Donna Barton Brothers (born April 20, 1966, in

Alamogordo, New Mexico Alamogordo () is a city in and the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force ...

) is a former

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

who won over 1,100

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

s and now covers horse racing and other equestrian sports for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

. She is probably most recognizable for her interviews with the winning jockeys from horseback after the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup races. She is one of the most decorated female jockeys of her time, retiring in 1998 with 1,130 career wins. Brothers hails from a family of riders, including both of her siblings, as well as her mother who was, in 1969, one of the first women to be licensed as a jockey. She resides in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

and

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the ...

Career

Donna Brothers's mother, Patti Barton, was a jockey, as were her brother and sister. Barton (now Brothers) began her professional career as a jockey in 1987. She was one of D. Wayne Lukas 's first-call jockeys in the 1990s and rode numerous stakes winners, at the time making her the second leading money-earner of all time among female

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

jockeys. She won 1,130 races in her career. In terms of earnings, Barton still ranks fourth among female jockeys even though she retired in 1998. Barton retired in 1998, married trainer Frank Brothers, and then became involved in television broadcasting. Brothers started as an interviewer at the

Fair Grounds Race Course Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC. The ''Carrollton Race Cours ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, then as an on-air racing analyst for

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...

, where she joined their other analyst, Mike Battaglia. She was "discovered" by NBC Sports in 2000 when NBC was at Churchill Downs for observation in advance of assuming

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

coverage from ABC in 2001. She began working for NBC that fall doing their

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

coverage as their only reporter on horseback. She attended

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

from 2002 to 2005 but became too busy with reporting duties for NBC Sports and other networks and moved to full-time work as a reporter and racing analyst in 2005. Brothers served as a racing analyst for Churchill Downs' "Paddock Preview" show from April 1999 to November 2002. Additionally, Brothers did on-location work for TVG, a horseracing network, providing on-site reports from both Churchill Downs and the Fair Grounds from November 1999 to November 2002. She also covered Keeneland's Spring and Fall meets for TVG from 2009 to 2016. At Triple Crown races, Brothers positions herself near the starting gate for the start of the race. Then, for the Kentucky Derby, she rides around the track backward (along the outside rail), passing the horses who are racing, thus getting in position to be the first to interview the winning jockey. For the Preakness and

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

she is also positioned behind the starting gate for the start but then follows the field into the first turn and waits for the winner on the

backstretch Backstretch refers to either: (1) the portion of an oval racetrack on the far side of the grandstand, parallel to the homestretch, or, (2) particularly in North America, the area near the racetrack where horses are stabled and the daily work of mai ...

. Brothers has also covered the

, PBR

Professional Bull Riders The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is the largest bull riding league in the world, sanctioning hundreds of events every yea ...

, the

Hambletonian Stakes The Hambletonian Stakes is a major American harness race for three-year-old trotting horses, named in honor of Hambletonian 10, a foundation sire of the Standardbred horse breed, also known as the "Father of the American Trotter." The fir ...

, the

World Equestrian Games The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive S ...

, the Kentucky Three Day Eventing show, and many other horse races for NBC Sports. She released the book "Inside Track: Inside Guide to Horse Racing" in 2011. The book was revised and released in its second edition in 2014 and its third edition in 2020.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers, Donna Barton 1966 births Living people American female jockeys American jockeys American horse racing announcers American women sports commentators People from Alamogordo, New Mexico Horse trainers from Louisville, Kentucky Jockeys from Louisville, Kentucky 21st-century American women Horse racing writers 20th-century American sportswomen