News

Open Letter to FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment from NTWAB

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:25:23 GMT

Earlier today, the board of directors of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters shared a letter with executive leadership at FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment expressing our concerns regarding the decision to phase out FanDuel TV.

Beyond sharing this letter, we wish in this communication to express our support for our members and colleagues affected by these job cuts. The reporting and storytelling you have brought to FanDuel TV have made a meaningful impact on equine journalism and the sport as a whole. That is not lost on your colleagues or the many fans of this sport.

The letter sent to FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment executives appears below:

Ms. Howe, Mr. Genetski, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Corcoran, and Mr. Shiffman,

On behalf of the board of directors of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters—an organization that advocates on behalf of journalists covering horse racing—we write to express our deep disappointment regarding the decision to phase out FanDuel TV and wind down your racing broadcast coverage.

We fully recognize that Flutter Entertainment and FanDuel, like any business, must make decisions aligned with their long-term strategy and financial priorities. However, the impact of this decision extends well beyond a balance sheet. It affects more than 170 employees—some of them our colleagues and members—talented broadcasters and contributors to FanDuel TV such as Matt Bernier, Andie Biancone, Christina Blacker, Caton Bredar, Simon Bray, Matt Carothers, Larry Collmus, Scott Hazelton, Nick Hines, Joaquin Jaime, Peter Lurie and Anthony Pascale, who have brought passion, credibility, and excellence to equine journalism.

As you know, many others—producers, camera operators, and other behind-the-scenes professionals—also play vital roles in telling FanDuel TV’s stories. Their loss of employment is equally troubling.

We commend FanDuel TV for its longstanding commitment to horse racing coverage. For more than two decades, from its origins as TVG through its rebrand as FanDuel TV, the network has brought racing into millions of homes, introduced new audiences to the sport, and delivered consistent, informed coverage.

That legacy makes this decision to phase out the network all the more difficult to accept. Without FanDuel TV’s presence, horse racing risks becoming less visible and less accessible to the public.

Should there be a viable path to reconsider this decision, we urge FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment leadership to explore it. We also encourage consideration of a sale of the network to an entity willing to continue regular operations. The infrastructure, audience, and brand equity built over decades represent valuable assets.

Respectfully,

Byron King
President, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters
On behalf of the Board of Directors for the NTWAB
www.ntwab.org

Newsletter from President Byron King Ahead of Kentucky Derby

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:52:36 GMT

NTWAB's spring meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 29, at 11 a.m. ET in the press conference area at Churchill Downs. Members attending in person are welcome to join us on-site, and a Zoom option will be available for those unable to travel. More.....

My Fellow NTWAB members,

I look forward to seeing many of you at Churchill Downs for the Derby in about five weeks.

Our spring NTWAB meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 29, at 11 a.m. ET in the press conference area at Churchill Downs. Members attending in person are welcome to join us on-site, and a Zoom option will be available for those unable to travel.

This spring, we have numerous terms expiring, including those of all our officers (president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary), as well as board positions currently held by Nicole Russo, Carlos Morales, and Sara Gordon. We will open the floor for officer nominations, then elections, and finally for those three board positions.

If you are interested in serving, please let me or any officer/director know. Some directors may choose to run for re-election or not, though I suspect many will. We welcome the submission of anyone interested in serving the NTWAB.

Beyond that information, here are a few updates:

To promote transparency, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters is again sharing how its members voted for the top selection in each Eclipse Award category. Please see the attached chart in a PDF format .

Regarding the Eclipse Awards, the board commends the membership for its strong and timely participation in this year’s voting. 138 of 144 authorized NTWAB voters (95.8%) submitted ballots, exceeding the overall 92% turnout across all three voting blocs.

We also extend our thanks to those organizations hosting interns this year: The Saratoga Special, BloodHorse, Daily Racing Form, the New York Racing Association’s television production with FOX featuring Saratoga Live, Maryland Horse Breeders and its affiliated publications, NBC, Horse Racing Happy Hour, Paulick Report, and Agentes 305. Your commitment to developing the next generation of equine journalists is greatly appreciated. With matching support from The Jockey Club, the NTWAB is proud to co-fund these opportunities.

In that same spirit, we recognize board member and broadcaster Scott Hazelton for speaking earlier this month with students in the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program. A recap of his visit, written by student Tashua Spiess, is available online . You’ll find it an enjoyable read. Thank you, Scott, for your time and efforts! Carlos Morales and I also plan to visit the program in the coming year. If you are interested in speaking with students at any college or university, please let us know—sharing the experiences of a turf writer or broadcaster may encourage some young people to pursue our profession.

Looking ahead, the Breeders’ Cup returns to Keeneland Oct. 30–31. Our annual awards dinner will return on Wednesday evening, Oct. 28, to Malone’s Prime in Lexington. They did a great job hosting us when the Breeders’ Cup was last at Keeneland. We hope you will make plans to join us.

A detailed agenda for the April 29 meeting will be circulated in advance. Planned topics include the annual membership review, new member applications, follow-up from the 2025 Eclipse Awards, and Triple Crown logistics. If there is an item you would like added to the agenda, please contact NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com .

Finally, if you know someone who may be a strong candidate for membership—or have a colleague within your organization who qualifies—please encourage them to apply. Applicants should submit a letter of interest along with two letters of recommendation to Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com by April 22.

All the best,

Byron King
NTWAB President
March 27, 2026

NTWAB 2025 Eclipse Awards Voting

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:33:19 GMT

Click through the link to view NTWAB members 2025 Eclipse Awards votes

CLICK HERE

The 2025 Eclipse Awards: It's Official

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 02:53:52 GMT

Cutting to the chase, and to the surprise of almost no one, the HORSE OF THE YEAR is SOVEREIGNTY. Other finalists were Forever Young and Journalism. Congratulations!

Other Eclipse Awards to Horses in Order of Their Presentation

2-Year-Old Filly: Super Corredora (KY), winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Trainer: John W. Sadler
Owner: Spartan Equine Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Gardiner, Robert C. and Olszewski, Michael W.
Breeder: Woodford Thoroughbreds
Other finalists: Cy Fair, winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Spring; Explora, winner of the Oak Leaf and second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

2-Year-Old Male: Ted Noffey (KY). Four starts, four wins, including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The early favorite for the 2026 Kentucky Derby.
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Owner: Spendthrift Farm LLC Owner Link
Breeder: Aaron & Marie Jones LLC
Ridden by John Velazquez
Other finalists: Brant, winner of the Del Mar Futurity; Gstaad, winner of the Breedesrs' Cup Juvenile Turf.

3-Year-Old Filly: Nitrogen (KY), graded winner on both turf and dirt, won nearly $2 million.
Trainer: Mark E. Casse
Owner: D. J. Stable
Breeder: D. J. Stable
Other finalists: Good Cheer, winner of the Kentucky Oaks; Shisospicy, top turf sprinter beat the boys in Breeders' Cup.

3-Year-Old Male: Sovereignty (KY)
Won the Fountain of Youth, Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, Jim Dandy, Travers. Second in the Florida Derby
Trainer: William I. Mott
Owner: Godolphin
Breeder: Godolphin
Other finalists: Pennsylvania Derby winner Baeza; Preakness winner Journalism hit the board in all three Triple Crown races.
Junior Alvarado got a nod for his Kentucky Derby ride.

Female Sprinter: Shisospicy (KY), winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, AGS Music City Stakes, Mamzelle Stakes and others.
Trainer: Jose Francisco D'Angelo
Owner: Morplay Racing and Qatar Racing
Breeder: Bill Heiligbrodt & Corinne Heiligbrodt
Other finalists: Kopion, winner of the Derby City Distaff; Splendora, winner of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

Male Sprinter: Book’em Danno (NJ) was dominant in the summer with four wins if five stakes including three wins at Saratoga.
Trainer: Derek S. Ryan
Owner: Atlantic Six Racing
Breeder: Gregory J. Kilka & Bright View Farm
Other finalists: Bentornato, winner of the Breeders' Cup Sprint; Nysos earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure winning the Triple Bend.

Steeplechase Horse: Cool Jet (IRE), winner of G1s Commonwealth Cup and Colonial Cup.
Trainer: Jack Fisher
Owner: Riverdee Stable
Breeder: Mrs Deirdre McGrath
Other finalists: Swore, Zanahiyr

Older Dirt Female: Thorpedo Anna (KY), Grade 1s Apple Blossom and Personal Ensign topped her resume.
Trainer: Kenneth G. McPeek
Owner: Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. (J. G. Sikura), Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), Mark Edwards, Judy B. Hicks
Breeder: Judy Hicks
Other finalists: Scylla capped off the year winning the Breeders' Cup Distaff; Splendora, winner of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

Older Dirt Male: Forever Young (JPN), winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic, pushing his earnings to $20 million.
Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi
Owner: Susumu Fujita
Breeder: Northern Racing
Other finalists: Nysos, winner of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile; Sierra Leone, who finished in the money in 14 career starts.

Female Turf Horse: She Feels Pretty (KY), two wins and two seconds in two Grade 1s and two Grade 2s.
Trainer: Cherie DeVaux
Owner: Lael Stables
Breeder: Payson Stud
Other finalists: Gezora (FR), winner of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf; Shisospicy, named in three Eclipse categories.

Male Turf Horse: Notable Speech (GB), winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile.
Trainer: Charles Appleby
Owner: Godolphin, LLC
Breeder: Godolphin
Other finalists: Deterministic, winner of Grade 1s Fourstardave and Manhattan; the globetrotting Rebel’s Romance.

Eclipse Awards to People

Champion Breeder: Godolphin-breds had over $27 million in progeny earnings and won 24 graded races.
Other finalists: Don Alberto Corporation bred the winners of over 120 races including Journalism, WinStar Farm produced 172 wins with eight graded winners.

Champion Owner: Godolphin. Its eighth Eclipse as top owner and its sixth straight. Need we say more? Owner, breeder of Sovereignty. Ranked first by earnings and fourth by wins.
Other finalists: Klaravich Stables, ranked 10th by wins and second by earnings; Spendthrift Farm, which had a remarkable run in latter 2025.

Champion Trainer: Bill Mott, trainer of Sovereignty, with 102 wins and over $16 million in earnings. His fifth Eclipse. He said, "It's good to be back up here."
Other finalists: Chad Brown won 197 races and over $24 million in earnings; Brad Cox with over $30 million in purses and 26 graded wins.
Before tonight these three trainers already had 11 Eclipse Awards.

Champion Jockey: Flavien Prat, who won over $40 million in purses and 46 graded stakes.
Other finalists: Irad Oritz Jr. winner of 334 races and three Breeders' Cup events; the veteran John Velazquez with 10 Grade 1 victories.
Combined, these three riders won 778 wins and over $100 million in earnings in 2025.

Champion Apprentice Jockey: Pietro Moran, Irish-born and Canadian raised, won the most races of any apprentice.
Other finalists: Christopher Elliott, son of Stuart Elliott; Yedsit Hazlewood, a native of Panama

Other Eclipse Awards

Bob Duncan, who's manned the starting gate for NYRA tracks for many years, was presented a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence after over 50 years in the game. Todd Pletcher presented.

Media Eclipse Award winners! https://www.ntwab.org/media-eclipse-award-winners-announced
Live TV & Feature TV (two awards): FOX Sports
News/Enterprise: Natalie Voss, Paulick Report
Feature/Commentary: Jay Privman, DRF.com DRF
Photography: Skip Dickstein
Multimedia: Augusta Chapman, Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics Radio

Dan Piazza, National Handicapping Champion, received the Eclipse Award for 2025 Horseplayer of the Year .

The late, legendary journalist Ed Bowen was named as recipient of the Eclipse Award of Merit. Dell Hancock presents to his family.
Ed is considered to be the sport's greatest historian for the past 60 years. Among other achievements he was a script-writer for the Breeders' Cup Awards and Editor-in-Chief of BloodHorse.

Legendary race caller Trevor Denman was honored with a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence as his famous "scintillating" call of Zenyatta's Breeders' Cup win is played.

FanDuel NTRA Moment of the Year: Forever Young's Breeders' Cup win. Breeder Shunsuke Yoshida accepted.

Compiled by Dick Downey
Thanks to Equibase for statistics and connections.

Media Eclipse Award Winners Announced

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 19:51:53 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today announced the winners of the 2025 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories. Every entry must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 16, 2024, and November 14, 2025.

The 2025 Media Eclipse Award winners are as follows:

Live Television Programming – FOX Sports, “The Belmont Stakes,” Michael Mulvihill, President – Insight & Analytics, June 7, 2025

Feature Television – FOX Sports, “The Healing Ride,” Michael Mulvihill President – Insight & Analytics, June 7, 2025

Writing – News/Enterprise – Natalie Voss, Paulick Report - “Doom Scroll: Thoroughbreds, Bail Pens, And Horse Traders,” December 2024

Writing – Feature/Commentary – Jay Privman, DRF.com and Daily Racing Form, “Lukas Morphed from Caustic to Avuncular,” June 29, 2025

Photography – Skip Dickstein, “Unseated,” The Albany Times-Union and BloodHorse, Aug. 31, 2025

Multimedia – Augusta Chapman and Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics Radio “The Horse is Us: Inside the Horse-Industrial Complex,” Oct. 31, 2025

Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented their trophies at the 55th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Ceremony and Dinner at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Live Television Programming – FOX Sports

FOX Sports won its first Live Television Programming Eclipse Award for the live broadcast of the 157 ^th running of the Belmont Stakes, which aired on June 7, 2025, from Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 2025 Belmont Stakes featured the much-awaited rematch between Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and Preakness Stakes winner Journalism. Sovereignty defeated Journalism in the Derby but his connections bypassed the Preakness, setting up the highly anticipated confrontation between the two colts in the Belmont, with Sovereignty prevailing. FOX devoted five hours of live coverage on its main network for the Belmont Stakes.

FOX deployed 40 camera for its coverage, of which 12 were SSMo, 8 RF and 4 cameras running on a private 5G network provided by CP Communications. FOX employed a drone and helicopter as well and two jitacam point-to-point camera systems.

Bill Richards and Pete Macheska produced the broadcast, with Bryan Lilley as the director. Curt Menefee was the host and was joined by analysts Tom Amoss and Richard Migliore; Jonathon Kinchen and Chris Fallica were wagering analysts; Charissa Thompson, paddock host; Tom Rinaldi, special features reporter; Maggie Wolfendale, reporter; Terry Bradshaw, commentator, and Frank Mirahmadi, racecaller.

“All of us at Fox Sports are grateful for this honor,” said Michael Mulvihill, FOX Sports President of Insights & Analytics. “We were fortunate to have a very special Belmont Stakes winner in Sovereignty and the best setting in the world in Saratoga, and our crew led by producer Bill Richards and director Bryan Lilley delivered a broadcast worthy of the event. A great day at the races is a poem, a puzzle and a party and hopefully that’s what we delivered to millions of fans on Belmont Day.”

Honorable mention in the Live Television Programming category went to NBC Sports for the 2025 Kentucky Derby; Lindsay Schanzer, Sr. Coordinating Producer.

Judges in the Live Television Programming category were Kristine Kugler, Horse Racing Producer, ESPN; Dick Jerardi, former columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, and Jack Renaud, a 30-year producer with CBS News, recurring coverage of Thoroughbred issues and features.

Television Feature – FOX Sports

FOX Sports has won the Television Feature Media Eclipse Award for “The Healing Ride,” which aired on June 7, 2025. This is the second Television Feature Eclipse Award for FOX, which had previously won it in 2019 for a story on the champion filly Rachel Alexandra.

Narrated by Tom Rinaldi, “The Healing Ride” profiled the Mott racing family and the devastating loss of Margot Mott, daughter of trainer Riley Mott and his wife, Megan, and granddaughter to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Margot lost her battle to a form of brain cancer at age two in 2024.

The feature began with the unfolding of a special bond between father and son when Riley started coming to Bill’s barn at about five years old and developed into a passion for the sport. The bond grew as Riley joined in Bill’s remarkable success on his way to becoming a Hall of Fame trainer.

By 2023, Riley and Megan were blessed with their first child, daughter Margot. That fall, Margot was diagnosed with a large tumor in the back of her head and she had to be in surgery within 12 hours. Her life was never the same. Three months after the diagnosis, she passed away in her mother’s arms.

In dealing with anguish of the loss Riley Mott said, “My family and our two sons saved my life, but I think the horses were the most therapeutic thing I could have at that time.” And as Renaldi intoned, “Training and racing held the Mott family together.”

And they were together when Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby last May. “That was the single most special moment I had with my dad,” said Riley.

The feature captured a warm embrace of Bill and Riley near the infield winner’s circle at Churchill Downs following the Derby victory, and concludes with pictures of Margot on top of a horse and her standing in front a horse’s stall.

“Storytelling is the backbone of what we do at Fox Sports,” said Michael Mulvihill of FOX Sports. “We are deeply grateful to the Mott family for placing their trust and confidence in Tom Rinaldi and our producer Etienne Materre to tell their story. We wish to humbly share this honor with the entire Mott family.”

The winning entry can be viewed here .

Honorable mention in the Television Feature category went to NBC Sports for its feature of NTWAB member Steve Kornacki spending time with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, which aired on May 3, 2025, and was produced by Elinore Wright. Honorable mention also went to Netflix “Race for the Crown,” Kentucky Derby episode; Ian Sambor, Producer.

Judges in the Television Feature category were Bob Curran, industry communications consultant; Dave Johnson, track announcer, television analyst, and race caller for ABC Sports, and now co-host of Down The Stretch on SiriusXM; and Patty Wolfe, Multimedia Eclipse Award winner and three-time Emmy winner at ABC Sports.

Writing – News/Enterprise – Natalie Voss

In her four-part series, “Doom Scroll: Thoroughbreds, Bail Pens, And Horse Traders,” which was published in the Paulick Report in December 2024, Natalie Voss, who at the time was a member of NTWAB, provided an in depth analysis on the methods, reactions and ramifications of bail pens, a new and growing economy in which horses, including many Thoroughbreds, are offered for sale to the public under the threat that they will be exported and rendered for meat if a steep “bail price” isn’t paid.

This is the fourth Media Eclipse Award for Voss, of Georgetown, Kentucky.

The first article in the series lays the groundwork for bail pen operations and a new breed of horse traders who prey on people’s good intentions, mostly on social media. It is followed by the second article examining the effects bail pens have on rescue organizations. The third article discussed procedures of what to do if you’re contacted about a horse in a pen, and concludes with an examination of large and small scale solutions actionable by individuals and the industry.

"I'm so honored to win the Eclipse for this series because this subject is incredibly important to me,” said Voss. “I did a lot of reporting that intersected with the bail pen economy in my career and was always a little surprised when I'd encounter racing stakeholders who didn't know much about it. I also recognized there wasn't a lot of independent reference material out there about it, so I endeavored to create a series that could break down its complexities, and also offer micro- and macro-level solutions and perspective for someone trying to navigate the space.”

Voss identified psychological manipulation as one of the methods that has made the pens so successful. The pens’ social media posts urge their audience to act now, and to acquiesce to their terms, pushing people to pay escalated prices for horses, sight unseen, who often have significant medical problems. The cost of acquiring, transporting, quarantining, and rehabbing horses out of a pen can be significant for individuals or rescues. Although all types of horses may be found in a bail pen, ex-racehorses are often sought out by pen operators.

“Thoroughbreds, in large part because of their traceability, are social media gold mines for bail pens. They often carry higher bail prices than other breeds in similar condition, because it makes the public furious to see one there; that drives bail money.”

The series points out that although the pens often stretch the truth in their marketing, the bail pen cycle is not a good place for a horse to end up – for the horse, or for the industry.

