyadh, KSA. For more information, please visit
Business Wire
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Affinity Interactive's Daily Racing Form Partners with Horseshoe Indianapolis to Launch Groundbreaking AI Handicapping Technology for 2025 Racing Season
SHELBYVILLE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Affinity Interactive, through its flagship brand, Daily Racing Form (DRF), is partnering with Horseshow Indianapolis Racing & Casino to introduce a cutting-edge suite of artificial intelligence and data-driven handicapping tools for the 2025 racing season. The collaboration will debut an industry-first virtual AI handicapper, 'A.I. Alan', and expand DRF's leading-edge analytics, offering fans deeper insight and engagement throughout the meet. A pioneer in horse racing analytics since 1894, Daily Racing Form has been at the forefront of developing next-generation technology to betters. This latest partnership reflects DRF's continued evolution under Affinity Interactive, combining data science and proprietary content to deliver innovative wagering experiences across the sport. 'We are very excited to take this next step in horse racing with our new technology abilities and Horseshoe Indianapolis is a great place to unveil our new package,' said Rich Rosa, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for DRF. 'We have been working closely with Eric Halstrom and his team in Indiana to perfect our graphics and information implemented into the racing production.' Building on the success of DRF's TimeformUS Pace Graphs and DRF Projected Odds—introduced at Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2024—the 2025 season will showcase a full suite of enhancements including: Runner and Race Profile Data, AI Generated Insights by DRF Statline, DRF Formulator Facts, and a custom digital website landing page dedicated to Horseshoe Indianapolis. These tools are designed to empower bettors with intuitive, actionable information, driving deeper engagement with every race. 'We could not be prouder to partner with DRF on this project,' said Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. 'We have worked closely with DRF to customize their offering to what we feel our customers need and will be most beneficial to them. I believe they will be so excited to have all of this added information right at their fingertips for every Thoroughbred race we run this year at Horseshoe Indianapolis.' One of the most anticipated additions to the new platform is A.I. Alan, a virtual on-air handicapper powered by DRF's proprietary artificial intelligence models. A.I. Alan will appear during daily simulcast coverage with auto-generated insights tailored specifically to Horseshoe Indianapolis races. 'A.I. Alan is our new on-air virtual handicapper,' explained Halstrom. 'He will be featured daily with auto generated facts from DRF's new AI data system. This information is specifically tailored to our racing product. We expect to have A.I. Alan fully functional by early June and his presence on our simulcasting program will be the first in the industry powered by AI.' To further celebrate the partnership, Daily Racing Form will serve as title sponsor of the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks, taking place on Indiana Derby Day, Saturday, July 5. As Indiana's first-ever graded stakes race, the Oaks continues to attract top three-year-old fillies from across the country. 'Having DRF as the title sponsor of the Oaks adds so much validity to the race,' observed Halstrom. 'We feel their association with the Oaks will catapult exposure and accelerate the race into the next level of competition beginning in 2025.' The 23 rd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing runs through Thursday, Nov. 13. For more information on racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit or find details on social media @HSIndyRacing. About Horseshoe Indianapolis Horseshoe Indianapolis, owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR), holds multiple awards for customer service, entertainment, gaming, racing, dining, and diversity. Located just minutes from Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Ind., this one-of-a-kind property has wall to wall excitement on the 105,940 square foot gaming floor, featuring more than 1,600 slots and 72 table games along with a state-of-the-art World Series of Poker Room containing 20 tables. In addition, Horseshoe Indianapolis offers the only live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing in the state showcased on a one-mile dirt racecourse and a seven-eighths mile turf course. Simulcast and sports wagering is offered year-round at Caesars Race & Sportsbook, also located on the casino floor, with additional gaming provided at Caesars Race & Sportsbook in Clarksville, Ind. Players can reap benefits from Caesars Rewards, the industry's most lucrative bonus program now offered at more than 50 