Laurel Park: Jenile Tapscott

Jenile Tapscott, who has a long history on the backstretch at Maryland racetracks and has assisted various members of the community over the years, has been selected the Laurel Park Groom of the Year for 2023.

Tapscott inherited her love for horses from her parents, Carlyne and Radcliff Tapscott, at a very early age and began working at the racetracks as a teenager. She trained horses with her father until his death in the early 1990s and still works with her mother as an assistant trainer and groom at Laurel.

Tapscott, who lives in Pasadena, Md., worked at Laurel and the Bowie Training Center before and after school and began rubbing horses full-time for trainer and mentor Charlie Hadry in 1981. Along with Laurel and Bowie, she was stabled at the old Marlboro racetrack in Upper Marlboro before it was shuttered as a training center.

A love of animals is reflected in all areas of Tapscott’s life. In 2023, she retired from her full-time job as an animal technician at the United States Department of Agriculture after 21 years of service.

Tapscott regularly volunteers at Laurel to assist the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and Maryland Jockey Club. She has a longtime passion for backstretch workers given her experience working the Maryland stable areas and makes herself available to assist the MTHA at various events geared toward those who work with horses on a daily basis.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have grown up in the Thoroughbred racing industry with my family,” Tapscott said. “The horses and those who care for them are very special, and it’s important we continue to care for them as best we can.”

Tapscott was presented with the Salute to Excellence Award from the state of Maryland in 1991 and most recently was named to the Maryland Horse Industry Board of Directors by Gov. Wes Moore.

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