As the 40th edition of the Nov. 3-4 World Championships at Santa Anita Park approaches, Hayley Amoss, senior manager of social media and content at Breeders’ Cup, is in the midst of her busiest time of the year. The days leading up to the event, though, are just a snapshot of what Amoss has been working toward all year – bringing the pageantry and behind-the-scenes stories of horse racing alive through Breeders’ Cup’s social media channels, with the goal to entertain, educate, and engage existing fans and also draw in new ones.

Amoss, herself, has taken the lead on a series of videos titled “What’s the Hay” where she interviews Breeders’ Cup participants on-site at Santa Anita Park.

The 31-year-old daughter of trainer Tom Amoss didn’t always see herself working in the racing industry, but when presented with the opportunity to join the Breeders’ Cup team nearly three years ago, she eagerly accepted while pivoting from her plan to pursue a postgraduate degree in business administration.

You can follow the Breeders’ Cup on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok @BreedersCup, and on YouTube and Facebook at Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Amoss was interviewed Oct. 18, and her answers are edited for clarity and space.

BloodHorse: Did you always know you wanted to work in racing, even though you held other jobs outside of the industry after college?

Hayley Amoss: Honestly, no. I love horses and horse racing. I always thought it would be a part of my life, but I didn’t necessarily know that I would have the opportunity to do something that I would live and breathe every day. It kind of fell in my lap, by being in the right place at the right time.

My path wasn’t super linear when it comes to horse racing. Growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian and I thought that was going to be my path, but when I was in high school, I realized that science wasn’t my forte, so I studied at the Manship School of Mass Communications at (Louisiana State University) and focused on public relations. After I graduated, I interned at a social media agency in New Orleans. The internship ended up turning into a full-time position with them. After a couple years there, I decided I wanted to give public relations a shot, and I got a job offer from a company based in Louisville. I worked there for a while before having a brief stint at Grand Slam Social (a consultant for the Breeders’ Cup), and made some wonderful connections at the racetrack.

Ultimately, I decided I was going to go get my MBA in Georgia – I got a full-ride offer, and I was planning to start in the fall of 2021. But Pete Rotondo (formerly the vice president of media and entertainment at the Breeders’ Cup), a good friend and mentor, called me up and said he had a ‘dream job’ for me. About six interviews in, I thought, ‘I really want this job.’

I haven’t looked back. I think some people spend their whole life finding a job that fills their cup up as much as this role fills mine.

Amoss at Keeneland Race Course. (Anne Eberhardt/Blood-Horse)

BH: Did you spend a lot of time in your father’s barn growing up?

HA: I spent time in my own barn (riding event horses). I rarely was at the racetrack. It wasn’t really until college that I fell in love with horse racing as a sport. When I was at LSU, the Manship School required us to create a Twitter account. So, I started looking up my dad’s racehorses. That was when my dad trained Mylute, who was on the (Kentucky) Derby trail and was running in the big Louisiana races. I learned how interesting and exciting and how important social media can be for horse racing.

That’s when I realized that social media and horse racing are definitely two things that come hand in hand when it comes to getting younger people more excited about the sport. It’s the opportunity to connect to the next generation of (fans). It’s accessible to people who maybe don’t live too close to a racetrack and are not super familiar with the racetrack. I have plenty of friends who are not associated with the business and were intimidated by the racetrack prior to getting to know me.

BH: Are there any new rollouts you and your social media team are featuring at this year’s Breeder’s Cup?

HA: Each year we strive to have our own little flair on what we do with social. Last year, we really honed in on our (Instagram) reels and TikTok, which was something in the past we just dabbled in. We’re going to expand on that.

There will be a lot more lifestyle content. We will be featuring the fact that the Breeders’ Cup is a full-blown experience ... outside of the races, there is so much that goes on. So, sharing all angles of the Breeders’ Cup as a world-class event will be the focus.

We also will be honing in on the international horses. We work with a bunch of wonderful content partners and that is definitely something we as a team are focusing on.

BH: Is there a buzz horse at this year’s Breeders’ Cup that you will be giving added attention to?

HA: Tamara (NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies) is a big focus. I think it’s really a great story that she is following in her momma’s (Beholder) footsteps. Cody’s Wish (defending Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner) is just an incredible story that we love to follow and will continue to do so. Finding those unique stories ... we want to share those with people who may not necessarily be familiar with them.

BH: Soon after you came to the Breeders’ Cup in March 2021, you launched a TikTok account to elevate the brand. Why was that important to you?

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HA: During COVID, TikTok was something that I recognized a lot of younger people were on, and if you weren’t on it, you were going to be behind on social media trends. It’s really great because those videos, you can just have the right moment, the right opportunity, the right trending stock, and you get in front of thousands of people. I think the TikTok platform has a very young generation – one that is very open to listening and learning about the sport. Our team really tries to challenge ourselves to think outside of the box and try to be as original as we can with our content.

BH: How do you create posts that lead to interactions with your followers?

HA: There are different types of posts. There’s the call-to-action posts ... one that asks people to share their opinions. A big call-to-action we did this year was asking our audience to vote for their top 40 moments that they witnessed in the Breeders’ Cup.

But we also want to make sure we’re not over asking people to interact – just really finding that content that hits them with “the feels” and gives them a story that they love to hear. That’s what gets the engagements going.

We just recently posted Mike Smith watching Zenyatta win (the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic). It was one we all knew would go viral because everyone loves talking about Zenyatta, and Mike Smith is such an incredible storyteller to begin with. Having him talking about that race puts an instant smile on your face.

BH: What collaborations have you done with America’s Best Racing?

HA: Last year, we launched an influencer campaign with ABR that we have continued this year. One of the things we recognized last year was that it was important to find people outside of the sport that care about the sport and want to share it on their channels. This year’s angle we took was “For the Love of the Horse.” We went into our influencer program trying to find people that may be in the equestrian world but may not be super knowledgeable about horse racing. One of those videos on our social channels is when ABR got Mike Smith and Anna Buffini (a two-time FEI Dressage World Cup finalist and Grand Prix dressage rider) to workout together. It turned out to be this wonderful piece, where they talked about the Breeders’ Cup. We’re excited to have Anna come and attend the Breeders’ Cup, and support and learn more about it.

BH: What’s it like for you to be on-site at the Breeders’ Cup?

HA: It’s a super fun, hard experience, but one that I thoroughly enjoy every year. We have a team of eight individuals that are working on social media and content with me, and it’s unlike any other (event). We see that the audiences, especially those who don’t get to attend Breeders’ Cup, really get a feel for what it’s like to be there.