“New York racing fans have had the luxury of watching Maggie Wolfendale Morley ply her trade for over a decade, and now the entire country, thanks to America’s Day at the Races and Saratoga Live on Fox Sports, has the pleasure of seeing the best in the business do her thing on a regular basis.
Maggie started at NYRA as a paddock reporter and now is a lead analyst and anchor as well. But the paddock is where she shines brightest. No one has a better opinion and gives greater insight pre-race than she does. Her tablet should be considered the Holy Grail of Thoroughbred racing and her detailed notes on each and every horse she lays eyes on are priceless.
Amazingly, she is an even better person than colleague. She juggles her career along with being a mother and wife with aplomb. She even manages to throw in a fundraising ball to the mix for Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Belmont Child Care Association and other racing charities. Professionally, it’s an absolute joy to share airtime with her as she makes me look better in every way. The hours fly by when I’m on air with ‘Mags.’
Personally, it’s an honor to call her a good friend. She has a fantastic sense of humor and always gives it to you straight. Maggie does not watch Game of Thrones, so when I first referred to her as my racing Khaleesi she had no clue what it meant. For those of you that don’t know, it means ‘Queen.’
All hail, Maggie!”
- Anthony Stabile – NYRA Racing Analyst
“Maggie is in the superelite of television paddock analysts, with a swaggering delivery born of a lifetime with Thoroughbreds. Whether beside them or astride them, whether at work or at play, at home or away, Maggie seems most at peace in the presence of horses.
Yet, when NYRA TV cuts to Maggie before a race, you could really feel her competitive spirit multiply. She doesn’t so much lock eyes on the lens barrel as she does step into it, with that earnest brow, as if to say, “Let’s do this,” and then she’s off and analyzing, unconcerned that the trainer of the horse whose appearance has regressed might be standing right behind her. Without apology, amplified in-house and out, she will detail that regression.
She wants so badly to be right but will concede when she’s wrong. She prepares more than you do. She walks the walk, she rides the ride: While you were sleepy-eyed and shaking out your Cheerios, Maggie was out galloping horses for her husband, trainer Tom Morley.
As a reporter, Maggie will seek out the harder assignments, what the business calls “ambush” interviews, approaching a jockey for comment as the rider sweats out a stewards’ inquiry that could cost him not only big money but, who knows, maybe a return mount. Horse people feel at ease around Maggie, one of their own, and this is what an audience deserves most: an expert, trustworthy broadcaster with a side of chutzpah.
Off camera, Maggie is often jotting into her tablet, noting the behavioral quirks and changes of her subjects. One of her comments for champion Jackie’s Warrior is, ‘Looks down upon others, beast.’ This type of psychological minutiae — I love this stuff — this is what really distinguishes her technique.
Maggie’s role as an ambassador and board member for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation demonstrates further that she will always have the horses’ backs. There is picking the 25-1 winner on live TV, which is fantastically fun and satisfying beyond description…but there’s also the responsibility of ensuring forever homes for the athletes who’ve brought us so much love and joy.
So, if there’s a stall down the SheHero shedrow available for a woman with an indefatigable devotion to horse and craft, you just might find her in some saddling area, encircled by God’s noblest creatures, about 10 minutes to post.
- Ernie Munick – NYRA Videographer and Editor
“As a fellow ‘Maryland Maggie,’ I’ve watched with pride over the years as Maggie Wolfendale Morley has grown from a young rider competing on her OTTB, Colonel Hill, to Miss Preakness 2008 and now to one of the most recognizable and respected individuals in Thoroughbred racing. A lifelong horsewoman, Maggie has the qualifications and expertise required for her role as racing analyst for NYRA…and what a consistently outstanding job she does.
Thoroughbred aftercare is yet another area in which she sparkles. My favorite memory of Maggie is from Real Rider Cup 2018. The weather could not have been less cooperative – it was gray, chilly and, at times, raining heavily. Maggie and her husband, trainer Tom Morley, competed on rival teams. Their wonderful good humor and sportsmanship on what can at best be described as an absolutely miserable day is something I’ll always remember with great fondness and gratitude. They, as did all of our riders that day, epitomized the true spirit of the event.
I’m happy to celebrate Maggie’s many accomplishments and look forward to all she will undoubtedly continue to achieve.”
- Maggie Kimmitt – Herringswell Stables/Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center
“Maggie is the sheer definition of a hero. With ease she has handled her various jobs of a mother, a quasi-assistant to husband Tom Morley, and her multiple roles for NYRA. To me, she has been a boss, mom 2.0, and, most importantly, an incredible friend. Anyone who has had the privilege to interact with Maggie knows that she has the ability to make your day in the shortest interaction.
She has been one of my biggest supporters – and critics – because she knows the potential a person holds. Without her, I never would be in the position that I am in today. She has pushed me to be the best I can be professionally and personally for the last six years of my life, and I couldn’t be more thankful.
Maggie has proven that if you keep your head down and work hard, you will get where you want to be. In a short amount of time she became synonymous with New York racing and has proven to be one of the best handicappers in the game. Maggie has done it all, from her short training career to her career in front of the camera, but for anyone who knows her, she is proudest when she is a mother. Willow and Grace are incredibly lucky to have a mother as fun, intelligent, kind, and strong-willed as Maggie. Most people would not be able to put in the hours Maggie does and come home each day with a smile. Maggie easily makes racing better for being involved, but the world is also better for having a hero like Maggie in it.”