“More people are becoming aware of the bail pen than four or five years ago, but the bail pen economy is so strong that the best way to confront it is not to let the horses get into that situation in the first place,” Voss added. “It’s important to have a good aftercare plan in place before hand. Prevention is the best cure.”

Voss, who is now Director of Communications for United States Equestrian Federation, won the Media Eclipse Award for News/Enterprise in 2016, and in 2020 in News/ Enterprise and in Feature/Commentary. All were written for the Paulick Report. She was with the Paulick Report for 12 years, and was editor-in-chief at time of her departure in 2025.

The winning entry can be viewed here .

Honorable mention in the News/Enterprise category went to Joe Clancy for “Journalism Writes a Masterpiece in Preakness Thriller,” which appeared in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred in the July 1 edition, and his brother, Sean Clancy, a three-time Media Eclipse Award winner for “Summer Reading” a news article on the 2025 Travers Stakes, which appeared on Aug. 27 in The Saratoga Special.

Judges in the News/Enterprise category were Dan Liebman, former editor of BloodHorse and The State-Journal in Frankfort, Ky.; Jim Mulvihill, Director of marketing communications for Denver-based Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, former editor and NTRA Communications Director; and David Papadopoulos, Managing Editor, Bloomberg News.

Writing – Feature/Commentary – Jay Privman

NTWAB member Jay Privman has won the Feature/Commentary Media Eclipse Award for “Lukas Morphed from Caustic to Avuncular,” recalling the dynamic career of the late Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and his personal evolution during more than four decades as a vital force in Thoroughbred racing. The article first appeared on the Daily Racing Form’s website DRF.com on June 29, the day following Lukas’s passing.

It is the first Media Eclipse Award for Privman, of Carlsbad, California. Retired in 2022 after covering the sport since 1980, Privman was honored with a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence in 2023.

"Wayne Lukas was a significantly impactful figure in the sport, yet his story arc was largely unknown by those who weren't around when he first came on the scene,” said Privman. “Having covered him for more than 40 years, I was fortunate to have the perspective of that arc, and the good fortune that my old employer, Daily Racing Form, was desirous of running a piece that showcased the totality of Wayne's saga.

"I am indebted to Daily Racing Form editor Jody Swavy, and managing editor Irwin Cohen, for providing the space for the essay, and especially to Frank Mirahmadi, the track announcer at Santa Anita and Saratoga, who first suggested the piece and was insistent I do it. Most of all, thanks goes to Wayne, for his unique story and for showing that people are complicated and can evolve, that they are not caricatures of their best nor worst moments."

Privman first covered Lukas for the Los Angeles Daily News at the 1980 Santa Anita Derby and wrote about him for the last time in an interview prior to the 2022 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse when he was national correspondent for Daily Racing Form.

In ‘Caustic to Avuncular,’ Privman describes Lukas moving from the Quarter Horse scene of the late 1970s to hitting Thoroughbred racing like a hurricane: bold, brash, and off-putting to fellow trainers as he quickly climbed the ladder of success sporting finely tailored suits and immaculate stable areas dotting the entire country; grabbing the media spotlight while piling up wins in the Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup. Over time Lukas endured his own changes of fortune, adapted to the times, continued winning, and established a thriving legacy among colleagues and fans as the popular and beloved “Coach.”

His coaching tree already has produced outstanding disciples, and will live on for decades, Privman wrote. “His exacting standards for the way a barn looks, and the way people who work there act, has been carried on by those trainers, and many who have long admired Lukas, even if they didn’t work for him, like Kenny McPeek. Lukas’s imprint on the sales ring, in terms of what a horseman looks for, and the prices paid for those horses, has been substantial.

Along the way, Lukas changed. He evolved with the times, in terms of how to train the modern-day racehorse, and the societal demands therein, and how to deal with people, too. He seemed satisfied, appreciative, and, most of all, content.”

The winning article can be viewed: here .

Honorable mention in the Feature/Commentary category went to NTWAB member Lenny Shulman for “Racing Royalty,” a profile of the late Patrice Wolfson, which was published in BloodHorse on July 1, 2025.

Judges in the Feature/Commentary category were Amanda Duckworth, communications consultant for the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities; Amy Gregory, former Director of Communications, Keeneland Association; and Bob Kieckhefer, Racing Writer, United Press International.

Photography – Skip Dickstein

Skip Dickstein, veteran photographer from the Albany Times-Union and BloodHorse has won his second Eclipse Award for Outstanding Photography for his image of an unseated Irad Ortiz Jr. taken after the start of the Aug. 31, 2025, Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Dickstein, of Malta, N.Y., won his first Eclipse Award in 1996 for the finish of the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Woodbine Racetrack.

Looking through his Nikon Z9 180mm-600mm Nikon zoom about 125 feet down past the wire to shoot the start of the Gold Cup, Dickstein noticed something wrong shortly after the horses broke from the gate. The 4-year-old Phileas Fogg, breaking from the seventh post position in an eight-horse field moved sharply to his left and caused a chain reaction, forcing Contrary Thinking to shy in bumping White Abarrio, who in turn bumped solidly into Mindframe.

“I stayed with the shot in anticipation that something unusual was likely to happen and the jockeys started to react to it,” Dickstein recalled. He stayed on the shutter release and concentrated on the action as it evolved, never taking his eye from the viewfinder, making images at a rate of 15 frames per second.

When Dickstein returned to the press box to examine his images, he was transfixed on a shot of Ortiz holding onto the mane of his mount with his left hand, while desperately holding onto White Abarrio with his right hand as the rider dangled about a foot above the ground.

(Ortiz fell to the ground, was taken to a local hospital, but avoided serious injury. He returned to riding on Sept. 4 at Kentucky Downs.)

“It was one of the best action images I’ve ever made,” said Dickstein, who has been photographing for the Times-Union the past 45 years, and for BloodHorse since 1978. “I have won it (the Eclipse Award) before from a remote, but never a handheld image. This brings a greater sense of satisfaction as the hand held image is far more personal.”

Born and raised in Albany, N.Y., Dickstein attended Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and credits Bill Clough, as his primary photo journalism mentor at the Beaumont Enterprise and Journal Newspaper. Dickstein has covered every Kentucky Derby since 1986 and all 42 Breeders’ Cup Championships as well as many other national sporting events including the National Track and Field Championships, the Olympic Trials for Track and Field and Bobsled and Luge as well as the 1980 and 1996 Olympic Games.

The winning image can be viewed: here .

Honorable mention in the Photography category went to Alex Evers, the 2020 Photography Eclipse winner for his finish of the 2025 Kentucky Derby, “Sovereignty Reigns Supreme,” Derby, which appeared in Agentes 305 on May 3, 2025, and to two-time Eclipse Award winner Scott Serio for “Floating in the Fog,” which appeared in Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred on Sept. 1, 2025.

Judges in the Photography category were John McCutcheon, former Director of Photography and Video at the San Diego Union-Tribune and supervisor of Photography and Video at The Los Angeles Times; Mike Kane, veteran Thoroughbred writer and photographer; and Rob Carr, Chief Photographer, Getty Images/Chief Photographer, Sport.

Multimedia – Freakonomics Radio

The Freakonomics Radio Podcast “Inside the Horse-Industrial Complex,” examined the wide-ranging world of horse racing, and discussed the various facets of the industry through from the life of the jockey, to breeding, auction sales, and issues from artificial insemination to recent changes in U.S. immigration policy. The program, the second of the three-part series “The Horse is Us,” was produced by Augusta Chapman and hosted by Stephen Dubner. The program first aired last year on Oct. 31.

Freakonomics, based in New York, interviewed a range of individuals for their perspective on horse racing: Emily Plant, Thoroughbred researcher and statistician, associate professor of marketing at the University of Montana, Jill Stowe ; professor of economics at the University of Kentucky; Mark Taylor , president of Taylor Made Farm; Oscar Gonzales , vice chair of the California Horse Racing Board, and Richard Migliore , head racing analyst for Fox Sports and New York Racing Association, and retired jockey.

“I’m thrilled, this series is a passion project for me,” said Chapman. “It’s been my favorite project and to win this award is a payoff. Our goal in each series is to introduce the audience into a topic and find out the biggest questions in the industry. It’s been all- consuming and it’s all I could talk about for a year. For me it feels great that I can share it with everyone.”

Dubner was able to unearth educational and revealing interviews with his subjects, especially with Migliore and Taylor. Migliore told his life story starting as a rider at 16 and in the saddle for 30 years, growing up in the business from mucking stalls to working horses, and the interaction between equines and humans, to making weight, recovering from injuries and the payment structure a jockey receives.

“As a jockey, you have a dance partner. You’re only as good as your dance partner in a lot of respects,” said Migliore. “I’ve never seen a jockey get off and carry the horse. For me, it was very important to understand a horse’s personality, their psyche, their strengths, their weaknesses. Some riders maybe rely more on their physicality, because being a jockey — even though it’s hard for people to relate to a smaller-than-average person as a premier athlete — you are a premier athlete.”

Taylor, president of Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., was glad to be a guest because “the thoroughbred horse world is Freakonomics. It’s very volatile. There’s not many industries or economies that it’s a living, breathing creature.” Taylor emphasized the importance of Lexington, Kentucky as the nerve center of the industry, touching on Keeneland sales, the marketplace and the vital premise that the best stallions are in Kentucky. And that Kentucky soil and weather made it the best place to breed and raise Thoroughbreds.

The winning entry can be found here .

Honorable mention in the Multimedia category went to Katie Petrunyak of Thoroughbred Daily News for Breeders' Cup Breakthrough: For Kevin Attard, “Moira's Win More Than a Milestone,” on Aug. 8, 2025, and to Christina Bossinakis, also for Thoroughbred Daily News, for “Tenacious Emma-Jayne Wilson Poised for Next Comeback” on Aug. 27, 2025.

Judges in the Multimedia category were John Engelhardt, 35 years as a producer in TV/radio/podcasts, and current host of The Regular Guy on winningponies.com; Julie Sarno, freelance writer, a former editorial staff member of BloodHorse, staff member at The Meadowlands, staff member and Department Head at Del Mar; and Joe Withee, Director of Broadcast Publicity, Emerald Downs.

Edited NTRA release

Posted Jan,. 8, 2026

About the Eclipse Awards

Produced by the NTRA, The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies. Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), Daily Racing Form, National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) member racing officials and Equibase field personnel. Each Eclipse Awards Finalist will be provided two complimentary tickets to the Awards show courtesy of The Jockey Club.

About Resolute Racing

Resolute Racing is committed to the highest standards of excellence and transparency in the horse racing industry. Driven by a passion for the sport and the welfare of every horse, we prioritize ethical practices and accountability across our operations. Founded by John Stewart, Resolute Racing is dedicated to ensuring that every racehorse has a secure future, fostering a culture of responsibility among owners, trainers, and all participants. With a focus on integrity and respect for the animals, we aim to set a new standard in the racing world, where success is measured not only by wins but by the long-term care and well-being of our thoroughbreds.

About The Breakers Palm Beach

Originally built in 1896, The Breakers remains one of America’s legendary resort destinations. Renowned for its seaside glamour and world-class service, the 538-room, Italian Renaissance-style hotel resides on 140 acres of oceanfront property in the heart of Palm Beach. With unapologetic luxury, Resort amenities feature a private beach, four oceanfront pools, five whirlpool spas, 25 luxury beach bungalows and a variety of watersports; a new luxury spa; indoor-outdoor Ocean Fitness center; 36 holes of championship golf, including the Ocean Course and The Breakers Rees Jones® Course; 10 Har-Tru tennis courts; a Family Entertainment Center; an array of on-site boutiques; and nine acclaimed restaurants, with settings ranging from casual beachfront to stylishly sophisticated.

2025 Eclipse Awards Finalists Announced

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 17:27:53 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced the finalists for the 2025 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing.

Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV and other outlets during the 55th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, presented by John Deere, The Jockey Club and the NTRA, on Thursday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2025 Horse of the Year.

Of the 240 eligible voters represented by the NTRA consisting of racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 221 (92%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

The 2025 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, in alphabetical order, are:

Two-Year-Old Male: Brant, Gstaad (GB), Ted Noffey

Two-Year-Old Filly: Cy Fair, Explora, Super Corredora

Three-Year-Old Male: Baeza, Journalism, Sovereignty

Three-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer, Nitrogen, Shisospicy

Older Dirt Male: Forever Young (JPN), Nysos, Sierra Leone

Older Dirt Female: Scylla, Splendora, Thorpedo Anna

Male Sprinter: Bentornato, Book’em Danno, Nysos

Female Sprinter: Kopion, Shisospicy, Splendora

Male Turf Horse: Deterministic, Notable Speech (GB), Rebel’s Romance (IRE)

Female Turf Horse: Gezora (FR), She Feels Pretty, Shisospicy

Steeplechase Horse: Cool Jet (IRE), Swore, Zanahiyr (IRE)

Owner: Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables, Inc., Spendthrift Farm LLC

Breeder: Don Alberto Corporation, Godolphin LLC, WinStar Farm, LLC

Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bill Mott

Jockey: Irad Oritz Jr., Flavien Prat, John Velazquez

Apprentice Jockey: Christopher Elliott, Yedsit Hazlewood, Pietro Moran

Finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced during the live show on January 22. In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Dan Piazza will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2025 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), and Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire, Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

Edited NTRA release

Posted Jan. 4, 2026

NTWAB, The Jockey Club to Co-Fund Record Nine Media Internships in 2026

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 17:01:10 GMT

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), with matching financial support from The Jockey Club, has agreed to support a record nine internship applications at horse racing media outlets in 2026, by far the largest group funded since the program began in 2023.

The NTWAB internship committee approved co-funding internships at The Saratoga Special, BloodHorse, Daily Racing Form, the New York Racing Association’s television production with FOX featuring Saratoga Live, Maryland Horse Breeders and its affiliated publications, NBC, Horse Racing Happy Hour, Paulick Report, and Agentes 305.

The NTWAB internship support initiative was launched to help offset budget pressures at print, digital, and broadcast outlets and to support both workforce development in racing journalism and the immediate staffing needs of media organizations covering the sport.

Together, the National Turf Writers Association Charitable Foundation and The Jockey Club have committed approximately $24,000 toward the 2026 internships, with each organization authorizing up to $12,000 in matching funds. The NTWAB and The Jockey Club will collectively reimburse up to half of an outlet’s internship payroll and related expenses, capped at $3,000.

“This program is doing exactly what it was intended to do — assisting media outlets with staffing while providing students interested in equine journalism with paid opportunities and a pathway to full-term employment upon graduation,” NTWAB president Byron King said. “We’re appreciative of The Jockey Club for their matching financial support and their commitment to foster the next generation of talent in equine journalism.”

“The Jockey Club fully supports advancements for aspiring journalists and media personnel in horse racing, and we are grateful to the NTWAB for working with us on this initiative,” said James L. Gagliano, president and COO, The Jockey Club.

The NTWAB will assist participating outlets in publicizing internship job application links as positions become available. Prospective interns and media organizations interested in participating in future years are encouraged to monitor ntwab.org and follow @NTWAB on X for additional details.

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NTWAB Notes from the President

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 16:21:02 GMT

It was great seeing so many of you at Del Mar for the 2025 Breeders’ Cup and during our annual NTWAB Awards Dinner and our general membership meeting during Breeders’ Cup week.

The Awards Dinner was a tremendous success with a strong turnout and fundraising. Photos from the evening are posted here .

Our membership meeting was productive, highlighted by the addition of new members—Lillian Davis, Steve Dennis, Jim Gazzale, Dave Hill, and Nick Hines. Welcome aboard!

Minutes from our Breeders’ Cup meeting are at the foot of this newsletter.

Important reminder: In the coming weeks, you’ll receive your Eclipse Award ballots and past performance information, and/or online access. Eclipse Award voting closes at 3 p.m. ET on Jan. 1, 2026. This is a day or so earlier than in past years.

Please submit on time—some members missed the deadline last year. The final graded stakes of 2025, races that could potentially influence voting, take place from Dec. 26-28.

Voters must abstain from any categories in which they have a conflict of interest or the possible appearance of one.

The Eclipse Award ceremony will take place at The Breakers Palm Beach in South Florida on Jan. 22, 2026.

Lastly, a reminder that media-outlet applications for NTWAB funding are due Dec. 19 . A release with full details on that program is available here .

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Byron King

President

National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association

Posted Dec. 4, 2025

_____________________

NTWAB General Membership Meeting
Breeders’ Cup Week 2023
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Conducted at Santa Anita Park & by Zoom

Call to Order – meeting called to order by Tom Law at 11.04 am Pacific.

Roll Call – (in person) Tom Law, Jennifer Kelly, Frank Angst, Byron King, Bob Kieckhefer, Ed DeRosa, Mike Farrell, Sara Gordon, Rudi Groothedde, Lisa Groothedde, Beth Harris, Alex Orr, Julie Sarno, Jay Hovdey.

(Via Zoom – attendance fluctuated throughout meeting) Steve Byk, J.N. Campbell, Megan Connolly, Steve Crist, Liane Crossley, Gregory Hall, Vance Hanson, Dave Johnson, Gene Kershner, Steve Kornacki, Seth Merrow, Natalie Voss Nevills, Jay Privman, Jennie Rees, Paul Rolfes, John Scheinman, Lenny Shulman, Julie June Stewart, Alicia Hughes.

Also in attendance were representatives from HISA and HIWU, including Lisa Lazarus, Ben Mosier, Alexa Ravit, and Mandy Minger.

Treasurer’s Report was presented remotely by treasurer Dick Downey.

HISA Communications – Lisa Lazarus and Ben Mosier took questions from membership off the record. Both address relationship with the media and coming changes to websites, databases, data reporting (like voided claims, etc.), and communications between HISA/HIWU and media.

2023 NTWAB Annual Awards Banquet Report – Tom Law shared that over 120 were in attendance at the annual awards banquet on Wednesday, November 1. All five award winners were present as well. Julie Sarno gave a report about Loren Hebel-Osborne’s efforts behind the scenes when issues necessitated a change in venue. Tom Law also shared ad sales, thanked Byron King, Loren and Julie for their efforts and offered that programs were available for those who wanted one. Dick Downey will share photos of the event on both the website and social media.

Membership Review Committee Update – J.N. Campbell shared an update from the Membership Review Committee. After reviewing the membership roster, the committee reached out to 24 members whose current affiliations were uncertain and clarified their roles. The committee also recommended status changes for those whose roles had changed, recommending moving those members to either Associate or Tenured status based on their time with the organization. Eight were recommended to move to Tenured while 14 were dropped from Regular to Associate. Three chose to drop their membership altogether. The full board met to consider the issue and elected to go forward with the recommendations. Members in question have 30 days to respond to the change. This process will begin again in January and will be conducted annually per bylaws.

Scholarship Committee – Natalie Voss shared update about the internship and scholarship programs from the NTWAB. The committee got positive feedback from both The BloodHorse and The Saratoga Special on the program's impact on their ability to host internships; the Special was able to add an additional internship spot because of it. The NTWAB funded the only two requests that came in but hope next year to have an application from a broadcast outlet, since ideally the committee would like to do one broadcast and one print/web.

Megan Connolly suggested reaching out to the Godolphin Flying Start program to see if they would be willing to add journalism to their curriculum.

Richard Gross suggested researching what previous NTWAB interns have done and sharing that on the website for more visibility for the program.

Voss invites those interested in participating in our committee to reach out to her.

New Member Applications – Jennifer Kelly shared the ten new member applications, with seven recommended for Regular membership while three were recommended for Associate membership with the option to apply for Regular membership at a later date. Mike Farrell moved to accept the entire slate. Byron King seconded. All new members were approved.

Media Eclipse Awards – Tom Law shared an update about the upcoming media Eclipse Awards, including changes to qualifications to open up eligibility to more outlets.

Meeting adjourned at 12.23 pm Pacific.

