James Witherite did not spend his life preparing to become the editor of Hoof Beats magazine. Rather, life itself readied Witherite for the role.

Witherite, a 36-year-old Pennsylvania native whose interests and talents encompass not only harness racing but multiple facets of the arts, ascended to the position of editor earlier this month following a one-year stint as assistant editor. He took the helm from Kathy Parker, who joined Hoof Beats as editor in 2021 and will continue with the magazine as a contributing writer.

The first issue of Hoof Beats, published monthly by the United States Trotting Association, with Witherite as editor was completed recently and is on the way to subscribers.

“It’s good to get the first one finished, and it’s good to have the crew that I have to put it together and make it happen,” said Witherite. “It’s learning the process and realizing that so much of being the editor has nothing to do with editing and everything to do with working with people and crafting concepts for what’s going to constitute relevant content, both to do the participants and the audience of the sport their respective due justices.

“Granted, there is still actual editing involved, which for me is the wheelhouse and the fun part. But a lot of the job comes down to management.”

Which is where Witherite’s varied background comes into play.

To start, Witherite is an accomplished musician, composer and bandleader with four jazz albums and a Mass to his credit. He also has a home studio, which during the coronavirus lockdown in the spring of 2020 became known as the “jazz bunker” and was home to live one-hour concerts twice a week on Facebook.

Witherite was first drawn to music at the age of three, when he found his way to his grandmother’s Wurlitzer organ. He taught himself to read music, picked up the trumpet in the third grade and soon added the piano to his repertoire. He graduated from Duquesne University in 2007 with a degree in composition.

Before he even graduated, Witherite began working in harness racing. In 2006, he called races on the Michigan fair circuit and later served as a substitute announcer at Harrah’s Philadelphia. In 2007, at the age of 21, he was named the track’s fulltime voice.

His love of harness racing originated nearly a decade earlier, when his mother took him to The Meadows, near Pittsburgh, on his 12th birthday. He met leading driver Dave Palone, who today is the winningest driver in harness racing history, and Witherite was hooked.

Over the course of his career in harness racing, Witherite has worked at numerous tracks in various roles including announcer, chart-caller, program editor, racing analyst, morning-line oddsmaker and publicist. While between gigs several years ago, he started working as a copyeditor and contributor to Standardbred Canada’s website. That dovetailed into a similar job with the USTA and, eventually, roles as a writer and assistant editor of Hoof Beats.

“Now to step up to the editor’s role and look back at how it began, it’s just amazing how things pan out,” said Witherite. “I had no idea it was going to lead to what it has, but that’s been the impetus for where we are now.”

If that were not enough, six years ago Witherite started 412 Communications, a communications and media agency that has found a niche live streaming sporting events, most notably hockey at both the youth and collegiate levels, as well as harness racing qualifiers for two-year-old trotters and pacers at multiple New Jersey training centers. Known as “The First Mile,” those broadcasts will return for a third season in June.

“There is a lot of interest in these two-year-olds taking their first qualifying trips,” said Witherite, whose work behind the scenes includes creating all the graphics for the multi-camera production. “The impact of being able to broadcast them in the quality we do, to a truly worldwide audience, is not lost on me.

“We’ve heard nothing but positive feedback and we’re not done yet. We’re far from where we want to be, but we’ve ironed out the hiccups that were inevitable when you expand a broadcast. That’s how it is in live TV. Things are going to happen. It’s how you deal with them in the moment that defines how smooth the broadcast is. I think what people see this year will be similar to 2022, but with a little more polish.”

Witherite will draw upon all his experiences to ensure Hoof Beats remains a top production as well.

“All of these experiences, when compounded, give you the skill set you need to be at the helm of a publication,” said Witherite. “Responsibility for the magazine rests on me. But when you’re the producer of a record, it rests on you; when you’re the executive producer of a broadcast, it rests on you.

“The gist of the job is to surround yourself with the best people you can, who know what they’re doing, and to make sure that everybody involved has the time, space and resources they need to do what they do the best they can. When you put it all together, that’s when great things happen.”

(USTA)