destinations. Please visit for more information and find Horseshoe Indianapolis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing at racetracks and 21 or older to gamble at sports books and casinos. Please play responsibly. If you think you or someone you care about may have a gambling problem, call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (1-800-994-8448). ©2025 Caesars License Company, LLC. About Affinity Interactive Affinity Interactive is an omni-channel media, online, and gaming industry leader with an expanded suite of casino and online gaming offerings. Combining leading regional casinos in Nevada, Missouri and Iowa with advanced technology, digital and media platforms, and an online betting presence, Affinity Interactive has nearly 1 million combined customers and is positioned to capitalize on the continued momentum in sports betting and iGaming globally. Affinity Interactive companies also include: the iconic Daily Racing Form, 'America's Turf Authority since 1894' for horse racing and sports enthusiasts throughout North America, one of America's fastest-growing online and mobile wagering platforms; and DRF Sports, which provides fans with exclusive up-to-date sports betting stats, insights and analysis on all major U.S. sports and leagues. For more information, please visit and Affinity Interactive is a portfolio company of ZCG Private Equity, the private equity fund arm of ZCG ( a leading, privately held merchant bank comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, and technology development and solutions. About Daily Racing Form Founded in 1894, Daily Racing Form (DRF) is the most trusted source for premium horse racing data, news, and analysis. For over 130 years, DRF has provided horseplayers and industry professionals with exclusive past performances, expert handicapping insights, and real-time coverage of the sport. Today, DRF continues to evolve, delivering innovative digital products and AI-powered tools that enhance the horse racing experience for bettors of all levels. As part of its expansion, DRF has entered the sports affiliate business, leveraging its multi-channel platform to connect sports bettors with leading sportsbook operators. By combining its deep expertise in horse racing analytics with a growing presence in the broader sports betting market, DRF remains at the forefront of the gaming industry. For more information, visit About ZCG ZCG is a leading, privately held global firm comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, and technology development and solutions. For nearly three decades, ZCG has invested tens of billions of dollars in private equity and credit-related strategies, through multiple economic cycles and across many industries, including consumer products, steel, steel processors, agriculture, consumer food, gaming, hospitality, manufacturing, specialty services, and automotive. ZCG's investors include prominent global sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, family offices, wealth management firms, and other financial institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. ZCG has a global team comprised of approximately 400 professionals. The company is headquartered in New York, with affiliate offices located in Pune and Mumbai, India, and Riyadh, KSA. For more information, please visit
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Affinity Interactive's Daily Racing Form Partners with Horseshoe Indianapolis to Launch Groundbreaking AI Handicapping Technology for 2025 Racing Season
SHELBYVILLE, Ind., June 23, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Affinity Interactive, through its flagship brand, Daily Racing Form (DRF), is partnering with Horseshow Indianapolis Racing & Casino to introduce a cutting-edge suite of artificial intelligence and data-driven handicapping tools for the 2025 racing season. The collaboration will debut an industry-first virtual AI handicapper, "A.I. Alan", and expand DRF's leading-edge analytics, offering fans deeper insight and engagement throughout the meet. A pioneer in horse racing analytics since 1894, Daily Racing Form has been at the forefront of developing next-generation technology to betters. This latest partnership reflects DRF's continued evolution under Affinity Interactive, combining data science and proprietary content to deliver innovative wagering experiences across the sport. "We are very excited to take this next step in horse racing with our new technology abilities and Horseshoe Indianapolis is a great place to unveil our new package," said Rich Rosa, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for DRF. "We have been working closely with Eric Halstrom and his team in Indiana to perfect our graphics and information implemented into the racing production." Building on the success of DRF's TimeformUS Pace Graphs and DRF Projected Odds—introduced at Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2024—the 