User:Trarick/Gina Rarick
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Gina Rarick is the first female American racehorse trainer based in France. She has been training racing thoroughbreds in Maisons-Laffitte, France, since 2002, alongside her work as a journalist at the International Herald Tribune. In March of 2008, she left her career in journalism to devote herself to training full time.
Raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and began her career in journalism at the Milwaukee Journal in 1984, moving on to the Milwaukee Sentinel, Knight-Ridder Financial News in Chicago and finally the International Herald Tribune in Paris. As turf writer for the Herald Tribune, Rarick covered major race meetings around the world, including the Dubai World Cup, Royal Ascot, the Breeders' Cup and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
She rediscovered her rural roots in Chicago by taking weekly riding lessons at a downtown carriage-horse stable. The attraction to horses made the move with her to Paris, and she continued riding at clubs in the Paris region before discovering thoroughbreds after moving to Maisons-Laffitte in 1999. She was a latecomer to racing, riding her first race - a winner - in 2001 at the age of 38!
2009 marked her first full year as a professional trainer where she had winners with Cape Tycoon in Lyon and Deauville, Skid Solo in Maisons-Laffitte, Hard Way in Craon and Turfani at Chantilly. These wins and several top five finishes lead Ms. Rarick to one of the highest place percentages in France.