Applications for Membership – November 2023
Name  Status  Sponsors  Board Decision  Membership Vote
Andrew Anderson  A  Britney Eurton & Christina Blacker  Recommended  Approved
Remi Bellocq  RW  Tom Law & Frank Angst  Recommended  Approved
Mike Bernier  RB  Scott Hazelton & Larry Collmus  Recommended  Approved
Karen Johnson  RW  Frank Angst & Byron King  Recommended  Approved
Michael Joyce  RB  Scott Hazelton & Christina Blacker  Recommended  Approved
Carlos Morales  A  Tim Wilkin & Juan-Carlos Feijóo Gonzalez  Recommended  Approved
Anthony Mormino  A  Seth Merrow & Brian Nadeau  Recommended  Approved
Jim Mulvihill  RW  Frank Angst & Byron King  Recommended  Approved
Todd Schrupp  RB  Scott Hazelton & Simon Bray  Recommended  Approved
Ken Snyder  RW  Jennie Rees & Tom Pedulla   Recommended  Approved

National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Announces Expansion of Internship Funding for 2026

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 22:25:18 GMT

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters with matching financial support from The Jockey Club, today announced a substantial expansion of its internship funding program for equine media outlets in 2026. Both organizations have authorized contributions of up to $12,000 each, co-funding potentially eight paid internships designed to bolster staffing in horse racing media and foster the next generation of equine journalists.

Now entering its fourth year, the NTWAB internship assistance program has already proven highly effective. Previous interns have moved directly into full-time roles within the industry, including Lillian Davis, who became an assistant news editor at Paulick Report this summer.

“Thanks to the generous matching grant from NTWAB, Lillian joined the Paulick Report as an intern in June,” said Chelsea Hackbarth, news editor at Paulick Report. “Her writing ability and reliability impressed us so much that we hired her full-time less than a month into the internship. Her skill in photography and willingness to find and eloquently share the untold stories have been consistently above expectations, and she is clearly one of the rising stars in this industry.”

Funding from the National Turf Writers Association Charitable Foundation and The Jockey Club is structured to cover up to half of a participating outlet’s payroll and expenses, reimbursing up to $3,000 per internship. So an outlet spending $6,000 would receive $1,500 each from NTWAB and The Jockey Club following the internship’s completion.

The internship initiative aligns closely with The Jockey Club’s mission to provide leadership and support that strengthen the Thoroughbred industry. Recognizing the program’s value, The Jockey Club enthusiastically partnered with NTWAB to expand this effort beginning next year.

“The Jockey Club is pleased to support the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters internship program,” said James L. Gagliano, president and COO of The Jockey Club. “Among the scholarships and internships supported by The Jockey Club, workforce development in journalism is a high priority, and we are thankful to the NTWAB for their leadership here.”

In 2025, NTWAB-supported internships were hosted by Paulick Report, Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), BloodHorse, and ESPN Louisville.

“Hiring a summer intern is a tough task at the TDN, because the learning curve is so steep, and without a stipend from the NTWAB, we wouldn’t have done so because of the cost,” said Sue Finley, publisher and CEO at Thoroughbred Daily News. “But thankfully, with assistance from the organization, we were able to engage Noah Meagher, a senior at the University of Kentucky’s animal science program, who has an interest in journalism. Noah caught on quickly and soon became an integral part of our race-writing crew, working with the staff on long weekends to provide coverage of the day’s races. It turned out to be such a successful experiment that we kept him on for Saturdays once school started up again. We really appreciate all of the help we got from the NTWAB and were so happy to be able to give an aspiring turf writer the experience he’ll need to land a job in the field.”

At BloodHorse, University of Kentucky journalism student Isaiah Pinto gained hands-on experience working in its Lexington, Ky., office and on assignment at Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Belterra Park, and Fasig-Tipton.

“All sorts of those experiences will last with me throughout my career,” he said.

While at Belterra Park, Pinto chronicled a history-making achievement from jockey Perry Ouzts, who set the all-time North American mounts record this past summer. Two of Pinto’s written pieces about the 71-year-old rider appear here and here.

Any equine publication or broadcast outlet interested in internship assistance for 2026 is encouraged to apply by Friday, Dec. 19. Applicants should submit a brief description of the internship’s projected responsibilities, estimated total costs, and requested funding to an NTWAB internship committee member or to ntwab2014@gmail.com.

In reviewing applications, the NTWAB internship committee will give priority to outlets that have not previously received support, though all eligible organizations are welcome to apply. No preference will be given to companies affiliated with The Jockey Club or its subsidiaries, such as BloodHorse, though they are eligible to apply. Outlets may request funding for multiple internships, provided such requests do not preclude support for other applicants.

The NTWAB favors internships that offer meaningful educational value—opportunities for students to learn, gain field experience, and publish professional work. Organizations receiving assistance retain full autonomy over intern selection, planning, and day-to-day responsibilities.

Students interested in pursuing an equine journalism internship may also contact NTWAB at ntwab2014@gmail.com. The organization can direct prospective interns to participating news outlets in the coming weeks.

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NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner Honors Luck, Andersen, Harper, Ouzts

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 17:25:27 GMT

A sold-out crowd attended the 65th edition of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Annual Awards Dinner at The Brigantine Del Mar on Oct. 29 where four traditional NTWAB Awards and four Breeders'.Cup Media Awards were presented. Photo array by Skip Dickstein. Narration by Dick Downey with contributions by Byron King.

Joe Harper (center), was presented with the the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. He's flanked by Jay Hovdey, who presented an eloquent introduction, and emcee Steve Byk. Since 1978 Harper has overseen Del Mar's emergence as one of the nation's top racetracks for daily average handle and attendance while preserving its unique story.

Nick Luck, one of international horse racing’s most respected and recognizable broadcasters, is the recipient of the Jim McKay Award for broadcast excellence. His horse racing coverage in Britain resulted in him being named Racing Broadcaster of the Year nine times and Reporter of the Year twice.In the United States, Luck has been a vital presence in American horse racing television for nearly two decades, widely recognized for his analysis and interviewing skills on display during NBC’s broadcasts of the Breeders’ Cup and Triple Crown. He was introduced by Britney Eurton (right).

Steve Andersen is presented with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing. Based in southern California, the longtime news correspondent joined Daily Racing Form in 1994 and is entrusted with chronicling the news by writing race previews, recaps, notes, and features in coverage of one of the top circuits in the country. Andersen’s passion for the sport extends beyond flat racing to jump racing, illustrated by his regular forays to the United Kingdom to attend race meetings, such as those at Aintree and Cheltenham. He also reports on Quarter Horse racing at Los Alamitos, a short drive from his Seal Beach, Calif., residence. Introduced with respect and humor by Kurt Hoover (left), Andersen is joined by NTWAB president Byron King.

NTWAB board members Sara Gordon and Caros Morales present and accept in his absence Perry Ouzts with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. NTWAB recognized the achievements and astounding longevity of the veteran rider who began his career in April 1973. Besides holding the record for most mounts in North America, he is one of the oldest winning riders in American racing history. At the time Ouzts was selected for the Fitz, he had ridden in a record-extending 53,621 races, winning 7,522 times – the fifth-most wins by a North American jockey behind Hall of Famers Russell Baze, Laffit Pincay Jr., Bill Shoemaker, and Pat Day.

Byron King is presented the Breeders' Cup Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting by Jim Gluckson and Claire Crosby. Joe Nevills, who was not present, won the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing.

The inaugurual Breeders' Cup Media Awards for photography and videography were unveiled at the dinner. Bill Selwyn is shown accepting the Tracy Award for Outstanding Photography. Nick Carter won the Tracy Award for Outstanding Videography.

Two-time tennis Grand Slam winner Rod Laver, still a legend in the sport at age 87, made a surprise appearance at the NTWAB dinner. Laver was a guest at a table sponsored by FanDuel.

Kurt Hoover, Jody Swavy, Brad Free and Steve Andersen share a laugh at the pre-dinner reception.

Ramon Dominguez, Rick Hammerle and Steve Byk on the patio of The Brigantine Del Mar.

Randy Moss and Donna Brothers were among the luminaries in attendance.

Tim Wilkin, Rhonda Norby, Mike Kane and Louis Rabaut.

NTWAB secretary Jennifer Kelly discusses recipients of 2025 NTWAB charitable donations amounting to $10,000 in honor of awards recipients and others. Nick Luck: U. K. Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Steve Andersen: California Thoroughbred Horsemen's Foundation. Perry Ouzts: Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund. Joe Harper: Don Diego Foundation of Del Mar. Steve Byk Honorarium: The Horse Farm Workers’ Educational Assistance Fund. NTWAB is also donating to the 2023 and 2024 Joe Palmer Award winners Edwin Gregson Foundation in California and the Backside Learning Center in Kentucky.

Letter from the President: Breeders' Cup on the Horizon

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 12:57:24 GMT

I’m excited to see many of you at our 65th annual NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner on Oct. 29, the next day during our bi-annual general membership meeting Oct. 30 at Del Mar in the auxiliary press box, and during the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

We have a sell-out crowd of approximately 150 attendees for our dinner at The Brigantine as we honor Nick Luck, Steve Andersen, Joe Harper, and Perry Ouzts. If you do not yet have a ticket but would like to attend, please contact Dick Downey at ntwab2014@gmail.com, and we’ll place you on a waiting list in case of any late cancellations.

The awards dinner will be just down the street from Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on the outside patio at The Brigantine Del Mar, 3263 Camino Del Mar. We’ll begin with cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:45, with awards presentations to follow. The Breeders’ Cup Media Awards will also be presented during the evening. Business/cocktail attire. You may purchase valet parking at The Brigantine, but due to our capacity crowd, the restaurant suggests Uber or Lyft rides to accommodate guests best.

For those not at Del Mar on Oct. 30, I hope you can join us for our membership meeting at 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET) via Zoom.

The meeting will include an update on our organization's developments over the past year and provide an opportunity for us to review applicants to our organization. We’ll have a follow-up from the awards dinner and also address any other items of business. The board is committed to serving the needs of our membership, and we welcome your perspective for the closing months of 2025 and as we head into 2026.

If you’d like specific issues to be added to the agenda, please let me or NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly know. A complete agenda will be sent next week.

At the bottom of this document are some beneficial media resources available for Breeders’ Cup coverage.

We regret to inform you that there will not be a pre-entry teleconference this year. The NTWAB board expressed our dissatisfaction to Claire Crosby and Jim Gluckson regarding that decision, as six of the seven participants in the call last year were NTWAB members - evidence of our membership’s use of that forum.

The board has encouraged them to bring it back in 2026 and to better engage with us regarding decisions that affect our members. I would encourage those with feelings on the issue to convey their views to Claire and Jim.

Pre-entry past performances: https://www.equibase.com/content/bc/2025preentries.cfm
Breeders’ Cup statistics: https://stats.breederscup.com/
Breeders’ Cup media center: https://breederscup.com/media-center
Breeders’ Cup trainer bios: https://www.equibase.com/content/BC/probabletrainers.cfm
Breeders’ Cup owner bios: https://www.equibase.com/content/BC/probableowners.cfm
Breeders’ Cup jockey bios: https://www.equibase.com/content/BC/probablejockeys.cfm
Breeders’ Cup contender profiles: https://breederscup.com/horses/pre-entries/classic
Horsemen’s guide: https://members.breederscup.com/documents/championships/HIG.PDF

Kind regards,

Byron King

President, NTWAB
Oct. 22, 2025

2025 Media Eclipse Awards Rules

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 19:18:44 GMT

Lexington, Ky. (Oct. 7, 2025) ─ The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), in conjunction with Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters today released the guidelines for the 2025 Media Eclipse Awards. The media awards are presented by the NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and the NTWAB in recognition of outstanding achievement in media coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

2025 MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS RULES

The Eclipse Awards for Media are presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. Rules governing the Media Eclipse Awards are established by representatives of the three presenting organizations.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARD CATEGORIES

Writing - News/Enterprise

Writing - Feature/Commentary

Photography

Television - Live Racing Programming

Television - Features

Audio/Multimedia Internet

ENTRY TIMELINE, DEADLINE and PORTAL IN ALL CATEGORIES

Every entry must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 16, 2024, and November 14, 2025. Entries in all categories must be RECEIVED by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 14, 2025. Entries received after that time will not be accepted. Each entry must be submitted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Entry Portal

At the entry portal, submit your entry into the desired category, and provide the person's name, address, cell phone, work phone (if different from cell phone), and e-mail. Your entry will include the publication, broadcast outlet, radio station or website where the entry appeared; and state the date of publication, broadcast or air date.

You shall include any information the submissions that have been previously published or aired in their current form i.e., tracts of copy or clips taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, which is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

PLEASE NOTE FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD: A single “Web print” of the photo must be included in the entry portal.

PLEASE NOTE FOR THE AUDIO/MULTIMEDIA INTERNET AWARD: A Web producer or editor or equivalent senior official of the Website must attest that the work is that of the author or authors.

Except when allowed as set out above, all third-party submissions will be rejected. For example, in the writing categories submissions by editors on behalf of multiple writers from a publication on a feature subject, special section, or a compendium of stories on breaking news will be rejected.

ENTRY FEE IN ALL CATEGORIES

There is no entry fee.

GENERAL RULES IN ALL CATEGORIES

Entries should display outstanding achievement in the coverage of North American Thoroughbred racing. All entries must concern only the Thoroughbred breed. Entries on subjects, topics, and individuals taking place exclusively outside of North America will not be accepted. Entries in any language, provided the entry complies with all other requirements herein, will be accepted. In order to create a fair evaluation of non-English entries, any entry for writing awards shall be accompanied by an English translation, and any entry in either multi-media or television awards shall contain English subtitles.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) will not be accepted.

Submissions from recognized Thoroughbred industry outlets will be accepted as long as those submissions appear in a recognized paid circulation publication, website, television or multimedia outlet. Submissions that appear solely on the industry outlet's website or video platform will not be accepted. Submissions by industry outlets are subject to review by the Eclipse Award Steering Committee prior to official entry into the competition in any category.

The presenting organizations reserve the right to determine the eligibility of all entries and to disqualify an entry at any time, including after the determination of an award, in their sole discretion. The presenting organizations reserve the right not to bestow an award in a particular category, based on the quantity or (as determined by a panel of judges) the quality of submissions. Questions concerning eligibility should be directed to the contact listed below.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that the submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns and that the submission was not generated in whole or in part by any means of artificial intelligence.

Please be sure your submission is not password protected and that the link you provide will open directly to your submission.

Print and Internet entries (news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, and photography) must have been published in a paid-circulation, independent publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation, independent publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry owned website. Internet submissions that originate from blogs or social media platforms are not eligible for the competition, unless previously authorized.

Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.

Audio/Multimedia entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation, independent publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry owned website. Internet submissions that originate from blogs or social media platforms are not eligible for the competition, unless previously authorized. Entries airing exclusively on YouTube will not be accepted.

LIMIT ON NUMBER OF ENTRIES IN ALL CATEGORIES

There is a limit of two entries per person per category, with an exception for a multi-part series in the writing categories (see Section A below, Multi-Part Series Rules). An entry by an author in a writing category and a different entry by an editor of the same author in the same writing category will be considered two entries in that writing category.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ENTRIES BY NTRA

Upon submission of an entry, you will receive an automatic reply from NTRA to confirm your entry has been received. The NTRA will contact you directly if there are any rules issues with your submission. It is the obligation of the person submitting the entry to promptly follow up if the person does not receive an automatic reply in the writing, multi-media, television and photography categories.

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS BY NTRA

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than January 2, 2026.

________________________________

SPECIFIC RULES

SECTION A: NEWS/ENTERPRISE WRITING AWARD AND FEATURE/COMMENTARY WRITING AWARD

News/Enterprise – Submission guidelines in this category are the following: timely, hard news articles, race recaps, and expository pieces involving concentrated background research, investigative reporting, or news analysis.

Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines in this category are columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles.

Standard or edited press releases will not be accepted. No Q&A submissions will be accepted.

Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

Submission in either category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category.

Competition in the Writing categories is limited to three (3) authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series.

Submissions must appear exactly as the article was worded in the PUBLISHED form.

At the top of the submission you must include the date and time that the article was first published.

All headlines, sub-headlines, bylines, hyperlinks publication names, photos, graphs, charts or other graphic elements MUST BE REMOVED from the submission.

If the name of your publication is included in the body of the submission, insert the words “name of publication removed." E.g., “According to a recent study by the Anywhere USA Times…” must be changed to “According to a recent study by (Name of Publication Removed)…”

Multi-Part Series Rules

Authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that: (1) Have been pre-arranged by the editors and stated in the published work that the articles constitute a specified series; and (2) with the same subject matter (e.g., racing surfaces, medication) examined or profiled in each article of the series.

Articles submitted under the title “occasional series” will not be accepted. Collections of articles under the title “The Year in Horse Racing” will not be accepted.

Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter another category subject to the rules outlined above.

SECTION B: PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Photography entries are limited to images for events taking place in North America.

Photographers must submit photo images in jpeg format, with NO identifying marks (e.g., photographer’s name, publication's name, etc.). Your entry must contain a single “Web print” of the image in the entry portal.

Captions

Entrants may submit a caption with your photograph as long as the picture provides an accurate and fair representation of the scene they witnessed so the audience is not misled. Photo credits or other identifying information must be removed. Captions should be embedded into the “file info” window in Photoshop so they populate into any viewing software. An example is below:

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - MAY 18: Trainer Bob Baffert, left, congratulates Size the Grey trainer D. Wayne Lukas after his horse won the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday May 18, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland. (NO Photo credit or name)

Cropping

Cropping of the original photo by the editor in the picture’s final published form will be accepted. However, publication of photographs that include color enhancement, “Photoshopping” or any other deliberate alteration of the image will not be allowed in the competition.

SECTION C: TELEVISION -- LIVE RACING PROGRAMMING AWARD AND FEATURES AWARD

Television entries in either category must originate from a recognized over-the-air, cable, or satellite outlet.

Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be accepted.

Entries in the Features category are limited to 120 minutes. Feature entries may be submitted as either single, stand-alone pieces; a documentary; a historical piece; a news report; or as part of a live-racing program. “Medley” videos containing more than two features of any duration will not be accepted.

Commercials must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, opening billboards returning from a commercial break will be accepted. Submissions related to industry promotional projects or from breeding farms will not be accepted.

SECTION D: AUDIO/MULTIMEDIA INTERNET

Audio/Multimedia Internet is not two separate categories. It is a single category, which includes both audio (radio, podcasts) and multimedia.

The Audio/Multimedia Internet category may consist of audio only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. “Medley” audio files containing more than three radio shows or Webcasts of any duration, will not be accepted.

The Multimedia Internet entries must have one integrated theme and be presented in a Webcast centering on a news event, subject, or feature. To be eligible, the Webcast must include at least two forms of media, one of which must be original audio. The complementary form(s) of media may be video, photographs, graphics, and/or print (e.g., a story or stories). Please note that if the entry includes video, the video must be produced as original content.

Entries that first appeared over the air or on cable television prior to appearing on the internet will not be accepted.

Submission in the Multimedia Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary categories.

Each submission guarantees that the package is the work of the author(s) or organization and that it appeared on the website on the date(s) in question.

Editors/Producers or equivalent senior official must identify any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e., tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, which is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

All entries in this category must be limited to 60 minutes. Entries for live radio broadcasts may submit a compilation of the best work over the course of one program.

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.

Bill Christine, Former NTWAB President, Dead at 87

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 22:55:31 GMT

Bill Christine, a multiple award-winning sports and turf writer and former president of NTWAB, died at age 87.

Christine's passing was first reported August 31 by The Paulick Report on X. John Cherwa wrote in Sept. 7 Los Angeles Times report Christine "died at his home in Hermosa Beach (CA), with family by his side." He is survived by Pat, his wife of 43 years, twin daughters Laura and Leslie, his first wife Dianne, and stepson Chris.