2025 season will showcase a full suite of enhancements including: Runner and Race Profile Data, AI Generated Insights by DRF Statline, DRF Formulator Facts, and a custom digital website landing page dedicated to Horseshoe Indianapolis. These tools are designed to empower bettors with intuitive, actionable information, driving deeper engagement with every race. "We could not be prouder to partner with DRF on this project," said Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. "We have worked closely with DRF to customize their offering to what we feel our customers need and will be most beneficial to them. I believe they will be so excited to have all of this added information right at their fingertips for every Thoroughbred race we run this year at Horseshoe Indianapolis." One of the most anticipated additions to the new platform is A.I. Alan, a virtual on-air handicapper powered by DRF's proprietary artificial intelligence models. A.I. Alan will appear during daily simulcast coverage with auto-generated insights tailored specifically to Horseshoe Indianapolis races. "A.I. Alan is our new on-air virtual handicapper," explained Halstrom. "He will be featured daily with auto generated facts from DRF's new AI data system. This information is specifically tailored to our racing product. We expect to have A.I. Alan fully functional by early June and his presence on our simulcasting program will be the first in the industry powered by AI." To further celebrate the partnership, Daily Racing Form will serve as title sponsor of the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks, taking place on Indiana Derby Day, Saturday, July 5. As Indiana's first-ever graded stakes race, the Oaks continues to attract top three-year-old fillies from across the country. "Having DRF as the title sponsor of the Oaks adds so much validity to the race," observed Halstrom. "We feel their association with the Oaks will catapult exposure and accelerate the race into the next level of competition beginning in 2025." The 23rd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing runs through Thursday, Nov. 13. For more information on racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit or find details on social media @HSIndyRacing. About Horseshoe IndianapolisHorseshoe Indianapolis, owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR), holds multiple awards for customer service, entertainment, gaming, racing, dining, and diversity. Located just minutes from Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Ind., this one-of-a-kind property has wall to wall excitement on the 105,940 square foot gaming floor, featuring more than 1,600 slots and 72 table games along with a state-of-the-art World Series of Poker Room containing 20 tables. In addition, Horseshoe Indianapolis offers the only live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing in the state showcased on a one-mile dirt racecourse and a seven-eighths mile turf course. Simulcast and sports wagering is offered year-round at Caesars Race & Sportsbook, also located on the casino floor, with additional gaming provided at Caesars Race & Sportsbook in Clarksville, Ind. Players can reap benefits from Caesars Rewards, the industry's most lucrative bonus program now offered at more than 50 destinations. Please visit for more information and find Horseshoe Indianapolis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing at racetracks and 21 or older to gamble at sports books and casinos. Please play responsibly. If you think you or someone you care about may have a gambling problem, call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (1-800-994-8448). ©2025 Caesars License Company, LLC. About Affinity InteractiveAffinity Interactive is an omni-channel media, online, and gaming industry leader with an expanded suite of casino and online gaming offerings. Combining leading regional casinos in Nevada, Missouri and Iowa with advanced technology, digital and media platforms, and an online betting presence, Affinity Interactive has nearly 1 million combined customers and is positioned to capitalize on the continued momentum in sports betting and iGaming globally. Affinity Interactive companies also include: the iconic Daily Racing Form, "America's Turf Authority since 1894" for horse racing and sports enthusiasts throughout North America, one of America's fastest-growing online and mobile wagering platforms; and DRF Sports, which provides fans with exclusive up-to-date sports betting stats, insights and analysis on all major U.S. sports and leagues. For more information, please visit and Affinity Interactive is a portfolio company of ZCG Private Equity, the private equity fund arm of ZCG ( a leading, privately held merchant bank comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, and technology development and solutions. About Daily Racing FormFounded in 1894, Daily Racing Form (DRF) is the most trusted source