TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/988448
and demanding private school, the Hopkins School. "I've been a hard worker from the time I was a kid," she said. "My parents gave me everything, but they also expected a lot from me. I went to an academically chal- lenging school and was dancing six days a week and riding three days a week. They always said to me 'To whom much is given, much is expected.' I've kept that mentality. I think that the drive and determination is something that is now internal because it was instilled in me by my parents." She thought she was going to be a balleri- na, but at 5 feet 9, she was too tall to excel in that field. So she re-focused on beauty pageants and her love of horses and rid- ing. While in high school, she took a trip to Suffolk Downs with her mother in order to find a suitable riding horse. It was her very first exposure to racing, and there were some things she liked about it and some she didn't. When told that horses racing at the bottom at a C level track like Suffolk could wind up in a precarious situation, she decid- ed to do something about it. Just 17 at the time, she started Racing For Home, a chari- ty that helped find homes for thoroughbred retirees. Along with her mother, she still runs the foundation today. Courtney moved on to Fordham Universi- ty and continued to ride and work the beau- ty pageant circuit. She decided she would become Miss Connecticut, no matter what it took or how hard she had to try. It took her four attempts to earn the title. "When I first started competing for Miss Connecticut, I was right there and I was close," she said. "It can be incredibly frus- trating at times. I think if you want some- thing so badly, and I really wanted it so badly, you're willing to sacrifice a lot for it. There were some days where I thought I can be successful without this. I certainly be- lieve that I would have been successful no matter what, but I don't think I would have been able to get to where I am as quickly as I have if I hadn't become Miss Connecticut."