NTWAB records show Christine was honored in 2000 with the organization's Walter Haight Award for career excellence In turf writing and received Eclipse Awards in the News/Commentary category in 1984 and 2004, both while he was with the Los Angeles Times. He was president of NTWAB 1990-1992.

California-based journalist Kevin Modesti posted at X, "Sad news about a press-box colleague. A well-traveled, all-around sportswriter before turning to turf writing, Bill Christine covered greats from Bob Pettit and Roberto Clemente to the California horses and riders of the 1980s & ’90s. A fun storyteller in print and in person."

“Bill was an old-school journalist,” Mike Willman, the former longtime media relations executive at Santa Anita, told the Times. “He kept copious notes and was a contrarian by nature. He was fair and extremely knowledgeable. He really enjoyed being around the people in racing. You could take issue with something he wrote and then debate it and there was never any animus. I really respected him for that.”

According to biographical information about Christine found accompanying his book on the life of Hall of Fame jockey Bill Hartack, he "won nine national writing awards and shared in a Pulitzer Prize during his 25 years with the Los Angeles Times."

Christine's promotion of the Hartack book says the rider "won the Kentucky Derby five times, and seemed to hate every moment. 'If only Bill could have gotten along with people the way he got along with horses,' a trainer said. His impoverished upbringing didn't help: his mother was killed in an automobile accident; the family home burned down; his father was murdered by a girlfriend; and he was estranged from his sisters for most of his life....

"Hartack was one of racing's most accomplished jockeys. But he was an inveterate grouch and gave the press a hard time. At 26, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Whenever the media tried to bury him, he would win another Derby. At the end of his life, he was found alone in a cabin in the Texas hinterlands."

According to the Times report, Christine donated his body to the University of Southern California for medical research. There will be a small celebration of life.

Breeders' Cup Expands Media Awards

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:39:06 GMT

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Breeders’ Cup Limited is proud to announce the addition of two new media awards for exceptional coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, with the Tracy Award for Outstanding Photography and the Tracy Award for Outstanding Videography joining two existing writing awards – the Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting and the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing.

The new awards are named in honor of the late Scott Tracy, a popular and prolific videographer and multimedia producer whose award-winning work in the Thoroughbred industry was completed primarily for BloodHorse. Tracy passed away unexpectedly in February at age 37.

The Tracy Awards join the two existing writing awards for a total of four awards annually honoring the best media coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Entries are open now for all categories in the Breeders’ Cup Media Awards.

“Scott was an outstanding videographer and masterful storyteller whose work portrayed his passion for excellence and the sport of Thoroughbred racing,” said Claire Crosby, Vice President of Communications for Breeders’ Cup Limited. “We are very pleased to honor his legacy by recognizing the dedicated photographers and videographers who annually capture the thrill of the World Championships.”

Winners of the Breeders’ Cup Media Awards will be announced at the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) annual dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Entry rules for each of the categories appear below. Deadline for all entries is Sept. 26. Entries must be submitted via the Breeders’ Cup Media Awards entry portal .

Tracy Award for Outstanding Photography

Submissions in the Photography category are limited to images taken during the week leading up to the 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, from one of last year’s 14 World Championships races, or from the morning after the World Championships. Eligibility is limited to individuals who were granted media credentials to cover the World Championships. Submissions are limited to one image per individual and must be from a formally recognized media outlet (i.e., trade or general audience websites, magazines or newspapers). Submissions which were posted solely on social media outlets are excluded from the competition. When submitting your image to the Breeders’ Cup portal, please include 1) a Cover Letter stating your name and email address. Include the name of your media outlet, the date your image was posted, and a caption describing your image, i.e., “Photo finish of the 2024 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile.” Please also include a web link or digital scan of magazine/newspaper page featuring the photo in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. 2) Submit your image as a jpeg or another professionally recognized format. As this is a blind competition, do not embed your name or publication name onto the image or utilize it as part of the file name. Be sure to delete all metadata so the photographer’s name does not appear anywhere within the image. Deadline for entry is Friday, Sept. 26.

Tracy Award for Outstanding Videography

Submissions in the Videography category are limited to features, profiles, sizzle reels, and news reports produced during the week leading up to the 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, during the World Championships, or from the morning after the World Championships. Eligibility is limited to individuals who were granted media credentials to cover the World Championships. Submissions are limited to one video per individual and must be from a formally recognized media outlet (i.e., trade or general audience websites, television station, streaming service, or YouTube channel). When submitting your video to the Breeders’ Cup portal, please include 1) a Cover Letter stating your name and email address, media outlet, category for competition, and the title of your video. Please also include a web link to the video in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. 2) Please upload your video link. As this is a blind competition, please remove all identifying logos and intro/end slates with company branding and do not utilize your name or publication name as part of the file name.

Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

Submissions in the News Reporting category are open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site, and are limited to one entry per person. The submission must be a focused recap article of a 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships race. Your submitted article may be from a Breeders’ Cup race that took place on Friday, Nov. 1, or from a Breeders Cup race that took place on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. Please submit your entry to the Breeders’ Cup portal with 1) a Cover Letter and 2) Clean document for judging purposes. Your cover letter must include the category for competition, name of publication, date the article was published, and the headline of the article. Please also include a web link to the article in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. 2) Submit a clean document of your submission in Microsoft Word document or a similar format, and include a timestamp of the article at the top of the document to verify the time of publication. Make sure you do not place your byline or the name of your publication on your clean document that will be judged.

Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

Submissions in the Outstanding Feature Writing category are open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site, and is limited to one entry per person. (You do not need to have been credentialed for the 2024 Breeders’ Cup to enter this category). Your submission must be focused on a feature aspect of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships: an advance story on a race, an individual profile, a column, or a business article. Please submit your entry to the Breeders’ Cup portal with 1) a Cover Letter and 2) Clean document for judging purposes. Your cover letter must include the category for competition, name of publication, date the article was published, and the headline of the article. Please also include a web link to the article in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. Submit a clean document of your submission in Microsoft Word document or a similar format. Make sure you do not place your byline or the name of your publication on your clean document that will be judged.

NTWAB 2025 Annual Awards Dinner to Honor Four

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:24:14 GMT

LOUISVILLE, KY (Aug. 26, 2024) 71-year-old Perry Ouzts – who this summer passed Russell Baze for the most rides by a jockey in North American racing history - will be honored along with track executive Joe Harper, turf writer Steve Andersen and broadcaster Nick Luck during the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters’ 65th Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Del Mar, Calif.

The NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner is the organization’s only fundraiser, and a portion of the proceeds of the event will fund Thoroughbred industry charities and internships for prospective racing journalists. The 2025 NTWAB Awards Dinner will be held at The Brigantine Del Mar, overlooking nearby Del Mar Racetrack, which will host the Breeders’ Cup Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

En Espanol

In honoring Ouzts with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing, the NTWAB recognizes the achievements and astounding longevity of the veteran rider, who began his career in April 1973, just weeks before Secretariat won that year's Triple Crown. Besides holding the mounts record, he is one of the oldest winning riders in American racing history.

Through Aug. 25, he had ridden in a record-extending 53,621 races, winning 7,522 times – the fifth-most wins by a North American jockey behind Hall of Famers Baze (12,842), Laffit Pincay Jr. (9,530), Bill Shoemaker (8,833), and Pat Day (8,803). He is reportedly seventh by wins worldwide.

Harper will be honored with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing, having served as a track executive at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club since 1978, guiding the Southern California track through a period of significant growth. During this time, Harper has overseen Del Mar's emergence as one of the nation's top racetracks for daily average handle and attendance while preserving its unique story.

A native Californian, Harper contributes as a board member for numerous organizations, including as chairman of Winners Foundation, a drug and alcohol counseling center for the California racing industry.

Andersen is the recipient of the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing. The longtime news correspondent who joined the Daily Racing Form in 1994, Andersen is entrusted with chronicling the news by writing race previews, recaps, notes, and features in coverage of one of the top circuits in the country.

Based in Southern California, Andersen’s passion for the sport extends beyond flat racing to jump racing, illustrated by his regular forays to the United Kingdom to attend race meetings, such as those at Aintree and Cheltenham. He also reports on Quarter Horse racing at Los Alamitos, a short drive from his Seal Beach, Calif., residence.

Luck, one of international horse racing’s most respected and recognizable broadcasters, is the recipient of the Jim McKay Award for broadcast excellence. He rose to prominence through his work with Channel 4 Racing and Racing TV in his native United Kingdom. His articulate and insightful coverage has resulted in him being named Racing Broadcaster of the Year nine times by the Horserace Writers’ & Photographers Association in Britain. Twice, they honored him as Reporter of the Year.

In the United States, Luck has been a vital presence in American horse racing television for nearly two decades, widely recognized for his analysis and interviewing skills on display during NBC’s broadcasts of the Breeders’ Cup and Triple Crown.

Tickets for the NTWAB Awards Dinner can be purchased at the NTWAB website here . Tickets are $85 for NTWAB members and Breeders’ Cup credentialed media and $115 for non-members and guests. The NTWAB also offers tables of eight and 10 at a discount. Invitations will be mailed to NTWAB members, and non-members can request an invitation by emailing ntwab2014@gmail.com .

The winners of two Breeders’ Cup writing awards, plus a photography and videography award, will also be announced by Breeders’ Cup at the dinner.

Breeders' Cup Expands Media Awards for Coverage of World Championships

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 16:04:01 GMT

Breeders’ Cup Limited is proud to announce the addition of two new media awards for exceptional coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, with the Tracy Award for Outstanding Photography and the Tracy Award for Outstanding Videography joining two existing writing awards – the Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting and the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing.

The new awards are named in honor of the late Scott Tracy, a popular and prolific videographer and multimedia producer whose award-winning work in the Thoroughbred industry was accomplished primarily for BloodHorse. Tracy passed away unexpectedly in February at age 37.

Tracy Award for Outstanding Photography

Tracy Award for Outstanding Videography

Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

Edited Breeders' Cup release

Minutes of the Derby Week NTWAB General Membership Meeting

Wed, 28 May 2025 17:00:13 GMT

The NTWAB general membership meeting was held on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 in the Media Center at Churchill Downs.

Call to Order – Byron King called the meeting to order at 11:07 a.m. ET.

Roll Call – (in person) Byron King, Dick Downey, Jennifer Kelly, Carlos Morales, Sara Gordon, Katie Petrunyak, Nicole Russo, Greg Hall, Frank Angst, Loren Hebel-Osborne; (Zoom) Jay Privman, Lynne Snierson, Tom Law, Liane Crossley, Nathan Campbell, Julie June Stewart, Joe Perez, Alex Orr, Jr, Vance Hanson, Alicia Hughes, Paula Rodenas, Jill Williams, Paul Halloran, Cindy Deubler, Debbie Arrington, Molly Rollins, Richard Gross, Dave Johnson, Remi Bellocq.

Treasurer’s Report – Dick Downey shared his Treasurer’s Report. NTWAB currently has $168,806.95 in its Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares and $14,978.60 in its Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund for a total of $183,785.55. The organization’s checking account at PNC Bank currently has $16,998.54 and its Charitable Foundation account currently has $6,275.25. NTWAB’s total assets are $207,059.34.

Internship Update – Byron King shared update from the Internship Committee on behalf of Natalie Voss.

The DRF is still in the process of seeking their summer intern, so if anyone knows of a potential candidate, they (or we) can get you the link to have them apply. (Update on 5/27 – DRF is going to pass this year but expressed a desire to try again in 2026. Their applicants were not located in areas to ensure a meaningful experience. So the NTWAB internship committee unanimously awarded funding to TDN, a late applicant for funding. TDN has an intern joining them this summer.)
Paulick Report has selected our intern, a University of Colorado student who will begin her remote internship in early June.
Agentes 305 has narrowed down their search to their finalists and expects to have a bilingual intern in place from mid-June to mid-September.
ESPN Louisville's plan had been to use their allocation to support summer travel for an intern who had already been chosen. She's scheduled to begin in May, with the first trip not scheduled until Preakness, according to their application.
BloodHorse's selected intern, University of Kentucky sports journalism major Isaiah Pinto, begins June 10 and will spend eight weeks at the company.

Triple Crown/Breeders’ Cup Feedback – Both Frank Angst and Alicia Hughes shared issues with accessing the frontside of Churchill Downs from the backside area. Lynne Snierson shared concerns about a lack of quotes from the Oaks and Derby post position draws the previous weekend. Churchill Downs’s notes team was smaller this year (three or four persons) and that made it more difficult to access information.

Hall of Fame Voting – Byron King addressed dissatisfaction with the 2025 Hall of Fame class shared by multiple members of the media since the announcement the previous week. He encouraged members to reach out to NMRHOF’s Brien Bouyea to inquire about becoming a HOF voter. Frank Angst shared a desire to see more contemporary candidates while connections are still available.

Volunteer Opportunities – Byron King encouraged members to seek volunteer opportunities like Jay Privman’s work for the Gregson Foundation. Organizations like the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and backstretch groups could use services like writing press releases and more from NTWAB members.

Preliminary Information about Annual Awards Dinner – Byron King and Dick Downey shared early information about the 2025 NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner, held during Breeders’ Cup week in late October/early November. As Breeders’ Cup is once again at Del Mar, this year’s dinner will again be at The Brigantine and is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29. Loren Hebel-Osborne hopes to get the banquet on the Breeders’ Cup’s event calendar.

Byron encouraged members to think about who they would like to honor in the various categories ahead of this summer’s voting. Lynne Snierson shared feedback she received from Danny Ramsey, who was part of Team Kenny McPeek, an honoree in 2024. He said the dinner was one of the highlights of their Breeders’ Cup week.

Directors’ Election – Terms for directors Steve Byk, Scott Hazelton, and Tom Law, who took over for Byron King after the latter’s election to NTWAB President, expired in 2025. Both Byk and Hazelton shared their desire to return to their posts while Law elected to step away after his years’ of service in a variety of roles. Byron opened the floor to nominations, and both were renominated and then reelected by a unanimous vote. Byron asked the membership present both on site and on Zoom for any nominations for the board seat and there were none. Byron nominated Vance Hanson to replace Law. Nicole Russo seconded. Hanson was approved by unanimous vote.

New Member Applications – Jennifer Kelly reviewed the four candidates approved by the board ahead of this meeting. Kelly presented each candidate, their qualifications, and their recommendations. Pascual Artiles was approved as an Associate while Jerry Bailey, Joe Bruno, and Anthony Pascale were admitted as full members.

Byron King adjourned the meeting at 12:09 pm.

Applicants for NTWAB Membership – May 2025
Name Sponsors Board Decision Membership Vote
Pascual Artiles (A) Carlos Morales and Juan Carlos Feijoo Approved Approved
Jerry Bailey (RB) Byron King and Randy Moss Approved Approved
Joe Bruno (RB) Juan Carlos Feijoo and Carlos Morales Approved Approved
Anthony Pascale (RB) Scott Hazelton and Byron King Approved Approved

Belmont Stakes Media Notes

Fri, 23 May 2025 21:47:51 GMT

For those covering the Belmont Stakes, we hope the following information is beneficial. We appreciate NYRA addressing some challenges our membership experienced covering the event last year. They welcomed our feedback.

Press credentials may be picked up from the NYRA Press Office at Saratoga Race Course beginning Saturday, May 31 at noon or any day June 1, 3-6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. NYRA publicity asks that you contact them with the date you or your outlet intends to retrieve credentials.

Media credentials are valid for entry to Saratoga Race Course from May 31- June 8, and provide the bearer with access to:

•General property

•Press box
•Photo room
•Oklahoma Training Track and barn area
•Main track during morning training hours

Regarding the post-race press conference, NYRA asks for our understanding that the Belmont-winning jockey may not have the availability of other winning connections if the jockey rides in the race following the Belmont.

Draw event
NYRA will host the post-position draw for the $2 million Belmont Stakes on Monday, June 2 at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Doors open to credentialed media at 4 p.m. with the draw to begin at 5 p.m. There will be no live music this year. (Noise was an issue for interviews in 2024.) Universal Preservation Hall is located at 25 Washington St., Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Paddock
Please note, media credentials provide paddock access June 4-6 and June 8. Belmont Stakes Day paddock passes will be allotted by outlet and distributed on-site beginning on Friday, June 7.

Parking
Parking information will be communicated on-site.

Press Box Meetings
NYRA personnel will hold meetings for credentialed reporters on Friday, June 6 at 1 p.m. and Saturday, June 7 at 9 a.m.

Photo Meeting
NYRA personnel will hold a meeting for credentialed photographers in the Winner’s Circle on Friday, June 6 at 10 a.m.

Television coverage on Belmont Stakes Day, June 7
Please note, live television coverage is not permitted within the grounds of Saratoga Race Course on Belmont Stakes Day between 11 a.m.- 7:15 p.m. Live stand ups are permitted on Belmont Stakes Day at the Marylou Whitney entrance (Gate 8) and at the East Avenue entrance (Gate 4). In addition, television crews are not permitted within the winners circle or paddock on Belmont Stakes Day.

Television crews will have access to the grounds to secure B-roll and interviews on Belmont Stakes Day with the exception of the aforementioned areas.

President King's Pre-Preakness Newsletter

Mon, 12 May 2025 23:28:35 GMT

My fellow NTWAB members, i t was great seeing many of you in person and those and others on Zoom at our bi-annual meeting during Derby week.

To those who missed the meeting, I’m excited to share that we approved applications for full membership for Jerry Bailey, Anthony Pascale, and Joe Bruno, plus associate membership for Pascual Artiles. Welcome gentlemen! Vance Hanson was also unanimously elected to join the NTWAB board, replacing Tom Law, our longtime president and board member. Thanks to Tom for his outstanding service and to Vance for joining the board!

With Preakness now upon us, here are some media resources. For starters, the draw for the Preakness will take place tonight at 7 p.m. ET and will be streamed on this link on YouTube .

Here are two other Preakness links of value, one for the media guide and another for the transcript of the NTRA Preakness teleconference from last week.

With some Preakness competitors also having raced horses at the Breeders’ Cup last fall, attached below are the Breeders’ Cup publicity bios written in advance of that event. The written pieces are now outdated by six months, but the background information may assist: probable owners , probable trainers , probable jockeys .

Please reach out to any NTWAB director with any needs or concerns at Pimlico this week, or feel free to drop us an email.

Kind regards,

Byron King

NTWAB President

May 12, 2025

NTWAB Past President Law Named to Receive Old Hilltop Award

Wed, 07 May 2025 18:18:30 GMT

Two-time Eclipse Award winner and NTWAB past president Tom Law, managing editor of ST Publishing which produces The Saratoga Special and Thisishorseracing.com, has been named recipient of the Old Hilltop Award for covering Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction.

Law will be presented with the Old Hilltop Award May 15 at the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course, two days before the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes.

Tradition holds that the Alibi Breakfast’s humble beginnings go back to a few trainers sipping coffee on the porch of Pimlico’s old clubhouse in the late 1930s, extolling the virtues of their horses and offering up excuses – or alibis – should their horse not win.

Law, a native and current resident of Saratoga Springs, NY, also serves as a contributing writer for Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred and editor of The Horsemen’s Journal. He began covering Thoroughbred racing at The Saratogian in 1994. Law served as president of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters for six two-year terms, his most recent one ending last year. He has also earned the Red Smith Kentucky Derby Writing Award, the David F. Woods Memorial Preakness Writing Award, and the Joe Hirsch Memorial Belmont Stakes Writing Award twice.

“It’s an incredible honor to receive the Old Hilltop Award, joining my friend and colleague Joe Clancy and so many others on the list of recipients,” Law said. “So many people have helped my career through the years, from writers and editors at The Saratogian, Thoroughbred Times and now with ST Publishing and Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, and I can’t thank them enough.

