PHRA launches new podcast

HARRISBURG, PA (12/15/23) — The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Association (PHRA), an organization dedicated to marketing and promoting thoroughbred and harness racing, as well as both thoroughbred and standardbred breeding, has launched a new podcast, “Hot 2 Trot.”

Hosted by Ashley Eisenbeil and Dawnelle Mock, the podcast is seeking to carve out its own niche by offering in-depth, offbeat, and, at times, irreverent interviews with a range of individuals working in all aspects of both thoroughbred and harness racing, as well as thoroughbred and standardbred breeding.

The first episode of Hot 2 Trot, which was launched today, features a joint interview with Hall of Fame Harness Driver Tim Tetrick and Parx Racing’s top jockey, Frankie Pennington, who recently reached the 3,000-win milestone. Tim and Frankie share their “best” dad jokes, favorite foods, and their least favorite household duties. In the episode’s second segment, “Racing for Love,” harness racing power couple  — driver Mike Wilder and PR guru Heather Wilder — join Ashley and Dawnelle, who gain some insight into who wears the colors in the Wilder household. Heather also shares some unexpected relationship advice and Mike ponders a potential second career after he retires from racing.

The podcast, which is available in both audio and video formats, can currently be accessed on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and YouTube.  As part of the launch, the second episode will launch on December 22 before moving to a bi-weekly release schedule. In that episode, the Hot 2 Trot girls will be joined by Hall of Fame Trainer Ron Burke and owner Mark Weaver, who share how they keep track of the more than 400 horses and the best places to vacation.  For the “Racing for Love” segment, the girls are joined by Penn National newlyweds, trainer Erin McClellan and horse farrier John Conner, who take us through the highs and lows of their first year of marriage and what each of their “perfect date” looks like.

For the third episode, Ashley and Dawnelle are joined by Chris Griffin, who discusses his journey to becoming a track announcer and TikTok dancer.  For the Racing for Love segment, Tim and Sophia Twaddle share their experiences raising three kids in the industry.

Hot 2 Trot co-host Ashley Eisenbeil has worked in the racing industry for 14 years, including seven years with the Maryland Jockey Club, where she served as Senior Manager of Hospitality and Preakness Ticket Sales.  She also worked as Director of Marketing for the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission before joining the PHRA in 2018 as Director of Marketing.  Dawnelle Mock is the Digital Content Director for the PHRA, in addition to being a horse owner.  She previously worked as the Marketing Director for the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association.

The launch of the new podcast is made possible through the sponsorship of the Standardbred Breeders Association of Pennsylvania.

“Horse racing is a fun sport, and we wanted to create a podcast about it that doesn’t sound or look like any other,” said Eisenbeil. “We love getting to know the guests on a personal level,  outside of the horse and breeding world, so we knew listeners would, too. Recording the podcast has been a lot of fun, so I hope people enjoy listening to it!”

“I hope everyone enjoys listening to Hot 2 Trot as much as we have enjoyed producing them,” said Mock.  “We wanted to create something fun and unique for the horse racing industry, there are so many amazing people in this industry and we want to showcase all the different stories and personalities.”

by Pete Peterson, for Hot 2 Trot podcast