for premium horse racing data, news, and analysis. For over 130 years, DRF has provided horseplayers and industry professionals with exclusive past performances, expert handicapping insights, and real-time coverage of the sport. Today, DRF continues to evolve, delivering innovative digital products and AI-powered tools that enhance the horse racing experience for bettors of all levels. As part of its expansion, DRF has entered the sports affiliate business, leveraging its multi-channel platform to connect sports bettors with leading sportsbook operators. By combining its deep expertise in horse racing analytics with a growing presence in the broader sports betting market, DRF remains at the forefront of the gaming industry. For more information, visit About ZCGZCG is a leading, privately held global firm comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, and technology development and solutions. For nearly three decades, ZCG has invested tens of billions of dollars in private equity and credit-related strategies, through multiple economic cycles and across many industries, including consumer products, steel, steel processors, agriculture, consumer food, gaming, hospitality, manufacturing, specialty services, and automotive. ZCG's investors include prominent global sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, family offices, wealth management firms, and other financial institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. ZCG has a global team comprised of approximately 400 professionals. The company is headquartered in New York, with affiliate offices located in Pune and Mumbai, India, and Riyadh, KSA. For more information, please visit View source version on Contacts Media Daily Racing Forum Tammy KnoxOffice: (317) 421-8979tknox2@ Affinity Interactive Tim Ragones / Kate Thompson / Madeline JonesJoele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher212-355-4449 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Horse racing and erotica: How I survived the fickle world of freelance writing
When people ask what I do for a living, I'm faced with two choices: either I can lie or I can bore them with the truth, which is too complicated to explain succinctly. While those around me have normal, definable jobs – accountant, journalist, engineer – my work requires headings and subheadings to get it across properly: a map of overlapping gigs and contracts. 'What do you do?' It's a simple question, and one that often gets asked on first dates. No matter how much I pare down my reply, it's always long-winded. 'Well, I'm a freelancer,' I start, 'so I have a million little jobs …' The first of my million little jobs is what I call 'Horse News'. It works like this: every weekday morning I wake up at 6am and make my way to my desk, stumbling and still half asleep. I flick on an old lamp and wince as my eyes adjust to the light. I turn on my computer and use a piece of software that shows me all of the American horse-racing-related news from the past 24 hours. It pulls up radio clips, Fox News segments and articles from publications called BloodHorse or Daily Racing Form – anything that could be relevant to my interests. I sift through countless story summaries, many of which sound fake. 'Army Wife defeats Crazy Beautiful Woman in race!' 'Another doping scandal emerges in Northern California!' 'A disgraced-but-very-good trainer is no longer banned from the track!' 'A famous YouTuber has invested millions into a betting app!' I compile the important stuff into a newsletter: stories about track renovations, big events, the series of horse laws that were passed, then repealed, then approved again in 2023. This is a real thing. These laws (known as the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act) are meant to keep racehorses and jockeys safer. Tracks are required to provide on-site vets and doctors and to follow standardised safety protocols. But it is much cheaper, it turns out, to ignore the laws and have the horses race in dangerous conditions. Vets and safety gear are expensive, which is upsetting to the billionaires who own the racetracks. And so certain states have fought these laws, calling them unconstitutional. I have followed along, every step of the way. When the newsletter is finished, I send it to my client, a company that owns race tracks across the US. Though, to be clear, I don't work for them directly. I work for a reputation management firm. This company's entire purpose is to monitor the news for other companies, keeping tabs on what the public is saying about their clients and the major trends in those industries. I didn't know this was a real job until I started doing it. I got this job the way I've gotten most of my jobs: through an acquaintance who heard I was looking for work. This is key to success in freelancing. You just need to build a roster of industry connections who know how desperate you are. 'It's just an hour per morning,' she told me. 