horse racing writing.  horse racing enthusiasm.

My name is rowan ward.  I live in Chicago, and I write about horse racing.

Between Palace Malice’s Belmont win and my first trip to the Arlington Million, I fell in love with the sport in 2013.  I have lived and breathed horse racing ever since.  I now work for Equibase as a chart caller during the Hawthorne spring and Arlington summer meets, and write about racing in Chicago and beyond.

I also host the Chicago Race of the Day podcast: a bite-sized show that comes out before each card of racing in Chicago.  Each episode looks at a single race, and aims to both pick a winner and teach about handicapping angles, connections, or pedigrees on the Illinois racing circuit.  In addition to listening to it here, you can also subscribe on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or via the RSS feed so new episodes can come straight to you as soon as they’re out!

I am available for freelance writing work in the horse racing industry.  If you have a project on the horizon, please contact me so we can chat about what you need!

In addition to here, I have written for a wide range of horse racing sites including Picks and Ponderings, ThoroCap, Brisnet, TwinSpires, Equestricon, and the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association.  (This writing is mainly under my old name, nicolle neulist. )

I also vote on the NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls, a weekly survey of the national Thoroughbred horse racing media.

See a few of my favourite pieces I’ve written over the years, and connect with me on social media:

If you like what you read, and you’d like to put horse racing enthusiasm to work for you, please get in touch!