"A special thanks to all the horsemen and horses I’ve had the pleasure to write about and interact with through the years. They are, and always will be, the true stars of the show and it never gets old seeing the best of the best.”

According to Pimlico, for additional information and tickets go to: https://www.preakness.com/alibibreakfast .

Edited Pimlico release with additional content by Dick Downey

Message from the President: Kentucky Derby Doings

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 16:16:05 GMT

With Kentucky Derby week fast approaching, this note serves as a reminder that our upcoming spring NTWAB meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 30, at 11 a.m. ET.

My fellow NTWAB members,

With Kentucky Derby week fast approaching, this note serves as a reminder that our upcoming spring NTWAB meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 30, at 11 a.m. ET in the press conference area located next to the Churchill Downs press box.

All on-site members are encouraged to attend. For those off-site, we encourage you to join us via Zoom. A Zoom link and agenda will be distributed one to two days before the meeting.

Among the items on the agenda are the applications of four individuals seeking to join our ranks and the election of officers. Three two-year director terms are expiring – those for Steve Byk, Scott Hazelton, and Tom Law. Steve and Scott have said they would be honored to continue serving the board. Tom is vacating his seat after his long and distinguished service to the NTWAB.

If you are interested in running for any of the three positions, please alert us before or during the meeting. Additionally, if you have a topic you would like added to the agenda, please submit it to NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com .

Listed below are some Kentucky Derby resources that I hope are of benefit:

The 2025 media guide with direct links: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/media-guide-info/

The full 2025 media guide in flipbook style: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/media/

NTRA teleconferences (April 24 teleconference forthcoming): https://www.ntra.com/category/teleconferences/

Kentucky HBPA YouTube publicity available for media use: https://www.youtube.com/@kentuckyhbpa7026/videos

Future Wager 6 Past Performances of Derby Prospects generated in early April: https://www.brisnet.com/document/Derby25Future6.pdf

See you beneath the Twin Spires,

Byron King
NTWAB President
April 25, 2025

Bredar Receives Engelhard Award

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 17:18:54 GMT

Caton Bredar has been named the recipient of the Charles W. Engelhard Award by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders.

First given in 1970, the Engelhard Award is presented annually to a member of the media for outstanding coverage of the Thoroughbred industry. Bredar, a member of NTWAB, was named the 2024 winner at the KTA-KTOB Champion Kentucky-Bred Awards banquet on April 11.

Engelhard was a renowned buyer and owner of championship Thoroughbreds. Among others, he campaigned Red Reality, Assagai, Tentam, Alley Fighter, and the U.S. Champion sire Halo.

"Such a wonderful surpise, after emcee-ing the awards ceremony for 8 years," Bredar said on X. "I got to take home a beautiful trophy of my own. So honored and grateful. Congratulations to al the winners! Very special evening."

The Engelhard Award originated in 1970. Recent NTWAB members to win the award include Steve Byk (2022), Alicia Hughes (2021), Donna Brothers (2020), Natalie Voss (2019), Mike Penna's Horse Racing Radio Network (2018), Jay Privman (2017), Sean and Joe Clancy (2016) and Greg Hall (2014).

President Byron King’s March Newsletter

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 19:34:05 GMT

Members of the NTWAB, here we are eight weeks away from the May 3 Kentucky Derby! I look forward to seeing many of you at Churchill Downs! Please make a note that our spring NTWAB meeting will take place at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, April 30 at 11 a.m. ET.

We will convene in the press conference room adjacent to the main press box. Those on-site can attend in person, and Zoom will be offered for those off-site.

This spring, we have three two-year director terms expiring – those for Steve Byk, Scott Hazelton, and Tom Law. Tom completed my term when I succeeded him as NTWAB President. If you are interested in serving, please let me or any officer/director know. Some directors may choose to run or not run for re-election.

That business aside, here are some brief updates:

To promote transparency, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters discloses how its members voted for the top spot in each of the Eclipse Award categories in the attached chart,

*With regard to the Eclipse Awards, the NTWAB is working with our Eclipse partners to ensure that 2024’s statistical errors do not reoccur. Accurate statistical data and up-to-date past performances are a must. On a related topic, following our urging to the Eclipse Award Steering Committee – on which Vice President Nathan Campbell and I serve with Daily Racing Form and National Thoroughbred Racing Association representatives– this year, statistics will include stakes wins and graded stakes wins for apprentice jockeys.

*Vice President Nathan Campbell and directors Nicole Russo and Carlos Morales are leading the NTWAB’s efforts in a NTWAB subcommittee to modernize and fine-tune the rules of the media Eclipse Awards, desiring fairness in rewarding outstanding journalism. Nathan and I will continue to advocate for the NTWAB before the Eclipse Award Steering Committee.

*The Breeders’ Cup returns to Del Mar this fall on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Those seeking lower-cost lodging than the media hotel (but without amenities such as media shuttle service) may wish to consider the Sorrento Valley area (about 15 minutes away) for several affordable options.

*Finally, congratulations to two of our members, Mary Rampellini and Jay Hovdey, who recently had books published. Rampellini authored the children’s book "Ollie the Oaklawn Owl: Whoooo's That Jockey?" and Hovdey’s latest is “Well Armed: A Thoroughbred of Destiny.”

A specific agenda for the Derby Week meeting will be sent before the April 30 meeting, when we will be conducting our membership review, new member applications, follow-up from the 2024 Eclipse Awards, Triple Crown logistics and other topics. If you have a topic you feel should be added to the agenda, please pass that along to NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com.

If you know anyone interested or have someone in your organization that you feel qualifies for membership, please have them write a letter applying and send two letters of recommendation to Jennifer at thesirbarton@gmail.com. That deadline is April 23.

All the best,

Byron King
NTWAB President
March 8, 2025

2024 Eclipse Awards: How NTWAB Members Voted

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 17:04:48 GMT

To promote transparency, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters annually discloses how its members voted for the top spot in each of the Eclipse Award categories. The attached chart , presented via Google Sheets, may be fully accessed by scrolling both vertically and horizontally.

Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Recap with Connections of Each Winner

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 02:45:14 GMT

Twitter posts @NTWAB by Dick Downey

Fans voted the NTRA Moment of the Year, revealed at the opening of the ceremony tonight, as Seize the Grey's win of the Preakness Stakes for his 2,500 MyRacehorse owners and then-88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

NTWAB congratulates tonight's Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards winners, including the first one announced, Older Dirt Female IDIOMATIC. Injury prevented a repeat attempt in the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff but she distinguished herself again in 2024 after an amazing 2023 campaign. Idiomatic was first in the G1 Fasig-Tipton La Troienne, second in the G1 Ogden Phipps, first in the G3 Molly Pitcher, second in the G1 Personal Ensign and first in the G1 Juddmonte Spinster.
Trainer: Brad H. Cox
Owner: Juddmonte
Breeder: Juddmonte Farms Inc.
Curlin - Lockdown, by First Defence
Jockey last start: Florent Geroux

The top 2024 Steeplechase horse is the then-10yo warrior, SNAP DECISION. G1 American Grand National and G1 Calvin Houghland Iroquois winner.
Trainer: Jack Fisher
Owner: Bruton Street-US
Breeder: Phipps Stable
Hard Spun - Salute, by Unbridled
Jockey last start: Graham Watters

MOIRA is named Female Turf Horse of the Year. She capped off a brilliant season winning the G1 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf after runner-up efforts in the G1 Diana and G1 E. P. Taylor and best in the G1 Beverly D.
Trainer: Kevin Attard
Owner: Madaket Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC and X-Men Racing
Breeder: Adena Springs
Ghostzapper - Devine Aida, by Unbridled's Song
Jockey last start: Flavien Prat

The Female Sprinter Eclipse Award goes to SOUL OF AN ANGEL, impressive winner of the G1 Breeders' Cup PNC Bank Filly & Mare Sprint at almost 20-1 odds after racing every month of the year but April and October and also winning the G2 Ruffian and G3 Princess Rooney.
Trainer: Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
Owner: C2 Racing Stable LLC, Agave Racing Stable and Ken T. Reimer
Breeder: Westbrook Stables, LLC
Atreides - Factor One, by The Factor
Jockey last start: Drayden Van Dyke

Each year sees a new crop of apprentice jockeys who are given a weight edge as they start their careers. This year's award for best Apprentice Jockey goes to a young man who truly has horsemanship in his blood: ERIK ASMUSSEN, son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

IMMERSIVE is the top choice among a talented group of 2-Year-Old Fillies. Winner of the G1 NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Immersive went into the race undefeated in three other starts including the G1 Spinaway and G1 Darley Alcibiades.
Trainer: Brad H. Cox
Owner: Godolphin
Breeder: Godolphin
Nyquist - Gap Year, by Bernardini
Jockey last start: Manuel Franco

Please welcome THORPEDO ANNA, the Eclipse Award winner for top 3-Year-Old Filly. Her accomplishments precede her, but for the record she won six of seven starts in 2024 with her only second coming against Fierceness and other boys in the G1 DraftKings Travers. Thorpedo Anna's wins: G2 Fantasy, G1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, G1 DKHorse Acorn, G1 Coaching Club American Oaks, G1 Cotillion and G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff.
Jockey: Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
Trainer: Kenneth G. McPeek
Owner: Brookdale Racing, Inc., Mark Edwards, Judy B. Hicks and Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek)
Breeder: Judy Hicks

The ceremony brings us to a memorial for legendary turf writer, historian, curator and steward of the sport, Ed Bowen, who left us just three days ago. To read more about the life of Ed Bowen, you may read here .

Godolphin is top Owner for the fifth straight year and the eighth time overall. Of the many highlights were two Breeders' Cup wins with Rebel's Romance and Immersive. Godolphin won 22 graded stakes races.

Not surprisingly, Godpolphin is also Breeder of the Year, number one in earnings with over $23 million in the U. S. alone.

A very deserving Special Eclipse Award goes to Frank Taylor, a partner in Taylor Made and founder of the Taylor Made School of Horsemanship and the Stable Recovery Program for efforts helping individuals who need support, employment and a safe living environment in the industry.

Please click here to see Media Eclipse Awards winners a announced earlier this year.

The Trainer of the Year is Chad Brown, who racked up big numbers with great horses, great owners and a great team throughout 2024. This is Brown's fifth Eclipse Award. His signature win was with Sierra Leone in the G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. He won 15 Grade 1s.

Flavien Prat's achievements in 2024 led to an easy win of the Outstanding Jockey Eclipse Award. He rode many graded stakes winners including Breeders' Cup victors Sierra Leone and Moira. Prat ranked first in earnings in North America and won a record 56 graded stakes races.

The Male Sprinter Eclipse Award goes to STRAIGHT NO CHASER, tops in the G1 Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint, G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. presented by Estrella Jalisco and the G3 Maryland Sprint Presented by Big Ass Fans.
Straight No Chaser connections
Trainer: Dan Blacker
Owner: MyRacehorse
Breeder: John Eaton & Steve Laymon
Jockey last race: John R. Velazquez

The Horseplayer of the year is Mike Gillum. Congrats, that is an amazing accomplishment, and Mike speaks well for the game.

The champion 2-Year-Old Male is CITIZEN BULL, who capped off his 2024 campaign winning the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. He prepped by winning the G1 American Pharoah Presented by DK Horse.
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Breeder: Robert Low & Lawana Low
Into Mischief - No Joke, by Distorted Humor
Jockey last race: Martin Garcia
CITIZEN BULL'S OWNERS: Owner: SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Bashor, Dianne, Determined Stables, Masterson, Robert E., Ryan, Tom J., Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan

6-year-old REBEL'S ROMANCE is named top Turf Horse. His wins came all over the world: G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic, G1 Standard Chartered HK Champions & Chater Cup at Sha Tin, G1 Mehl Mulhens Stiftung Preis von Europa in Germany, and of course the G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar.
Jockey: William Buick
Trainer: Charles Appleby
Owner: Godolphin, LLC
Breeder: Godolphin

The Eclipse Award for Older Dirt Male is taken by NATIONAL TREASURE, who won the prestigious G1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap. Last January he prevailed in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational presented by Baccarat.
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Breeder: Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC
Quality Road - Treasure, by Medaglia d'Oro
Owner: SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan

SIERRA LEONE is named Top 3-Year-Old Male, topping an excellent crop of sophomores. The closer was always around at the finish of several top races and took advantage of a quick early pace in the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic to win going away.
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Trainer: Chad C. Brown
Owner: Peter M. Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Brook T. Smith
Breeder: Debby M. Oxley

AND the Horse of the Year is THORPEDO ANNA, whose accomplishments will always be remembered in the annals of racing. Once again, her connections:
Jockey: Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
Trainer: Kenneth G. McPeek
Owner: Brookdale Racing, Inc., Mark Edwards, Judy B. Hicks and Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek)
Breeder: Judy Hicks
CONGRATULATIONS!

Trainer Kenny McPeek reiterates Thorpedo Anna will race again this year. McPeek was honored three months ago by NTWAB with the Mr. Fitz Award for Typifying The Spirit Of Racing and attended our Annual Awards Dinner.

Ed Bowen Passes At Versailles Home

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 18:43:49 GMT

Ed Bowen, a longtime NTWAB member, died on Jan. 20 at his home in Versailles, Ky. at age 82. His memory will be honored at the upcoming Eclipse Awards ceremony.

The West Virginia-born Bowen forged a career as a racing journalist, serving as editor-in-chief of The Blood-Horse, where he started working in 1963, from 1987 to 1992. Capping off his career, for 24 years he was president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

Bowen was editor of a monthly, Canadian Horse magazine in Toronto, from 1968-70 before returning to Lexington to work as managing editor of The Blood-Horse. In January 1987, he succeeded his mentor Kent Hollingsworth as editor-in-chief for five years. He became senior editor in 1992, left in 1993, and was hired as president in 1994 by Grayson-Jockey Club, the leading source of funding for veterinary research to promote horse health and soundness.

In 2022 Bowen was recognized as the Thoroughbred Club of America's Honor Guest at an annual testimonial dinner for his stewardship of the sport of horse racing.

"The Thoroughbred Club of America is delighted to name Edward Bowen as its 2022 Honor Guest," said club president Tony Lacy at the time. "Ed is respected worldwide for his integrity, talent, and love of racing, and his wide-ranging contributions to the horse industry cannot be overstated. He has been the steward of such cornerstone institutions as the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and BloodHorse, an Eclipse Award-winning journalist, prolific author, and guardian of the important history of our great sport. We congratulate Ed and thank him for his lifelong commitment to the betterment of racing."

According to a 2022 BloodHorse story, in addition to his work at that publication and Canadian Horse, Bowen was published in Southern Living, Toronto Star, Bloodstock Breeders' Review in England, Thoroughbred Times, Lexington Herald-Leader, Sun-Sentinel in south Florida, Courses & Elevage in France, Futurity in Japan, and Argentina's Jockey Club.

Bowen was a winner of NTWAB's Walter Haight Award for career excellence in writing; an Eclipse Award winner in the magazine division; a recipient of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Charles Engelhard Award and Pimlico's Old Hilltop Award; named to ForeWord Magazine's Gold Level designation in sports; and was presented the Ocala-Marion County Chamber of Commerce Journalism Award.

Bowen was still such an enthusiastic member of NTWAB, he paid his 2025 dues a year in advance.

The 54th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards on Thursday, Jan. 23 will honor the memory of Bowen, who was a script writer for the event since its inception in 1971.

“For more than half a century, Ed Bowen’s words described the most memorable moments of the sport as captured each year during the Eclipse Awards. His list of accomplishments includes an Eclipse Award for magazine writing in 1972, thousands of articles and nearly two dozen books on Thoroughbred breeding and racing. Before the Internet, Wikipedia and Artificial Intelligence, there was Ed Bowen,” said Tom Rooney, President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

A past president of the Thoroughbred Club of America, Bowen was also a former board member of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and a trustee of the National Museum of Racing, for which he served for some 35 years as chairman of its Hall of Fame Nominating Committee in addition to a chairmanship of its Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor Selection Committee.

Bowen was married to Ruthie Bowen with whom he had a son, George. According to the 2022 BloodHorse story, Bowen also was the father of daughters Jennifer Schafhauser (Eric) and Tracy Bowen and the grandfather of Emily Schafhauser and Julia Schafhauser.

--By Dick Downey

Media Eclipse Awards Announced

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 22:14:08 GMT

Lexington, Ky. (January 8, 2025) ―The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today announced the winners of the 2024 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories.

The 2024 Media Eclipse Award winners are as follows:

Live Television Programming – NBC Sports, “The 150 ^th Kentucky Derby” – Lindsay Schanzer, Senior Produce r, May 4, 2024

Feature Television Programming – NBC Sports, “The Impossible Dream,” – Rachel Goodman, Producer , May 4, 2024

Writing – Feature/Commentary – Chris McGrath, Thoroughbred Daily News – “Lunching with Legends at Lil’s,” March 26, 2024

Writing – News/Enterprise – Sean Clancy, The Saratoga Special – “Two for the Show,” Aug. 28, 2024

Photography – Scott Serio , “Night Rider – Skippylongstocking wins the Charles Town Classic,” Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, October 2024

Multimedia – Sue Finley, Thoroughbred Daily News , “After Saving Two Horses from a Kill Pen, Stewart Aims to do More to End Slaughter,” July 15, 2024

Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented their trophies at the 54th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Ceremony and Dinner at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, January 23.

Live Television Programming – NBC Sports

NBC Sports has won its fifth consecutive Live Racing Programming Eclipse Award for its coverage of the 150 ^th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky on May 4, 2024. Last year’s special anniversary coverage of America’s most famous horse race rose to an unforgettable crescendo with the three-horse photo finish of race winner Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone and Forever Young (JPN).

NBC deployed a wide-range of production enhancements to capture the spectacle of the famed Run for the Roses including a new set location overlooking the newly constructed paddock at Churchill Downs, which featured SkyCam coverage from the paddock; a “Phantom Camera,” providing super slo-mo replays and reactions; a live drone and two live jockey cam systems utilized among 54 total cameras; two Nucleus cameras – one on each finish line – that provided fans with a unique super slo-mo look at any photo finishes; a camera focused on race caller Larry Collmus; and a Bat Camera – which will flew alongside the horses as they raced down the backstretch.

“NBC Sports is thrilled to accept the Eclipse Award for Live Television Programming for our coverage of the 150th Kentucky Derby,” said Senior Producer of the Kentucky Derby coverage, Lindsay Schanzer. “It’s not often in television (or anything!) that you can say you were a part of the 150th edition of something, but we were privileged to play broadcast host to the incredible milestone event put on by Churchill Downs on the First Saturday in May. While we try every year to capture the spectacle and long-standing traditions that make up the Run for the Roses, this year we had a special opportunity to showcase those elements and how they have withstood the test of time for a century and a half. And on top of the incredible historical significance of the day, we were treated to one of the great finishes in the history of the race. I am so proud of our team and how we covered the three-way photo finish that was ultimately awarded to Mystik Dan, and can only hope we’ll be blessed with as exciting a finish for Derby 151!”

The 150 ^th Kentucky Derby was produced by Schanzer and Billy Matthews, and directed by Kaare Numme and Tim Nelson. Amy Zimmerman was senior associate producer, Jeff Burriesci was associate director, Jack Felling was coordinating feature producer, and Ron Vacarro, VP of Editorial. Sam Flood is Executive Producer and President, NBC Sports Production.

The commentators were: Host Mike Tirico; analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss; handicappers Eddie Olczyk and Matt Bernier; host/reporter Ahmed Fareed; reporters Britney Eurton, Donna Brothers, Kenny Rice, and Nick Luck; race caller Larry Collmus; features host Rebecca Lowe; insights analyst Steve Kornacki; fashion and lifestyle correspondents Dylan Dreyer and Zanna Roberts Rassi, and Tim Layden, who wrote and narrated an essay on his perspective of the 150 ^th “Run for the Roses.”