'Usually less.' 'Sure,' I said, still not understanding what I was agreeing to. 'I'll do it.' The reputation management firm has a slew of different clients, each of whom want a customised newsletter about their industry. There's a fast food chain, a brewery, an environmental organisation. But I was assigned to the horse-racing client. And so I keep up with the Horse News and the Horse Laws. By 7.30am, the report is done and I go back to bed. The Horse News makes me feel like a bad person sometimes. Racing is an odd, archaic and often cruel sport. The more I read about it, the more convinced I become that it should not exist. I root for the Horse Laws, and grow sad when a state bucks against them. The thing about Horse News, though, is that someone has to compile it. It might as well be me. I got the offer to do Horse News not long after I moved to Montreal, at a time when I needed work more than ever. I was 24 and a full-time adult now, tasked with the question of how I planned to fill my time and make a living. A year and a half earlier, when I'd finished my undergraduate studies in English and creative writing, I had immediately enrolled in another creative writing programme. I wish I could say this was entirely because I was devoted to my craft or that it was my life's dream to write a book, but that's only a small part of the truth. The main reason I joined a master's programme was because I didn't want to face what life would look like once I was no longer a student. As I got closer to finishing my undergrad, I kept getting asked what came next. For years, the question of what I was going to do when I grew up had been answered the same way: I'm going to be a writer. This was an answer that adults found cute when I was a child, and concerning as I got older. A writer, they echoed, mulling the word over slowly. Interesting. By the time I got to university, it was an answer that felt downright unacceptable. Sharing dreams about writing for a living elicited looks of mingled confusion and pity. A writer? I understood that being a writer was fraught. I understood that it was a hard way to make a living. There were no jobs in the industry, and books didn't sell for as much as they used to. And so, the question of what I wanted to do after graduating was one that made me physically sick, because I didn't know what being a writer meant either. I decided the solution was grad school. If anyone dared to ask me what I was doing after that, I could shrug and tell them I had a few more years to think about it. My plan worked for a year, though not exactly as expected. First, the pandemic hit and I moved to Nova Scotia with my now ex-girlfriend. Then, I became disabled. I developed a nerve condition that became chronic. Pain had spread through my neck, my arms, my hands. When it first started, I couldn't type at all. I had to readjust every aspect of my life: how I cooked, how I brushed my teeth – and how I worked. By the second year of the programme, I had moved to Toronto, but I was still struggling with voice-to-text and barely able to keep up with basic assignments. The thought of writing a thesis – an entire book – felt impossible. I was also writing freelance articles on the side to help pay my rent and I simply couldn't do both, mentally or physically. Forced to choose between work and school, I chose work. So I took medical leave, saying I would return in a year but unsure if I actually would. Leaving school meant I had to face the question of who I was, if I wasn't a student, much earlier than anticipated. Without a schedule filled with classes to attend and readings to do, I was just a person with an empty calendar and one and a half arts degrees. 'What're you going to do now?' a friend asked over beers at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Toronto. I dragged a chip through guacamole. 'I don't know, to be honest. I mean, I'll work, obviously.' 'I'm sure you could get an office job somewhere,' she said. 'Or go back to being a barista, maybe.' People kept suggesting jobs to me like this. Why don't you just become a barista? A cashier? A secretary? Every time, it was a sharp reminder of how little they understood my physical limitations. I'm too disabled for that, I wanted to say. I held my tongue, but it was true. My pain was so crippling at this point that I struggled to perform basic tasks around the house. I knew I was no longer able to do most of the jobs I'd had in high school or when I was an undergrad: I couldn't work as a barista, my forearms too weak to tamp down espresso grounds, nor in retail nor as a waitress, as the weight from my own dinner plate at home was enough to make me wince with pain. As I scrolled through job postings for office work, I knew a nine-to-five wasn't feasible either. I needed the kind of flexibility a job like that wouldn't allow: the ability to take long breaks when I was in too much pain, to shift deadlines, to use tedious and time-consuming adaptive technology. Back then, I was in so much pain I could barely use a mouse, commanding my entire computer with my voice. Open Google Chrome. New tab. Copy that. Paste that. In addition to being annoying in an office setting, it just wasn't fast enough. 