Brittany Jessop wears many hats that all fit her well
by Chris Lomon
Brittany Jessop is a milliner’s dream: a horsewoman who wears many hats – and wears them well.
Asking Brittany Jessop to define her role in standardbred racing elicits a hearty laugh from the Saugerties, NY native.
“Right now? I’m not sure what I would call it,” Jessop said. “I was trying to think how I would answer that question if I was asked. Depending on the day, I am a groom in the barn, a shipper when we go to race, and a catch-paddocker when we race five or six at The Meadowlands on Fridays and Saturdays. I wear a lot of different hats, but it is never boring.”
It never has been for Jessop.
She’s the definition of a jack-of-all-trades – skilled, adaptable, and able to shift seamlessly between roles. It’s a way of life she learned from several mentors in the racing world, especially her father, longtime trainer Paul Jessop.
It is something she learned from several horse people along the way, including her father, longtime trainer Paul Jessop.
“My dad has a 40-acre training center in Colts Neck, NJ,” Brittany said. I grew up with my mom in upstate New York, away from the horses. I worked horse sales with her. I worked for Preferred for many, many years. I got old enough to get a regular job, but we all know how it is in this industry – once it gets in your blood, you can’t get away from it.”
Not that she was trying to run from it.
Once she made the decision to fully pursue a career in harness racing, Jessop traveled extensively to build her knowledge and experience.
“I went to a farm to get my foundation miles in and worked there for two years, doing foaling and yearling prep,” Brittany said. “I moved down to New Jersey to work with my dad and learned training and racing from him. From there, I went to Rob Harmon’s barn in the winter down in Florida. I spent two years working with Rob before I decided to move out to Indiana. I was there for five years and worked for trainer Wilbur Eash and Joe Putnam.”
Along the way, it wasn’t just people who left a lasting impression.
“Mosquito Blue Chip is the one who really made me fall in love with the sport,” Brittany said. “I was working at Blue Chip Farms at the time and my dad was training this filly – I was following her all over New York to watch her compete in the Sires Stakes. She ended up winning her Sires Stakes final at Yonkers. That is probably one of the biggest highlights of my time in the industry. That was the final thing that pushed me from working at breeding farms to want to go into racing.”
Two years ago, after a conversation with her father — now 72 — Brittany returned to New Jersey.
“It has been a lot of travel, a lot of journeying, but it’s been a tremendous ride so far,” she said.
A ride, that in many ways, has only just begun.
Brittany is grateful for the experiences that brought her back home and shaped her approach to horsemanship.
“I like that I was able to work with so many trainers, where I was able to pick up so many different techniques – every trainer trains their horses differently,” she said. “It’s nice to pick up different traits.
“You pick up things that you don’t even realize in the moment. And when you move on to a new barn, your eyes are opened to new approaches.”
Among the many lessons learned, two stand out.
“One is that there are a lot of different ways to train a horse and the other is that you are never done learning,” Brittany said. “There is always something you can educate yourself on. I think it’s important to keep an open mind when it comes to the management of horses. My father is 72 and he is still learning.”
So is Brittany, who is now collaborating with her fiancé, driver Mark Herschberger, to shape their future in racing.
“Right now, we are focusing on Mark’s driving career,” she said. “We’re trying to move him ahead in his driving career. Moving back to New Jersey was a big accelerator for that. At some point, we would like to take on training horses for other people – even if it was just a small barn.”
The couple is especially excited about the young pacers they’ve brought into their program.
“We also have Taranaki, who my dad trains and owns, with us right now,” she said. “He just put down a mile in 1:49.2. He is very special because he is a homebred for us and Mark and I own the mare [Free Fi Girl] – the first horse we have owned. My dad gifted us the mare to help us get kickstarted into owning our first horse.
“She has a yearling on the ground now and she is in foal to Miso Fast. Mark and I own those yearlings – the first horses we have owned on our own. We are eagerly anticipating the future with them.”
Work-life balance is also a top priority for Brittany, who treasures time spent away from the racetrack.
Family and the great outdoors top the list of her interests outside the barn and racetrack.
“As much as we love horses, horse racing and the industry, we still try and make as much time as we can for family,” she said. “At the end of the day, we both feel family is the most important thing.
“I have a 10-year-old son, who will be with us throughout the summer, so we do a lot of outdoor activities with him. We like horseback riding of course, but we also just got back from Illinois, where we did a lot of fishing. We go camping and we try to find new adventures as much as we can, which is pretty easy when you have a 10-year-old who is geared up and ready for action.”
For now, Brittany is content playing a behind-the-scenes role, quietly helping keep everything running smoothly.
“I am helping out my father, so I am primarily behind-the-scenes right now,” she said. “I am part of that select group who gets to work off the track, to help make sure the show can go on.”
And in Brittany’s case, no matter the hat she’s wearing, the fit is always just right.