Honorable mention in the Live Television Programming category went to FOX Sports for the 156th Belmont Stakes, which aired on June 8, 2024, and was produced by Bill Richards.

Judges in the Live Television Programming were Kristine Kugler, Horse Racing Producer, ESPN. Dave Johnson, track announcer, television analyst, and race caller for ABC Sports, and now co-host of Down The Stretch on SiriusXM; and Patty Wolfe, Multimedia Eclipse Award winner and three-time Emmy winner at ABC Sports.

Television Features – NBC Sports

NBC Sports has won the Television – Features category for “The Impossible Dream,” a profile on the improbable and courageous life of Larry Demeritte, trainer of West Saratoga, who he saddled in the 2024 Kentucky Derby. The feature, which aired on NBC on May 4, 2024, was produced by Rachel Goodman.

Demeritte was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma Blood Cancer seven years ago, beginning his third bout with the disease since 1996. On chemotherapy each month, at 74, last year Demeritte became the second Black trainer since 1951 to be saddling a horse in the Kentucky Derby. He was preparing Larry Veruchi’s West Saratoga, a 3-year-old son of Exaggerator, who had won the Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old, and finished second in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G2) in his final Derby prep. Raised in Nassau in the Bahamas, where he became a successful trainer in a racing family, Demeritte watched the Derby on television every year, and was inspired in1976 to come to the U.S., and train horses in Kentucky, and some day dreamed of saddling a horse of his own in the Run for the Roses.

Narrated by Mike Tirico, Demeritte relates his story to NBC in the quiet of the Churchill Downs backstretch. “Sometimes I wake up with aches in my bones,” Demeritte admitted, “but why lay in bed and feel sorry for yourself when you can see a horse gallop around the track. You don’t get a rush from anywhere else.” The feature included footage and photos of Demeritte’s days in the Bahamas, and an interview with owner Veruchi, who instructed Demeritte to buy him a Derby horse for under $20,000. He bought West Saratoga for $11,000. “I buy Champagne horses with a beer budget,” Demeritte revealed with a wide grin. (West Saratoga finished 12 ^th in last year’s Derby.)

“Larry Demeritte’s unshakeable joyful spirit has stayed with me since the day I met him,” said Goodman. “To see the way people are drawn to him and the incredible community he has nurtured in his barn is to witness the very best in horse racing. Despite being dealt some of life’s most difficult challenges, his passion, perseverance, and faith never wavered and to see him achieve his lifelong dream of competing in the Kentucky Derby was a moment that I will cherish forever. All of us at NBC Sports feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to share that story.”

In addition to Goodman, the Coordinating Producer of “The Impossible Dream” was Jack Felling; Editor, Kevin Carcich; Cinema Photographer, Taylor Morrison; and Field Producer, Max Rahamin. Sam Flood was Executive Producer and Lindsay Schanzer, Senior Producer.

The winning entry can be viewed here .

Judges in the Television Features category were Liz Bronstein, television showrunner and executive producer, and creator of the Animal Planet 2008-09 series “Jockeys”; Jeannine Edwards, multiple award-winning reporter, and analyst for ESPN from 1995-2018; and Chris Svendsen, CBS Sports producer and director.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Chris McGrath

Chris McGrath, from Oxford, England, has developed a great passion for American racing and for its remarkable personalities. Last year, he brought it home with “Lunching With Legends at Lil’s,” a lunchtime gathering with venerable racing stalwarts Ercel Ellis Jr., Arthur Hancock III and veterinarian Dr. Robert Copelan. The article, which appeared last March in Thoroughbred Daily News, is the first Eclipse Award for McGrath.

Having made several trips to the U.S. over the years, McGrath visited Hancock at Stone Farm, and got into a conversation about weekly luncheons at Lil’s Coffee House in Paris, Kentucky with Ellis, a pioneering racing radio broadcaster and the renown Copelan, a leader and innovator in the veterinary community for more than 65 years. Hancock and McGrath came to the luncheon one afternoon. Total ages among the three racing men at the time of publication of the luncheon was 189, with Copelan the leader at 97.

While letting the trio at the table do the talking, McGrath pulls the reader into a solid gold history of racing tales going back more than 100 years, with the trio swapping stories on connections to Man o’ War, Nasrullah, Citation, Forli (ARG), and Sunday Silence, to name a few racing icons. Among them was young Copelan telling the time one late afternoon at Darby Dan Farm when he rode a pony inside a paddock and spooked two yearlings to jump the fence, and the horses winding up in Big Darby Creek; and then having to fish them both out with the use of flashlights. Or Ellis relaying a tale on Man o’ War’s early days when a clocker sought his groom one morning at Saratoga.

“What’s the name of that big red colt?”

“Man o’ War.”

“Who’s he by?”

“By himself, mostly.”

Hancock and Copelan went back and forth on memorable moments and passionate outbursts about Arthur’s father, Arthur “Bull” Hancock, Jr., the scion of Claiborne Farm.

The luncheon adjourned after about one hour of revelry.

“I’m enormously grateful to Sue Finley, Gary King and the rest of the guys at TDN for providing such a great platform to share these wonderful experiences,” said McGrath. “I have been on their team since 2018 and, while my desk remains closer to Newmarket, my heart has meanwhile been won by the horses of America and the people who raise and race them.”

Born in Cambridge, McGrath wrote for prominent English mainstream daily newspapers, including The Times, The Independent, Sporting Life, and the Racing Post. He is most proud of a social history of the Thoroughbred, Mr. Darley’s Arabian, shortlisted for William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2016.

The winning entry can be viewed here .

Honorable Mention in the Feature/Commentary category went to: Three-time Media Eclipse Award winner Natalie Voss for “‘Never Felt So Calm’: After Divine Intervention, Trevor McCarthy Taking Break From The Saddle,” which was published on Nov. 10, 2024, in the Paulick Report.

Judges in the Feature Commentary Category were Amanda Duckworth, an independent international communications consultant and journalist with a focus on Thoroughbred racing; Tom LaMarra, Director of Communications and Backstretch Services for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, and Amy Owens, Communications Associate at Keeneland.

News/Enterprise Writing – Sean Clancy

Sean Clancy earned this third Eclipse Award, and his second consecutive honor, for writing with “Two for the Show” a stirring recap of the DraftKings Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course last August, punctuated by the dramatic finish of Fierceness holding off the fast-closing filly Thorpedo Anna at the wire.

The article appeared in The Saratoga Special, as did his 2023 News/Enterprise Eclipse award winner, “The Worst Test,” on the tragic accident of Maple Leaf Mel in the Test Stakes (G1). Clancy won his first Eclipse Award in 2009 in News/Commentary writing in The BloodHorse for “Life’s Work,” about his recollections of the late Hall of Fame Trainer Sidney Watters Jr.

“I’m honored to win a third Eclipse Award and a second for The Saratoga Special. The Special celebrates its 25 ^th anniversary this year, what a way to kick that off. This award is a credit to everyone who has helped in those 25 years – advertisers, readers, writers, interns, friends and family. It’s been a journey. Just like last year, my first call was to my brother, Joe. My second call was to Tom Law. Great writers, great friends.”

Clancy from Middleburg, Virginia, is the co-editor and publisher of The Saratoga Special along with his brother, Joe, which they co-founded in 2001. He is also a member of NTWAB.

In covering his 23 ^rd Travers, Clancy enveloped the drama of one of the most anticipated editions of the Mid-Summer Derby, headed by Thorpedo Anna trying to become the first filly to win the Travers since 1915, facing top colts in Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Dornoch, Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Sierra Leone and the 2023 Juvenile Champion Fierceness.

“Every once in a while, a race lives up to its hype. Fierceness and Thorpedo Anna made sure the 2024 Travers did that,” said Clancy. “Thanks to Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, Kenny McPeek and Brian Hernandez for sharing their experiences with us. They spoke for two tough horses who brought their best to the 2024 Travers. Thoroughbred racing at its zenith.”

Or as Clancy succinctly wrote: Fierceness won the race. Thorpedo Anna made the race.

The winning entry can be viewed here .

Honorable mention in the News/Enterprise category went to: Bryce Miller for “In a racing first, Del Mar is feeding backstretch workers. It’s about community – and connection,” which appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune on Sept. 12, 2024.

Judges in the News/Enterprise category were Reid Cherner former sports, racing writer and columnist for USA Today; Dan Leibman, former editor of The BloodHorse and The State-Journal in Frankfort, Ky.; and Rob Longley, sports writer and columnist for the Toronto Sun.

Photography – Scott Serio

For Scott Serio, Founder and Chief Photographer of Eclipse Sportswire, winning his second Eclipse Award for Photography for “Night Rider – Skippylongstocking Wins The Charles Town Classic,” was as harrowing as it was rewarding.

While preparing to place his remote cameras on the inside rail near the finish line in the late afternoon for the Aug. 23 Charles Town Classic (G2) at Hollywood Casino Charles Town Races in West Virginia Serio bumped into the cushion on the rail and unleashed a swarm of bees, which stung him five times in the left arm. “I’m on the ground in pain and the National Anthem starts, with two of my friends standing over me,” recalled the Cecil County, Maryland resident.

Rushed in an ambulance to local Jefferson Medical Center, Serio received an injection in his right arm. Undaunted, he felt well enough to take an Uber ride back to the track. With his left arm immobile, Serio operated his remote camera, a Sony A9 with an adapter using a Nikon 16mm Fisheye Lens, to capture Daniel Alonso’s 5-year-old Skippylongstocking just after crossing the wire to win the Charles Town Classic.

Serio’s image, which appeared in the October 2024 issue of Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, captured Skipplylongstocking illuminated under the track lights with all four feet off the ground under jockey Jose Ortiz. The background is formed by a line of fans in darkness stationed along the outside rail gazing at the winner.

Serio, who first went to Charles Town in 1982, has long felt a romantic attraction to night racing at the small track. “It has a unique lighting setup at the finish line that creates an almost studio-quality effect, close to cinematic, when a horse runs in the right spot a few feet past the finish line.” He also called it a “ labor of love to show great racing can be as dramatic at a place like Charles Town as it is at cathedrals of racing like Saratoga, Churchill and Santa Anita.”

Serio also paid tribute to historic Maryland photographers of his youth, like (Eclipse Award winner) Skip Ball and Cappy Jackson in Maryland Horse Magazine. “It is incredibly rewarding to earn this award for an image published in that original publication’s current iteration, Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred,” said Serio. “Looking back to the incomparable Mike Marten ( the late two-time Eclipse Award winner) teaching me how to do remotes back in 1988 at the Preakness, winning this award with an under-the-rail shot brings my journey in racing photography full circle.”

Serio won his first Eclipse for a morning workout image at Keeneland Race Course prior to the 2015 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which appeared in the Cecil Guardian. This is the sixth Eclipse trophy won by an Eclipse Sportswire photographer since 2011.

The winning photo can be viewed here .

Honorable mention in the Photography category went to three-time Eclipse Award winner Michael Clevenger for his photo-finish image of the Kentucky Derby, which appeared first on the Louisville Courier Journal website on May 4, 2024.

Judges in the category were: Mark Abraham, freelance photographer and currently deputy director of the United States Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery; Rob Carr, Getty Images/Chief Photographer, Sport; and Mike Kane, veteran Thoroughbred writer and photographer.

Multimedia – Sue Finley

Sue Finley produced a multimedia piece titled “Saving Two Horses from a Kill Pen, Stewart Aims to do More to End Slaughter,” an interview combining video and text with quickly emerging owner/breeder John Stewart. The entry, posted last July, explored the issue of saving horses from kill pens and furthering industry efforts to prevent horse slaughter. The video portion of the piece was edited by Anthony and Alia LaRocca at BridleVision.

Last spring, Finley, Publisher and CEO of Thoroughbred Daily News, noticed a social media feed posted by Stewart about his purchase of racehorses My Lil’ Dude and Drive For Fun from a kill pen in Louisiana, and was going to bring them to Resolute Farm to live out their lives. Stewart believed that these horses could serve as a catalyst for the industry to start talking about the slaughter problem, including placing the main responsibility on the breeder and the original owner of the horse.

“This is an issue I have been passionate about for a long time,” said Finley, who served for 12 years on the board of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. “The slaughter issue is one that troubles me deeply. I thought this story could help the industry to have a much-needed conversation about slaughter.”

Finley reports that more than 20,000 American horses every year are still transported for slaughter, “an unknowable number of them Thoroughbred racehorses, who are slaughtered for human consumption in foreign countries.”

She called Stewart after seeing his post, and while the horses weren’t at the farm yet, she was welcome to come out and interview him when they arrived. She interviewed Stewart during the Fasig-Tipton July sale, and while there they learned that he had not only saved these two, but that he had also rescued a Saddlebred and a mini who had also been saved from a kill pen. All the rescues were together in a beautiful barn with a staff dedicated to nursing them back to health. “It was very inspiring,” she added.

“I would like to thank our talented producers, Anthony and Alia LaRocca at BridleVision, for their beautiful work on this piece, and Katie Petrunyak, who served as a second camera on the story. But really, this award belongs to John Stewart for not only rescuing these two horses, but for provoking a conversation in the industry about the need to solve the very real problem that we have with slaughter.”

Finley, who has been with TDN since 1993, resides in Fair Haven, New Jersey.

The winning entry can be accessed here .

Honorable mention in the Multimedia category went to Katie Petrunyak, for “Jeramie Fennell Finds Redemption on Horseback,” which was published on October 18, 2024, in Thoroughbred Daily News.

Judges in the Multimedia category were Mike Brunker, former racing writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal; John Engelhardt, 35 years as a producer in TV/radio/podcasts, and current host of The Regular Guy on winningponies.com; and Joe Withee, Director of Broadcast Publicity, Emerald Downs.

--NTRA release

2024 Eclipse Awards Finalists

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 20:17:20 GMT

The 2024 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, in alphabetical order.

Two-Year-Old Male: Chancer McPatrick, Citizen Bull, Gaming

Two-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer, Immersive, Lake Victoria (IRE)

Three-Year-Old Male: Dornoch, Fierceness, Sierra Leone

Three-Year-Old Filly: Cinderella’s Dream (GB), She Feels Pretty, Thorpedo Anna

Older Dirt Male: Full Serrano (ARG), National Treasure, Straight No Chaser

Older Dirt Female: Adare Manor, Idiomatic, Raging Sea

Male Sprinter: Cogburn, Straight No Chaser, The Chosen Vron

Female Sprinter: Society, Soul of an Angel, Ways and Means

Male Turf Horse: Carl Spackler (IRE), Johannes, Rebel’s Romance (IRE)

Female Turf Horse: Cinderella’s Dream (GB), Moira, She Feels Pretty

Steeplechase Horse: Carloun (IRE), L’Imperator (FR), Snap Decision

Owner: Godolphin LLC, Juddmonte, Klaravich Stables, Inc.

Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin, Judy Hicks

Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Kenny McPeek

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione, Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat

Apprentice Jockey: Erik Asmussen, Gabriel Maldonado, J.G. Torrealba

Of the 240 eligible voters represented by the NTRA, consisting of racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 208 (87%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

Finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced during the live show on January 23. In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Mike Gillum will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2024 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories. Each finalist will receive two complimentary tickets to the Eclipse Awards, courtesy of The Jockey Club.

NTWAB Announces 2025 Support For Five Internships

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 18:18:42 GMT

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters are pleased to announce the organization will support a record five internships at various horse racing media outlets in 2025.

After receiving more applications for funding assistance than ever, the NTWAB’s internship committee will award matching grants to Agentes 305, BloodHorse, Paulick Report, Daily Racing Form, and ESPN Louisville.

The NTWAB began offering financial support to media outlets’ internships in 2023 to help offset budget cuts at print, digital, and broadcast media outlets that had reduced internship opportunities in recent years.

In total, the NTWAB has committed up to $10,000 in funds toward supporting the 2025 internships.

“I think I speak for the whole committee when I say we’re proud to help support educational opportunities for the next generation of turf writers and broadcasters,” said Natalie Voss, chairperson of the NTWAB internship committee. “Many of us had a formative experience in an internship program early in our career, either during school or after.”

ESPN Louisville has plans to use its stipend to allow for on-site travel and coverage for an existing intern, who will also assist with its Horse Racing Happy Hour podcast. BloodHorse and Daily Racing Form plan to offer internships in the summer of 2025. Internship timeframes at Agentes 305 and Paulick Report are to be determined.

NTWAB will assist supported outlets in publicizing job application links for internships when they become available. Potential interns and companies interested in participating in future years can monitor the NTWAB website and @ntwab at X for more details.

--By Natalie Voss

Past and Present NTWAB Members Named to Hirsch Media Roll of Honor

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:45:42 GMT

Tim Layden, a member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and former NTWAB members Ed Schuyler, Jr. and the late Edwin Pope have been selected to the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

Layden is a four-time Eclipse Award winner and the 2015 recipient of NTWAB's Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing. He won his first Eclipse in 1987 in the newspaper writing category, followed by Eclipses for feature/commentary in 2018, 2022, and 2023.

After spending 25 years as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated — where he covered Thoroughbred racing, 14 Olympic Games, eight college football championship games, six NCAA Final Fours and three Super Bowls -- Layden joined the NBC Sports Group in 2019. He produces longform articles, major-event features and columns, and video work for the network’s television and digital platforms.

Prior to joining Sports Illustrated, Layden, a native of Whitehall, N.Y., worked at the Schenectady Gazette (1978 to 1986), Albany Times Union (1986 to 1988), and Newsday (1988 to 1994).

“The first time I went to a racetrack was in the summer of 1976 when I was interning for the Gazette at Saratoga,” Layden said. “I sat next to Red Smith that day in the press box, which was pretty intimidating and scary. My first full year covering racing was 1978 when Alydar and Affirmed met in the Travers. That was my first real introduction to major league sports in the Capital Region. It was basically trial by fire for a 22-year-old.”

Layden said he received early guidance as a racing journalist from stalwart reporter John Pricci and Joe Hirsch, the Roll of Honor’s namesake.

“John helped me out with a lot of the basics, as did Joe,” Layden said. “I didn’t have any background in racing and my first time going to the track was to cover the sport. Joe was very patient and kind to someone who didn’t even know how to read the program. Covering racing has been a big part of my life. I remember doing a story on D. Wayne Lukas in the 1980s and here I am 40-some years later and still writing about him. Things have changed, but I’ve been pretty fortunate to hang around.”

The transition to working for NBC Sports Group has been seamless for Layden, who says he has enjoyed the television aspect of media.

“It’s a fresh challenge to write for television, but it’s been fun and I’m grateful to the NBC team for the opportunity” he said. “And I’m still doing some print work, which I still love. So I guess I’ll go a little longer.”

Schuyler, a native of Bloomsburg, Pa., covered primarily horse racing and boxing for The Associated Press from 1960 until his retirement in 2002. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010, Schuyler was the NTWAB selection for the 1996 Walter Haight Award. He began covering the Triple Crown series in 1967 with a sidebar for the Kentucky Derby. In 1974, Schuyler became the lead national racing writer for The Associated Press, a position he held until his retirement. During that time, Schuyler covered every Triple Crown race. Additionally, he covered the Breeders’ Cup from its inception in 1984 until he retired. Through the AP wire service, Schuyler’s work was read nationally in papers and media outlets throughout the United States.

“My father was a great newspaperman and I wanted to be just like him,” said Schuyler, who lives in Southold, N.Y. “I had the best job in the world. I got to see all the great horses, cover so many wonderful people … D. Wayne Lukas, Woody Stephens, Shug McGaughey … it was long hours and a lot of work, but it was also really a lot of fun. There was nothing like Kentucky Derby week, and how could you not love being at places like Saratoga and Keeneland? I was pretty lucky to do what I did.”