'I think I'll just write,' I told my friend. 'Like I've been doing, but full-time.' She blinked at me. 'Will that be enough?' I understood the question. I'd enjoyed the freelance writing I'd done, mostly penning articles about health and pop culture for Canadian outlets and the odd American one. It paid poorly and inconsistently. For a long time, I'd thought of this freelance work as a stepping stone to a real job as a writer or an editor, with a salary and benefits. Now, it seemed like going all-in on freelancing was my only real career option. It was the only way, I thought, that I could truly work on my own schedule and tend to my needs without falling short of employer expectations. 'I'll manage. It'll work out, I'm sure of it.' I'd never been less sure of anything. In the weeks that followed I launched myself into freelancing, pitching an endless stream of articles and essays to my editors. I was lucky to have a few people who championed my work and encouraged me to send them my ideas. I'd never met any of them in person, which was strange: they felt fake to me, just email addresses that provided me with opportunities and pay cheques. There had been even more, in the past – editors I'd worked with and felt comfortable contacting – but many had faded away, either leaving the industry or simply starting to ignore my emails. As I started writing more freelance pieces, I was, in a way, living the life I'd always wanted. I was a writer. It was my actual job. I balanced deadlines, rotating between articles and editors. I sent out more and more pitches. I worked late into the night, fuelled by instant coffee and bad music. It wasn't enough. The number of pitches I was landing couldn't comfortably sustain me. And it often took ages for me to get paid for my work. A fully written article might be put on hold – it would sit and collect virtual dust, and I wouldn't be paid until it was published. I knew I needed more consistent work. I longed for some sort of pay cheque I could rely on month to month. My savings dwindled as I paid for rent, pricey physiotherapy appointments and adaptive tools. I moved to Montreal, where the cost of living was cheaper, but I still struggled to get by. This was when Horse News entered my life. As I settled into my new city, I was shown the ropes of this strange job: how to use the monitoring software, how to identify stories worth including in the newsletter, who the big players in Horse World were. I was promised hourly pay, with a lump sum deposited into my account at the end of each month. And I suddenly became aware of the possibility of odd jobs that were writing-adjacent – the kind of unglamorous work that would pay the bills while allowing me to keep writing on my own schedule. In the coming months, other odd jobs entered and exited my roster. I wrote Instagram captions for a hospital foundation. I wrote online content for a bank (which always paid me late and said it was because they couldn't figure out how to transfer the money, which made me grateful it was not my bank). Importantly, I wrote a column where I recapped episodes of The Bachelorette. I was constantly writing some odd article for a different publication. Throughout all of this, Horse News was the only stable work I had. Every weekday, without fail, the horses raced on and I compiled my newsletter. As new opportunities presented themselves, I found myself unable to say no to work. No matter how busy I was or how strange the job was, I accepted every single offer that came my way, worried the gigs would eventually dry up. In early summer, as Montreal's unbearably cold season gave way to an unbearably hot one, I got a text from a friend. She worked at a major Canadian newspaper – which, she said, wasn't paying her enough. She'd taken on a side gig to compensate for the poor salary. She'd heard I was looking for work, and thought I might be interested. 'What is it?' I texted. 'Writing erotica,' she answered. The next week, I had a Zoom meeting with someone who worked at the company. She was young, in her late 20s, with pink cheeks and glossy blond hair. She explained that she needed writers for an app she was running that was like a choose-your-own-adventure story, only hornier. Users, mostly women, would select a story and start reading. They were all written in the second person, placing users in the protagonist's shoes: You walk into a restaurant … You see a hot guy sitting at the bar … What will you do next? They were then presented with two choices. One would be boring (ignore the guy!), and the other would be depraved (ask him to go back to your place and [redacted]!). Choosing depravity cost $0.99. These stories were long, most of them basically novels. New chapters came out every week, each instalment getting increasingly risque. This was a business strategy: users became invested in a story, and were then charged money to read the new material. 