- Harry Rice IV – MyRacehorse East Coast Racing Manager and former assistant to Maggie Wolfendale Morley
“Since joining the board of directors of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in 2017, Maggie has been tireless in championing our mission of aftercare for retired Thoroughbreds. She has become one of the most genuine and compelling voices of the TRF, always seeking out opportunities to advocate for our cause. With all the negative attention on racing these days, Maggie represents the best of the industry. She is gracious, friendly and a consummate professional. The TRF is most fortunate to have her as a director and a friend.”
- Pat Stickney – Executive Director, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Inc.
“For over a decade, I’ve been fortunate enough to call Maggie a colleague and a friend. Her unwavering dedication to the Thoroughbred industry since childhood makes her a worthy SheHero. Through her direct work with horses and around the barn, to her analysis on television, to her support of aftercare programs, Maggie has made a difference in many areas of our sport.
Firsthand, I have seen her develop professionally into one of the premier racing analysts in the world. Her enthusiasm and knowledge of the sport attracts new viewers and fans of the game and also encourages younger generations of females that they can make significant contributions to the industry.
The only thing more impressive than her dedication to racing is her commitment to her family as a loving wife, mother and daughter. Maggie is a true SheHero.”
- Eric Donovan – NYRA Sr. Director of TV Broadcast Operations
“An expert horsewoman possessing exceptional character and strong family values, Maggie truly embodies the definition of “hero” in all that she does. Her disarming on-camera presence makes her a friendly and trustworthy analyst, someone who knows horses front-to-back, top-to-bottom, but makes anyone on or off-air feel warmly welcomed into the conversation. This is the trait of true integrity where both horses and humans are concerned.
Then there’s her work ethic. Maggie shows up tirelessly in multiple roles as a host/analyst, an integral part of Morley Racing, a mother, all seamlessly and with a smile. On top of this she manages to give back to the sport and its equine athletes. The schedule that would run a normal person ragged only seems to make Maggie shine brighter. Her energy, expertise, and devotion truly make our sport, and the world, better.”
- Natalie Mayrath – StreamHorseTV Director of Content
“The chance to honour this lady is especially dear to me, and that is because I am lucky enough to be closest to this phenomenal young woman and to see, close up, every day, why Maggie Wolfendale Morley truly is a SheHero. And she is not just a Hero to me, but to thousands of young people who, because of Maggie, know they have a chance to be involved at the very highest levels of their profession. She is a hero to working mums, because there is no one who works harder at both facets of life, she does more in a day than I do in a week. She is a hero to equestrians, and to horses alike. Her tireless work for the TRF, rehoming and retraining of racehorses as well as constantly trying to improve herself as a rider is a testament to one of her deepest passions. And she is a hero to me, being a trainers wife is not an easy job, and yet Maggie is the most loving, loyal companion of life, the rock beside me as I hope I am to her, and she is a hero to our little girls, who worship the very ground their extraordinary mother walks upon. And Maggie Wolfendale Morley manages to be a hero to every single one of the above every single day of her life.
When Maggie graduated from Towson University and began her career behind the microphone and infront of the camera, I don’t know if anyone imagined that this young lady would rewrite the way paddock analysis and racecourse assessment of Thoroughbreds could be done, but that is what Maggie has done. She has worked sensationally hard to further her craft and become one of the most important opinions the sport has in America, and her thoughts and comments don’t just inspire the television viewers at home but the equestrians themselves involved in racing. The paddocks of the New York Racing Association have become her offices, and Maggie Wolfendale Morley has inspired another generation of broadcasters within our industry and raised the bar due to her methodical work, the hours and dedication to her craft she puts in behind the scenes, and the level professionalism she brings to her presentation.
Maggie, however, manages to be a hero to so many others because she never ever takes something on without giving 100% commitment and dedication. Her work for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is tremendously important to her. Her personal retraining of racehorses and deep love for her retirees from Colonel, Star, Stan, Yeager, Zandar and Ninety, to name but a few, and she tries to use her platform to promote that these Thoroughbreds can and will go on to do the most wonderful array of disciplines.
A normal day for Maggie can be to get up long before the sun does because she has work to do before Grace and Willow get up, take care of the children, come to the barn to ride out, get home and changed while taking productions call before flying off to the track for the afternoon. Once there late morning, she polishes her plans for the day, catches up on notes from the week and then quite often not only offers opinions from the paddock and trackside but also hosts from behind the desk or is seen behind the gate or interviewing post-race from the back of her horses. As she may wrap up long after the sun has gone down, she nips home to be a hero once again, and that is to her little girls. She comes in, dusts off and immediately is Mummy, feeding, bathing, playing and ragging around. Bedtime and stories, backs need rubbing and Grace and Willow simply adore their hero mother.
In longer terms, quite clearly, I have been so fortunate to see this young flower bloom into the most extraordinary lady, both professionally and at home, her dedication and determination to be absolutely the best she possibly can be, to constantly strive to improve and yet to have the time to be a sensational mother and the most loving wife are a testament to Maggie Wolfendale Morley being a SheHero to so many, to me she is a daily inspiration of how to be a hero.”
- Tom Morley – Trainer, #1 Maggie Wolfendale Morley Fan and her Devoted Husband