Schuyler wrote about many of the 20th century’s biggest stars in both racing and boxing, including Triple Crown winners Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed, as well as heavyweight champions Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson, among others. He covered boxing at the Olympics from 1976 through 2000 and reported on fights in 19 countries.

“I covered 23 Ali fights, saw Mike Tyson get beat in Japan, watched Forego come from behind to win the Metropolitan Handicap, amazing Breeders’ Cup races … so many great memories,” Schuyler said. “To be a writer and cover what I did for more than 40 years was a dream come true. There are so many great stories and personalities in sports, especially in boxing and horse racing. If you can’t find a good story there, you’re in the wrong business.”

Pope (1928-2017), a native of Athens, Ga., won three Eclipse Awards for newspaper writing (1976, 1982, 1986) during his decorated journalism career — each of those awards was earned while covering racing for the Miami Herald, where he began working in 1956.

A graduate of the University of Georgia, Pope was only 11 years old when he began writing for his hometown Athens Banner-Herald. By age 15, he had been promoted to the sports editor of the paper. After college, Pope worked briefly for United Press International, Atlanta Journal, and Atlanta Constitution.

After writing his 1955 book Football’s Greatest Coaches, Pope left the Atlanta area for Miami to join the Herald. Hired as a columnist and assistant editor, he was promoted to sports editor within a year. He officially retired from the paper in 2003 but continued to contribute columns until 2016, when he wrote his last piece eulogizing Muhammad Ali.

Pope, who covered every Super Bowl from 1967 through 2013, won numerous awards in addition to his three Eclipses for horse racing coverage. He was inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, as well as the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Additionally, Pope was selected for the Red Smith Award in 1989 by The Associated Press Sports Editors. The late Jimmy Cannon of the New York Daily News called Pope “the best writer of sports in America.”

Previous selections to the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor are Steven Crist (2010), Charles Hatton (2010), Bill Nack (2010), Red Smith (2010), Dr. Russ Harris (2011), Joe Palmer (2011), Jay Hovdey (2012), Whitney Tower (2012), Andrew Beyer (2013), Kent Hollingsworth (2013), George F. T. Ryall (2013), Jim Murray (2014), Jennie Rees (2014), Raleigh Burroughs (2015), Steve Haskin (2015), Jim McKay (2016), Maryjean Wall (2016), Barney Nagler (2017), Michael Veitch (2017), Jack Whitaker (2017), Joe Burnham (2018), Tom Hammond (2018), Charlsie Cantey (2019), Billy Reed (2019), Pierre “Peb” Bellocq (2020), William Leggett (2020), Walter Haight (2021), Jack Mann (2021), Jay Privman (2021), Heywood Hale Broun (2022), Bert Morgan (2022), Damon Runyon (2022), Dick Jerardi (2023), Paul Moran, and John L. Hervey.

The National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor was established in 2010 to recognize individuals whose careers have been dedicated to, or substantially involved in, writing about thoroughbred racing (non-fiction), and who distinguished themselves as journalists. The criteria has since been expanded to allow the consideration of other forms of media.

Often referred to as the dean of thoroughbred racing writers, Hirsch won both the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Writing and the Lord Derby Award in London from the Horserace Writers and Reporters Association of Great Britain. He also received the Eclipse Award of Merit (1993), the Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1983), The Jockey Club Medal (1989), and was designated as the honored guest at the 1994 Thoroughbred Club of America’s testimonial dinner. The annual Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park is named in his honor. Hirsch, who died in 2009, was also a former chair of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and the founder of the National Turf Writers Association. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023 as a Pillar of the Turf.

The Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor Committee is comprised of Edward L. Bowen (chairman), author of 22 books on thoroughbred racing; Bob Curran, retired Jockey Club vice president of corporate communications; Ken Grayson, National Museum of Racing trustee; Jane Goldstein, retired turf publicist; Steve Haskin, Secretariat.com and longtime BloodHorse columnist; G. D. Hieronymus, retired Keeneland director of broadcast services; Jay Hovdey, five-time Eclipse Award-winning writer; and Dan Smith, retired senior media coordinator of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Edited National Museum of Racing release

NTWAB Accepting 2025 Internship Support Applicatons

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 19:45:28 GMT

Outlets are encouraged to apply by Dec. 16.

The National Thoroughbred Writers and Broadcasters have announced that the organization will assist racing media outlets in funding internships for the third year in a row.

The NTWAB’s internship assistance program is designed to better enable horse racing publications and broadcast outlets to offer paid internship positions. In the fall, NTWAB members voted to authorize up to $10,000 total in matching funds to be spread across multiple outlets. Selected outlets will receive a minimum of $2,000 in matching funds from NTWAB, with more matching support possible depending on application volume.

In 2024, NTWAB co-funded internships at Thoroughbred Daily News, The Saratoga Special, and NYRA/FOX.

For the second consecutive year, The Saratoga Special was able to expand its traditional summer internship program from two positions to three, thanks to NTWAB’s support. One of this year’s three interns was Julia Reedy, a senior at Syracuse University studying in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She is working toward a B.S. in Magazine, News and Digital Journalism.

“Working in Saratoga and spending the better part of my days around the track was an incredible experience,” said Reedy. “I left this summer with a deeper appreciation for horse racing and a greater confidence in my ability as a journalist, thanks to the opportunity I was given at The Special.”

Find some of Reedy’s published work here and here .

“There’s truly no better place to be if you’re interested in the sport and are looking to get published—and the stories extend beyond the track,” Reedy said. “Whether it was recapping a race or covering the Fasig-Tipton Sale, I gained real-time experience interviewing, writing and editing articles, and formed valuable connections along the way.

“If I could do it all over again, I would—and that’s part of the reason why I’ll be back this summer.”

NYRA/FOX hosted Julian Yang, a journalism student at Lehigh University, for eight weeks at Saratoga. Yang researched storylines, assisted videographers with shooting, and helped interview subjects for the outlet’s television features.

“In addition to following reporters in the afternoon as a PA, Julian was able to audit our directors and producers and learn more about the roles in live sports television production,” said Bailey Gallison, production manager at NYRA. “Julian benefited from the opportunity to combine his passion for horse racing with his studies in a professional setting.”

Alexa Crament interned with Thoroughbred Daily News, focusing on social media and video production. You can find some of her work here , here , and here .

“My internship experience with Thoroughbred Daily News was truly a dream,” Crament said. “I had the privilege to work with an incredibly passionate team involved in video production, social media and published content that exceeded my expectations with the amount of opportunities they offered me throughout. Their unwavering support and guidance allowed me to grow more confident in skills such as multitasking, communication, innovation and creativity.

“I had the most wonderful experiences being able to assist on interviews at horse farms, sit in for the Writer’s Room podcast recordings, create social media content, edit videos and articles as well as publish my own article. Being able to meet and connect with so many people in the industry as well as visiting the various farms with incredible horses was definitely a highlight. This internship allowed me to flourish in my passion for horse racing and sharing stories while also continuing to learn new things and go beyond my comfort zone.”

Any publication or broadcast outlet in the horse racing sphere interested in applying for internship assistance for 2025 is encouraged to apply by Dec. 16. Applying outlets are asked to submit basic information about their internship’s projected job responsibilities, estimated total costs, and funding request amount to an internship committee member or to ntwab2014@gmail.com . The committee will prioritize outlets that have not received support in past years, but all are encouraged to apply.

Eclipse Awards Release Media Awards Guidelines

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 16:16:53 GMT

Lexington, KY, November 8, 2024: The Eclipse Awards for Media are presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters. Rules governing the Media Eclipse Awards are established by representatives of the three presenting organizations.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARD CATEGORIES

Writing - News/Enterprise

Writing - Feature/Commentary

Photography

Television - Live Racing Programming

Television - Features

Audio/Multimedia Internet

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be RECEIVED by 5:00 p.m. (ET), Friday, November 15, 2024. Entries received after that time will not be accepted.

Entries for the Writing, Photography, and Audio/Multimedia Internet, and Television awards will be accepted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Portal. Instructions are in the link below:

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

ENTRY FEE

None

RULES

Entries should display outstanding achievement in the coverage of North American Thoroughbred racing and must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 20, 2023, and November 14, 2024. All submissions are limited only to works pertaining to the Thoroughbred breed , and no other equine breed. Submissions on subjects, topics, and individuals that took place exclusively outside of North America will not be accepted.

Print and Internet submissions (news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, and photography) must have been published in a paid-circulation, independent publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation, independent publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website. Internet submissions that originate from blogs or social media platforms are not eligible for the competition, unless previously authorized.

Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.

Audio/Multimedia entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been broadcast on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) are not eligible in any category.

Submissions from recognized Thoroughbred industry outlets will be accepted as long as those submissions appear in a recognized paid circulation publication, website, television, or multimedia outlet. Submissions that appear solely on the industry outlet's website or video platform will not be accepted. Submissions by industry outlets are subject to review by the Eclipse Award Steering Committee prior to official entry into the competition in all categories.

LETTERS OF ENTRY

Entries must originate with the author (print submissions) or producer (audio/multi-media Internet and television submissions). All entries must include a cover letter, and uploaded in the Submissions Portal from the author (for print submissions), photographer (for photography submissions), or producer (for audio/multimedia Internet and television), stating his/her wish to enter his/her materials; publication/broadcast information (outlined below); and contact information (name, address, telephone, fax, cell phone and e-mail, as applicable).

Please indicate the category of each submission in your cover letter. If you are submitting in two distinct categories please include two separate cover letters.

The cover letter in the two writing categories, photography and audio/multimedia must be written in a stand-alone Word Document and uploaded to the Submissions Portal. Please include the date that the media organization published the article, in the cases of the writing and photography awards, or the air date of a multi-media/internet submission.

DO NOT include information in your cover letter extolling the virtues of your story and the “impact” on the public at large, or the time and effort devoted to writing or producing the entry. The judges will not see your letter, and it will have no bearing on the outcome of the competition.

Editors may submit print materials on behalf of authors, provided such submissions include the cover letter described above. All other third-party submissions will be rejected. In the writing categories, submissions by editors on behalf of multiple writers from a publication on a feature subject, special section, or a compendium of stories on breaking news will be rejected.

Authors and producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e., tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, which is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

The presenting organizations reserve the right to determine the eligibility of all entries and to disqualify an entry at any time, including after the determination of an award, at its sole discretion. The presenting organizations reserve the right not to bestow an award in a particular category, based on the quantity or (as determined by a panel of judges) the quality of submissions. Questions concerning eligibility should be directed to the address for entries, listed below.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns.

LIMITS ON ENTRIES

Two per entrant, per category (with an exception for a multi-part series in the writing categories). Entrants in the writing categories are limited to submissions by the individual author, or by the author’s editor, with permission from the author.

Upon submission, you will receive an automatic reply from NTRA to notify you that your entry or entries have been received. The NTRA will contact you directly if there are any rules or issues with your submission. It is the obligation of the individual to follow up if he or she did not receive an automatic reply in the writing, multi-media, and photography categories.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS CATEGORIES

1) News/Enterprise and Feature/Commentary Writing

There are two categories of competition for Writing awards:

1) News/Enterprise – Submission guidelines for works in this category are the following: timely, hard news articles and expository pieces involving concentrated background research, investigative reporting, or news analysis.

2) Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines for works in this category are columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles.

Submissions from industry outlets that are published by a recognized publication will be eligible for the competition in an unedited version in either category. However, standard press releases will not be accepted. Submissions that appear solely on the industry outlet's website or video platform will not be accepted.

Please note that competition in the Writing categories is limited to three (3) authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series.

-No Q&A submissions will be accepted in either category.

Multi-Part Series Rules

Within each category of writing, authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that:

A) Have been pre-arranged by the editors and stated in the published work that the articles constitute a specified series; with the same subject matter (e.g., racing surfaces, medication) examined or profiled in each article of the series. Articles submitted under the title “occasional series” will not be accepted. Collections of articles under the title “The Year in Horse Racing” will not be accepted.

B) Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter another category, subject to the rules outlined above.

Submission in either the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio and Multi-Media Internet category.

Books – Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

Authors must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e., tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, which is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

I. COVER LETTER

Please upload a cover letter in the Submissions Portal stating the name, date, and publication of your submission and the category you have selected. Please also send a web link of your article as proof that it was published during the time period of the competition.

II. SUBMISSIONS TO THE JUDGES

· Authors must submit ONE copy of each submission in common Microsoft Word format. No Zip files will be accepted.

DO NOT PLACE A WEB LINK IN YOUR MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT TO THE JUDGES.

· Submissions must appear as the article was worded in the PUBLISHED form.

· At the top of your submission, you must include the date and time that the article was first published.

· All Headlines, Sub-Headlines, Bylines, and Hyperlinks MUST BE REMOVED from the submission.

· No publication names are permitted on the submission.

· You MUST REMOVE THE NAME OF YOUR PUBLICATION EACH TIME IT APPEARS IN YOUR SUBMISSION, and insert the words “name of publication removed;” e.g. “According to a recent study by the Anywhere USA Times…” must be changed to “According to a recent study by (Name of Publication Removed)…”

· Photos, graphs, charts, hyperlinks, or other graphic elements appearing within the article(s) must be deleted.

· The author must indicate for which writing category the work is being submitted (e.g., “News Enterprise” or “Feature Commentary” in the cover letter).

Submissions Portal Link

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

2) Photography

Photography entries are limited to images for events that took place in North America. Submission must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent news outlet. Photographs from recognized industry outlets that have been published on paid-circulation publications or recognized broadcast news organizations will be accepted. Internet submissions that originate from blogs or social media platforms are not eligible for the competition, unless previously authorized.

I. COVER LETTER

Please upload a cover letter through the Submissions Portal in an attachment stating the name, date, and publication of your photography submission. Please also send a web link of your photograph as proof that it was published during the time period of the competition.

NOTE: The cover letter is to be sent as a single stand/alone attachment and not an open document in the email part of the submission.

II. SUBMISSION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Please note that cropping of the original photo by the editor in the picture’s final published form will be accepted. However, photographs that include color enhancement, “Photoshopping” or deliberate alteration of the image will not be allowed in the competition.

Submission Portal

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

3) Television – Live Racing Programming and Features

Television entries (features or live racing programming) from a recognized over-the-air, cable, or satellite outlet are to be submitted in via the weblink to the portal listed below. Your link must be accompanied by a letter detailing the name of the entrant, the date each program aired, and the name of the station or network on which it aired. Commercials must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, opening billboards returning from a commercial break will be accepted.

An industry outlet may submit an entry as long as that submission has aired on a recognized television outlet. Submissions related to industry promotional projects or from breeding farms will not be accepted into the competition.

There are two television award categories:

1. Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be included.

2. Feature entries may be submitted as either single, stand-alone pieces, a documentary, a historical piece, a news report, or as part of a live-racing program. Entries in the Features category are limited to 120 minutes. “Medley” tapes containing more than two features of any duration, will not be accepted.

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal.

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

Please be sure your entry is not password protected and that your link will open directly to your submission.

4) Audio/Multimedia Internet

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries is one category combining audio (radio, podcasts) with multi-media. It is not two separate categories. All entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization. Entries airing exclusively on YouTube will not be accepted.

Submissions from industry outlets that are published by a recognized publication will be eligible for the competition in an unedited version in either category. Submissions that appear solely on the industry outlet's website or video platform will not be accepted.

All entries in this category must be limited to 60 minutes. Entries for live radio broadcasts may submit a compilation of the best work over the course of one program. ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal.

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

The Audio/Multimedia Internet category may consist of audio only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. No more than two (2) individual radio or Internet-based audio broadcasts per person may be submitted. “Medley” tapes containing more than three radio shows or Webcasts of any duration, will not be accepted.

The entry, in its entirety, must be retrievable from one Internet frame, with links to components of the package being considered part of the frame, provided they link back to pages within the originating Web site and not to other, external Websites. Entries that first appeared over the air or on cable television prior to appearing on the internet will not be accepted.

Submission in the Multimedia Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary categories.

Multimedia Internet submissions must be accompanied by a letter from the editor or equivalent senior official of the website, attesting that the package is the work of the author(s) or organization that submitted it and that it appeared on the website on the date(s) in question.

Authors/Producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e., tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, which is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

Submissions of Webcasts and Radio Programs must be accompanied by:

1) A letter from the Web producer or equivalent senior official of the Website attesting that the work is that of the author who submitted it and including the date the program was Webcast and the name of the website on which it aired.

2) Program title and air date of the production or webcast.

3) The name of the network, radio station, or web outlet

***

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than Thursday, January 2, 2025.

--Eclipse Awards release

Photo Essay From Our 64th Annual Awards Dinner

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 16:44:01 GMT

Photos by Skip Dickstein.

Award Winners: Team Kenny McPeek, Backside Learning Center, Sean Clancy, Laffit Pincay III, Tom Law, John Cherwa

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters' 64th Annual Awards Dinner was held at The Brigantine, with its gorgeous view of Del Mar, on Oct. 30.

NTWAB President Byron King, news editor at BloodHorse, welcomes the sold-out crowd.

Steve Byk of "At the Races" was an engaging emcee and helped us out tremendously. He designated an education fund at the National Horsemen's and Benevolent Association as the recipient of an honorarium for his services. Byk won the Jim McKay Award in 2021.

Sean Clancy, who delivered a humorous and moving acceptance speech, was named to receive the Walter Haight Award for Career Excellence In Turf Writing. After starting out as a steeplechase rider, his primary vocations have been with The Saratoga Special (along with his brother Joe, lower photo right, and Tom Law) and Steeplechase Times. King makes the presentation. Clancy chose Old Friends to receive a charitable donation from NTWAB.

King presents Laffit Pincay III with the Jim McKay Award for Excellence in Broadcasting after Pincay addressed the crowd, which included Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., his father (lower right), with passion for his chosen profession. Pincay has worked for HRTV, ESPN, NBC, and FOX/NYRA with class and professionalism. Amy Zimmerman (lower photo, right) delivered an eloquent introduction for Pincay. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and Racing for Home will receive charitable donations from NTWAB on behalf of Pincay.

Team Kenny McPeek was presented with the Mr. Fitz Award for for Typifying The Spirit Of Racing. McPeek is shown with his wife Sherri and exercise rider Danny Ramsey, whom McPeek said arrives at his barn every morning "bringing positivity." Team McPeek won the 150th Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks with Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna, respectively. McPeek became first trainer to pull off the double since 1952 and only the third trainer overall to do so. Also pictured is Paul Fitzsimmons, the great-grandson of the late "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, who introduced Team McPeek and for whom the award is named. McPeek chose The Race for Aftercare to receive a donation from NTWAB.

The Backside Learning Center was voted the winner of the Joe Palmer Award for Meritorious Service To Racing. Executive Director Sherry Stanley, top photo, accepted the award with great eloquence and accepted an NTWAB donation after being introduced by racing analyst Caton Bredar. The BLC is located at Churchill Downs and provides multiple services to backside workers and their families.

Tom Law, a six-time former NTWAB president, and John Cherwa each won Breeders' Cup Writing Awards for their coverage of the 2023 event. Tom Pedulla, lower photo, accepted for Cherwa, who could not be present. Pedulla won the Walter Haight Award in 2022. Presenting the awards were Breeders' Cup Director of Media Relations Jim Gluckson and Claire Crosby, Vice-President of Communications. Cherwa writes for the Los Angeles Times and Law for The Saratoga Special.

Dick Downey, NTWAB Treasurer and administrator of ntwab.org, tells the stories behind each of the night's donation recipients.

Sean Clancy, Tom Law, Steve Byk and Joe Clancy share a laugh as the dinner wraps up.