'Do you think you'd be able to keep up with it?' 'I think so.' I agreed to write one or two chapters per week. Each would be about 4,000 words long and the story would ultimately have at least 20 chapters. I would get paid US$120 for each chapter. If I had worked this out or thought about this critically, I'd have realised this was a very bad idea. It was a monumental amount of work and creative energy to expend for pretty poor pay, especially as someone who couldn't type very much. Unfortunately, I was distracted by how fun the work sounded. Like many young women who grew up with the internet, I had lived through the days of reading whatever perverted and poorly written erotica I could find about my favourite fictional characters. The prospect of now becoming a professional erotica writer was too enticing to turn down. Plus, if my friend was balancing full-time newspaper work with this, how hard could it be? The woman who would become my editor nodded. 'The categories that perform best right now are domination, stepbrother and campus stuff. You know, student-teacher situations?' She looked through a printout of figures and nodded. 'Vampire and werewolf stories are making a resurgence, too.' I jotted this down in a notebook, my handwriting messy and quick. Campus, werewolf, domination. 'Got it.' 'By the way, the app store won't let us use the words penis, vagina or cock,' she said flatly. 'Oh,' I said. 'Why not?' 'Terms of service stuff.' 'Got it.' 'Read a few of the stories for inspiration on how to work around this. You'll get the hang of it.' 'Right.' 'People get really creative. Fruit works, sometimes.' 'Fruit?' 'You'll see what I mean,' she said. 'And you'll need a pen name. Unless you want to use your own?' I shook my head. 'I'll find a pen name.' That afternoon, I sat on my friends' balcony. I told them about my new job, which would somehow slot in alongside all the other jobs I was doing. It was one of the first truly warm days of summer, and we were determined to spend the entire thing outside. Between sips of iced coffee, we plotted out my story chapter by chapter, my friends enthusiastic about its trajectory. 'Maybe she can hook up with her roommate?' I suggested. 'Yes, that's great,' John said. 'Make it a love triangle.' He dragged a finger through the air, drawing a triangle. 'I can't believe you're writing porn,' Maria said, leaning back in a wooden folding chair. 'How fun.' 'Not porn. Erotica.' 'Same difference,' John said. He pulled the notes I'd scrawled towards him and squinted. 'OK, what happens next?' By the end of the day, John and I had plotted out an entire story arc: the student and the TA's tumultuous affair; the way they were almost found out; the forces that almost pulled them apart. Ultimately, love and sex brought them back together. 'This is basically an entire romance novel,' John said. 'Smuttier, though.' 'Of course.' 'And worse.' Maria spent the day brainstorming pen name ideas, which she would occasionally pipe up to suggest. Madame Scarlett? Delilah Rose? Candy Mae? Jolene Fox? 'What kind of vibe are you looking for, anyways?' Now, my days looked like this: I woke up at 6am and did the Horse News; I hammered out whatever freelance writing assignment I was working on; I wrote erotica; I ended my workday around 5pm, tired and achy. In the coming months, I sat in my hot, un-air-conditioned apartment, sweating and damp, and wrote between 3,500 and 8,000 words of smut per week. Since I was doing this with voice-to-text, I had to keep my windows closed, mortified at the thought of my neighbours hearing me speak vile things into my computer: words like member, length, girth and sometimes the names of fruit. I worked on one story throughout the whole summer. On weeks when, for whatever reason, I couldn't keep up – say, my hands were worse than usual or I got too busy with other work – my boss at the app was understanding. Your health is more important than this, she would say. Rest. It was the most compassion I'd ever gotten from an employer, which was nice but also annoying. Part of me hoped to be fired, freed entirely from my contract. But no – these people were, unfortunately, sweet and thoughtful. Within a few weeks I had come to hate the work. Though it was fun in the beginning, it quickly lost its charm, the sex scenes becoming tedious and exhausting once they were no longer new to me. 'There are only so many ways to write 'they had sex', you know?' I told Maria one day. She shook her head. 