She’s Set to Make Broadcasting History. It Hasn’t Been an Easy Ride.
Originally published by Dana O’Neil for The Athletic
BENSALEM, Pa. — Her feet anchored by her Converse sneakers, Jessica Paquette stands in front of a spread of windows. Binoculars pressed to her eyes with one hand, she puts the other on her hip, flips a switch on the board in front of her, and starts talking. “And now they’re all in,’’ she begins. “Off and racing. An uneventful start here with some speed out of the gate.’’ It is a sun-splashed spring Monday at Parx Racing in suburban Philadelphia. A few people — no more than a hundred — sit on the concrete benches near the finish line, or lean on the rail as the horses break from the gate in the second race of the day.