'I really don't.' The biggest problem was just that I was overworked. Writing that much sapped all of my creative and physical energy, leaving me unwilling or unable to write much else. When I neared the final chapter, my friends and I sat around with a bottle of wine and celebrated the fact that my life as an erotica writer was almost done. They suggested words and phrases I should try to sneak into the final chapter as a little personal challenge: cornucopia, sledgehammer, pumpernickel, Seinfeld, Donna Tartt, the Watergate scandal. Maria squinted at John. 'That last one is too silly,' she said. 'She won't be able to manage it.' 'Have faith,' I said. I managed them all, laughing along the way as I tweaked the story to include them. By the time it was done, I'd written more than 70,000 words of smut. My editor asked if I wanted to renew my contract and I declined. She insisted, saying we could alter the work schedule, maybe even up my pay by another $5 per chapter. My story, she revealed, was gaining a devoted following, quickly becoming one of the most popular on the app. This felt nice – my anonymous magnum opus. Still, I said no. As time passed in Montreal and I did more odd jobs, my hands were getting marginally better. This meant that, as long as I was very careful and worked within a strict set of limitations, there was one more type of work that became available to me again: cartooning. I'd loved drawing since I was a kid. Growing up, I drew countless pictures of animals (especially birds), carefully copying them from the books I begged my mom to buy me. When my pain first started in 2021 and I realised I would have to take a months-long break from drawing, it had been a particularly tough blow. Drawing wasn't as big of a part of my income or my identity as writing was, but it still mattered to me immensely. What felt worse was the fact that, a month before I lost the ability to draw, I'd sold my first cartoon to the New Yorker – an accomplishment I'd worked towards for years, and which I worried I might never be able to repeat. Now, in my very ergonomic home office, I could draw again (though I needed to set a timer beforehand to make sure I didn't work for more than 20 minutes at a time). When the timer went off, I'd stand and stretch and take a break. I limited the amount of projects I took on so I wouldn't overdo it. However, every now and then I pitched a cartoon to the New Yorker, or accepted a commission request for a portrait of someone's dog. Cartooning became a very small part of the tapestry of odd jobs that came together to make up an income. But it was one I was happy to be able to include. On dates, I try to condense this all into a short spiel. I'm a writer. I do the Horse News. I'm a copywriter. I also draw cartoons, sometimes, but that's neither here nor there. Even this has omissions, but it's the best I can do. 'Wouldn't you rather just have a normal job?' one date – a lawyer – asked. It's something I've wondered myself. Sometimes, looking at overlapping assignments and deadlines on my Google calendar, I feel overwhelmed and exhausted. But when I'm in pain, I can take a break in the middle of the day, or even go back to bed if I need to. 'This suits me best,' I said. I ended that date early, as I do all weekday dates. I have a great excuse: Horse News is due at 7.30 tomorrow morning. Excerpted from Look Ma, No Hands by Gabrielle Drolet. Published by McClelland & Stewart, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited Listen to our podcasts here and sign up to the long read weekly email here.
12-05-2025
- Sport
Junior Alvarado considering appeal of fine and suspension for excessive whip usage in Kentucky Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Jockey Junior Alvarado is considering appealing a fine and suspension for using his whip eight times on Sovereignty in winning the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Alvarado was fined $62,000 and suspended two days by the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority, whose rules allow a rider to use a whip six times in a race. He has 10 days to inform HISA if he plans to appeal. "I would like to just get it over with and put it behind me, I don't want to carry this one extra day, but at the same time I don't want to give up that easily like they were right,' Alvarado told the Daily Racing Form last weekend. 'I would like to move forward and fix something. As everybody can see, it's unfair the penalties we're facing. Maybe (by appealing) we can get something good out of this.' On Dec. 1, Alvarado was found to have used his whip seven times in winning the $250,000 Cherokee Mile, also at Churchill Downs. He met with Churchill Downs stewards via video last week to discuss the Derby. 'I didn't abuse the horse,' Alvarado told DRF. 'Nobody can tell me, even if they can prove that I hit the horse two extra times, it was in an abusing way, it's just ridiculous. The punishment doesn't fit the crime and I don't think there was any crime.' If Alvarado does not appeal, he will serve the two day suspension May 29-30. He is based in New York, which isn't racing those days.