Longtime friends Mike Kane, Rhonda Norby and Tim Wilkin enjoyed a reunion at the NTWAB dinner. Kane (2023) and Wilkin (2019) are past winners of the Walter Haight Award. Norby is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Equibase.

Multi-talented broadcaster and writer Nick Luck (center), who hosts the Nick Luck Daily Podcast among other endeavors, and guests enjoy conversation as dinner is served.

Beautiful Del Mar lights up the night in the vista from the banquet area of The Brigantine.

--Our thanks to photographer Skip Dickstein for shooting the dinner. Photo essay by Dick Downey.

President's Letter: Saddling Up for Breeders' Cup

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 13:43:16 GMT

My fellow National Turf Writers and Broadcasters – I’m excited to see many of you at our 64th annual NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner on Oct. 30 and in the days to follow at our Oct. 31 general membership meeting at Del Mar or during the two-day event there on Nov. 1-2.

We have a sell-out crowd of 150 attendees for our Wednesday dinner at The Brigantine as we honor Team Kenny McPeek, the Backside Learning Center, Sean Clancy and Laffit Pincay III. Thank you to our membership for your support, and those who have given their time into making this dinner a success.

The awards dinner will be just down the street from Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on the outside patio at The Brigantine Del Mar, 3263 Camino Del Mar. We’ll begin with cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30, with awards presentations to follow. The Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards will also be presented during the evening. Business/cocktail attire. Valet parking is available at The Brigantine, but due to our capacity crowd, the restaurant suggests Uber or Lyft rides to best accommodate guests.

For those not at Del Mar on Thursday, I hope you can join us for our membership meeting at 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET) via Zoom. Here is the link .

The meeting will include an update on happenings for our organization over the past year and will provide an opportunity for us to review applicants to our organization. We’ll have a follow-up from the awards dinner and also address any other items of business. The board is committed to serving the needs of our membership, and we welcome your perspective for the closing months of 2024 and as we head into 2025.

If you’d like specific issues to be added to the agenda, please let me or NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly know. For those on-site, the meeting will take place in the auxiliary press box. A complete agenda will be sent next week.

Here is a rundown of beneficial media resources available for Breeders’ Cup coverage:

· The Oct. 23 Breeders’ Cup pre-entry teleconference: https://www.breederscup.com/notes

· Pre-entry past performances: https://www.equibase.com/content/bc/2024preentries.cfm

· Breeders’ Cup statistics: https://stats.breederscup.com/

· Breeders’ Cup media center: https://breederscup.com/media-center

· Breeders’ Cup trainer bios: https://www.equibase.com/content/BC/probabletrainers.cfm

· Breeders’ Cup owner bios: https://www.equibase.com/content/BC/probableowners.cfm

· Breeders’ Cup jockey bios: https://www.equibase.com/content/BC/probablejockeys.cfm

· Breeders’ Cup contender profiles: https://breederscup.com/horses/pre-entries/classic

· Horsemen’s guide: https://members.breederscup.com/documents/championships/HIG.PDF

· Breeders’ Cup saddle towels: https://www.breederscup.com/towels

Kind regards,

Byron King

President, NTWAB
Oct. 25, 2024

2024 Media Eclipse Awards Rules

Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:23:50 GMT

Lexington, KY, October 9, 2024: The Eclipse Awards for Media are presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters. Rules governing the Media Eclipse Awards are established by representatives of the three presenting organizations.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARD CATEGORIES

Writing - News/Enterprise

Writing - Feature/Commentary

Photography

Television - Live Racing Programming

Television - Features

Audio/Multimedia Internet

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be RECEIVED by 5:00 p.m. (ET), Friday, November 15, 2024. Entries received after that time will not be accepted.

Entries for the Writing, Photography, and Audio/Multimedia Internet, and Television awards will be accepted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Portal. Instructions are in the link below:

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

ENTRY FEE

None

RULES

Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) are not eligible in any category.

Submissions from recognized Thoroughbred industry outlets will be accepted as long as those submissions appear in a recognized paid circulation publication, website, television, or multimedia outlet. Submissions that appear solely on the industry outlet's website or video platform will not be accepted. Submissions by industry outlets are subject to review by the Eclipse Award Steering Committee prior to official entry into the competition in all categories.

LETTERS OF ENTRY

Please indicate the category of each submission in your cover letter. If you are submitting in two distinct categories please include two separate cover letters.

The presenting organizations reserve the right to determine the eligibility of all entries and to disqualify an entry at any time, including after the determination of an award, at its sole discretion. The presenting organizations reserve the right not to bestow an award in a particular category, based on the quantity or (as determined by a panel of judges) the quality of submissions. Questions concerning eligibility should be directed to the address for entries, listed below.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns.

LIMITS ON ENTRIES

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS CATEGORIES

1) News/Enterprise and Feature/Commentary Writing

There are two categories of competition for Writing awards:

2) Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines for works in this category are columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles.

Please note that competition in the Writing categories is limited to three (3) authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series.

-No Q&A submissions will be accepted in either category.

Multi-Part Series Rules

Within each category of writing, authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that:

B) Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter another category, subject to the rules outlined above.

Submission in either the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio and Multi-Media Internet category.

Books – Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

I. COVER LETTER

II. SUBMISSIONS TO THE JUDGES

· Authors must submit ONE copy of each submission in common Microsoft Word format. No Zip files will be accepted.

DO NOT PLACE A WEB LINK IN YOUR MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT TO THE JUDGES.

· Submissions must appear as the article was worded in the PUBLISHED form.

· At the top of your submission, you must include the date and time that the article was first published.

· All Headlines, Sub-Headlines, Bylines, and Hyperlinks MUST BE REMOVED from the submission.

· No publication names are permitted on the submission.

· Photos, graphs, charts, hyperlinks, or other graphic elements appearing within the article(s) must be deleted.

· The author must indicate for which writing category the work is being submitted (e.g., “News Enterprise” or “Feature Commentary” in the cover letter).

Submissions Portal Link

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

2) Photography

I. COVER LETTER

NOTE: The cover letter is to be sent as a single stand/alone attachment and not an open document in the email part of the submission.

II. SUBMISSION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Submission Portal

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

3) Television -- Live Racing Programming and Features

There are two television award categories:

1. Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be included.

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal.

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

Please be sure your entry is not password protected and that your link will open directly to your submission.

4) Audio/Multimedia Internet

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

The Audio/Multimedia Internet category may consist of audio only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. No more than two (2) individual radio or Internet-based audio broadcasts per person may be submitted. “Medley” tapes containing more than three radio shows or Webcasts of any duration, will not be accepted.

Submission in the Multimedia Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary categories.

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

Submissions of Webcasts and Radio Programs must be accompanied by:

2) Program title and air date of the production or webcast.

3) The name of the network, radio station, or web outlet

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than Thursday, January 2, 2025.

--NTRA release

NTWAB Announces 2024 Annual Award Winners

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 14:18:00 GMT

LOUISVILLE, KY (Aug. 27, 2024) Team Kenny McPeek – the many people involved in the unforgettable year for the trainer’s stable – will be honored along with the Backside Learning Center, turf writer Sean Clancy and broadcaster Laffit Pincay III during the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters’ 64th Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 30 in Del Mar, Calif.

The NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner is the organization’s only fundraiser, and a portion of the proceeds of the event will fund Thoroughbred industry charities and internships for prospective racing journalists. The 2024 NTWAB Awards Dinner will be held at The Brigantine Del Mar, located just a mile away from Del Mar Racetrack, which will host the Breeders’ Cup Nov. 1-2.

In honoring Team Kenny McPeek with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing, the NTWAB recognizes the trainer and his staff, exercise rider Danny Ramsey, jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., and the horses’ owners – whose collective efforts and promotion of the sport have created fans and cultivated excitement in horse racing.

McPeek this year became just the third trainer in history to pull off what is known as the Oaks-Derby Double when Thorpedo Anna and Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs. With Mystik Dan a follow-up second in the Preakness and eighth in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and Thorpedo Anna capturing the Acorn Stakes (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga before running second against males in the Travers Stakes (G1), fans and media were the beneficiaries of engagement from Team Kenny McPeek.

The Backside Learning Center, an independent non-profit organization, provides support and resources for the community of racetrack workers and their families at Churchill Downs and surrounding tracks and training facilities, making the BLC a fitting recipient of the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. The BLC offers access to education and programs for youth and adults that support health and well-being; holistic support through comprehensive case management and human services; and a support system for family empowerment while emphasizing culture and community engagement.

Clancy is the recipient of the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing. A champion steeplechase jockey who embarked on a journalism career after his riding days, Clancy, with his brother Joe, started Steeplechase Times in 1994 and The Saratoga Special in 2001. He is a two-time Eclipse Award winner. He won his first in 2009 in the News/Commentary category for “Life’s Work” in The Blood-Horse about the estate sale of the late Hall of Fame trainer Sidney Watters Jr. Last year, he was honored for his story “The Worst Test” about the fatal breakdown of Maple Leaf Mel in the Test Stakes (G1) that appeared in The Saratoga Special.

Pincay, the son of one of the greatest jockeys in the history of the sport, is the recipient of the Jim McKay Award for broadcast excellence. Part of the HRTV team from 2002-15, he joined ESPN’s telecast of the 2007 Breeders’ Cup and later became a key part of coverage of the American Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup on NBC. Since 2019, he has worked as a host for the FOX/NYRA broadcasts seen daily during all of New York’s meetings, including Belmont and Saratoga, as well as coverage of Oaklawn Park’s biggest events like the Arkansas Derby (G1).

The winners of two Breeders’ Cup writing awards will also be announced by Breeders’ Cup at the dinner.

En Espanol

.

Breeders' Cup Writing Awards Open for Entries

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 16:35:06 GMT

The Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards honor excellence in coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. There are two awards that will celebrate outstanding writing:

-The Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

-The Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

These awards are based on coverage of the 2023 (last year’s) Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

To enter the competition for these awards, contestants may submit a maximum of one submission per category: a choice from 2023 in Outstanding News Reporting, and a choice from 2023 for Outstanding Feature Writing. Please note that two submissions in one category from the same year will not be accepted.

Deadline for Entry is Friday, September 27, 2024

1. Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

This competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site. The submissions for the Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting are limited to a maximum of one submission. The submission must be a focused recap article of a 2023 Breeders’ Cup World Championships race. Your submitted article can be from a Breeders’ Cup race that took place on Friday, Nov. 3, or from a Breeders Cup race that took place on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. Please include a timestamp web link to your article. (It is understood that an article submitted under deadline circumstances may not have been posted by editors in a timely manner.)

2. Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

The competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site. The submissions for the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing are limited to a maximum of one article. Your submission must be focused on a feature aspect of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup: an advance story on a race, an individual profile, a column, or a business article. Please also include the publication date of your article.

The winners of these awards will be announced at the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 at The Brigantine Del Mar.

Submission instructions are as follows:

Two steps: 1) Cover Letter and 2) Clean Documents for Judging

1. Write an email cover letter to jim@breederscup.com

a) Indicate the category for competition (News Reporting or Feature)

b) Name of publication

c) Headline of article

d) Include a web link to the article in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. We need a clean Word document for judging.

2. Attach your Clean Documents of your submissions in Microsoft Word document or a similar format. Please do not submit an open document in an email. For a News Reporting submission, please place a timestamp at the top of the article. For Feature Reporting submissions, please place the date of publication. However, do not place your byline or the name of your publication in any of your clean documents that will be judged.

Submission deadline is Friday, September 27, 2024.

Thanks very much and Good Luck to all competitors.

--Breeders' Cup release with limited added content

NTWAB Member Morales Wins Handleman Award

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:16:48 GMT

Carlos Morales of Agentes 305, whose horse racing videos have garnered more than six million views over three social media platforms, has been named the winner of the 2024 Bill Handleman Award for outstanding coverage of last year's TVG.com Haskell Stakes, Monmouth Park announced today.

First presented in 2012, the Handleman Award honors distinguished media coverage of the $1 million, Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes, Monmouth Park's showcase race. It is presented annually prior to the Haskell.

Morales, an NTWAB member who serves on the board of directors, started Agentes 305 in 2019 to highlight horse racing through video interviews with owners, trainers, jockeys and backstretch workers in both Spanish and English on YouTube, X and Instagram.

In addition to his recent exemplary Haskell coverage, Morales has done on-site videos from the Triple Crown races, the Breeders' Cup, the Dubai World Cup and the Saudi Cup, traveling the globe to interview racing's key participants.

"I started this with the idea of highlighting horse racing and all of the good things about it," said Morales. "But it's also to showcase and recognize everyone in the business for their contributions to horse racing."

Morales, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, grew up in a racing family, with his family owning or training horses since the 1950s, he said.

The award honors the late Bill Handleman, one of New Jersey's top sportswriters for nearly three decades for the Asbury Park Press. Handleman, a fixture at Monmouth Park and a passionate chronicler of the sport, died in June of 2010 at the age of 62.

The first recipient of the Handleman Award was Tom Luicci of The Star-Ledger, followed by Steve Edelson of The Asbury Park Press in 2013, Dave Johnson of Sirius XM in 2014, Ed McNamara of Newsday in 2015, Bob Ehalt of ESPN.com and Bloodhorse in 2016, Tom Cassidy of TVG.com in 2017, Jim Dunleavy of Daily Racing Form in 2018, Mike Farrell of The Associated Press in 2019, Steve Byk of At the Races With Steve Byk in 2020, Matt Shifman of Horse Racing Nation in 2021, John Brennan of usbets.com in 2022 and announcer/TV racing analyst Larry Collmus last year.

--Edited release from Monmouth Park

Post-Derby Newsletter from President Byron King

Wed, 15 May 2024 16:25:08 GMT

NTWAB members,

t was great seeing so many of you during Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs and others in person or via Zoom in our spring meeting.

For those who may have been unable to attend, our longtime president, Tom Law, stepped down from his leadership role, though he will continue to serve the board this year, providing much-needed guidance. Additionally, our vice president Greg Hall and board member Frank Angst have concluded their board service to the NTWAB.

All served the NTWAB with distinction and excellence.

Sara Gordon from The Thoroughbred Daily News and Carlos Morales of Agentes 305 will join the board this year. Both bring infectious positivity to everything they do.

Continuing to serve as directors on the board are Nicole Russo, Scott Hazelton, Steve Byk, and Tom Law. Dick Downey and Jennifer Kelly continue their roles as treasurer and secretary, respectively.

Nathan Campbell is our new vice president, and I am honored to be your NTWAB president.

We have also added a half dozen new members: Molly Rollins, Pete Denk, Joe Perez, Andie Biancone, Katie Ritz Petrunyak, and Stefanie Grimm.

There is a second opportunity in the fall for those still wishing to join. We welcome others to join our organization!

The board and officers pledge to continue Tom and Greg’s fine leadership. As Tom and Greg did before us, Nathan and I will exercise our position as a critical third of the Eclipse Award steering committee.

You will recall our frustrations related to steering committee actions that unfolded last year in which an honoree was advanced despite our reluctance. Ultimately, through Tom and Greg’s efforts, the NTWAB received a promise that any decisions related to the special or merit Eclipse Awards would require a vote and a unanimous result to move forward. Abstentions will be accepted, but only for a direct conflict of interest. This promise follows years (decades perhaps) of an unwritten tradition of the committee that any special or merit honors handed out would be after overwhelming approval of the steering committee. The longstanding unwritten process is now formalized.

The other area of concern has been the change in the media contest rules to allow work created by industry publicity vehicles. While the steering committee could not reach an agreement on this, everyone agreed to discuss the matter further to work toward a resolution. Nathan and I will continue to advocate for the NTWAB on this important issue.

As Tom noted in our Derby week meeting, the steering committee has asked us to discuss or propose an alternative. One idea from within the NTWAB includes generating a separate award or awards for publicity outlets and discussing this possibility with the Turf Publicists of America before the steering committee meets.

I welcome your thoughts on this possibility or any other suggestions you may have. Feel free to email me at ByronnealkingKY@gmail.com or contact another board member on this or any other matter.

Also, please consider potential honorees for our annual fall fundraiser, which will take place during Breeders’ Cup week at Del Mar. If you have someone well suited to any of our awards, please submit the name of the person you’d like to nominate and the basis for your support. Early submissions are welcomed before voting takes place this summer.

Last year’s honorees were superb: Team Cody’s Wish, Mike Kane, The Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, Kenny Rice, and Cindy Hutter. Let’s make this year’s group just as special!

Have a great Preakness week!

Byron King

NTWAB president
May 15, 2024

President Tom Law's Spring Newsletter

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:11:43 GMT

Good afternoon!

We’re a little more than two weeks out from the Kentucky Derby and even less time until our spring meeting at Churchill Downs. Please mark your calendars for 11 a.m. ET Wednesday, May 1 for that meeting, which will be an in-person gathering for those in Louisville and virtual for members who don’t make the trip. The spring meeting is an important one, as this being an even-numbered year we’ll be electing/re-electing the organization’s four officers and half of the board of directors.

All members in good standing are eligible to serve the organization and the terms that expire at the spring meeting are as follows:

• All Officers – Tom Law (President), Greg Hall (Vice President), Dick Downey (Treasurer) and Jennifer Kelly (Secretary).

• Directors – Frank Angst, Nathan Campbell and Nicole Russo

The Director terms of Steve Byk, Byron King and Scott Hazelton do not expire until the Spring 2025 meeting.

If you are interested in serving, please let me or any officer/director know. Some officers/directors may choose to run or not run for re-election.

A specific agenda for the meeting will be sent before May 1, but we’ll also be discussing the NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner, membership review, new member applications, follow-up from the 2023 Eclipse Awards, Kentucky Derby Week logistics and other topics. If you have a topic you feel should be added to the agenda, please pass that along to NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com .

Speaking of new members, Jennifer sent a reminder recently regarding applications for those interested in joining the organization. If you know anyone interested or have someone in your organization that you feel qualifies for membership, please have them write a letter applying and send two letters of recommendation to Jennifer at thesirbarton@gmail.com . That deadline is April 26.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Tom Law
NTWAB President
April 17, 2024

Entries Welcome for Woods, Frutkoff Preakness Awards

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 19:41:59 GMT

The Maryland Jockey Club announced today it is accepting entries for the David F. Woods Memorial Award, presented for the best Preakness story from 2023, and the Jerry Frutkoff Photography Award, presented to the photographer of the best Preakness image from 2023.

According to The Stronach Group and 1/ST, for the first time the David F. Woods Memorial Award will include television and multimedia and internet submissions.

The deadline for entries is Monday, April 16.

Recipients of the David F. Woods and Jerry Frutkoff Award will be honored at the Alibi Breakfast Thursday, May 16 at Pimlico. The Alibi Breakfast, first convened in the late 1930s, features a gathering of media, owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys, and celebrities to celebrate the Preakness and solicit interesting and humorous race predictions. Preakness 149 will be contested Saturday, May 18.

Along with the Woods and Frutkoff Awards, the Maryland Jockey Club will recognize the recipient of the Old Hilltop Award, a tribute to selected media members who have covered Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction; and a Special Award of Merit will be given for making a positive impact on the racing industry.

Submissions for the Woods Award must include an attachment or link of the story, name of publication (newspaper, magazine, online) and date. Submissions for the Frutkoff Award must include an attachment of the image as well as the media outlet it appeared. Submissions can be sent to david.joseph@marylandracing.com.

Art Wilson, Longtime NTWAB Member, Passes After Lengthy Illness

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 23:09:37 GMT

Art Wilson, a longtime member of NTWAB, died Feb. 18 near his home in Victorville, CA at age 71.

Wilson gallantly fought a form of blood cancer for more than 10 years. Scheduled to attend the Winter Corgi Nationals at Santa Anita, instead he was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Apple Valley late in the afternoon the day before his death. He succumbed to heart failure at 3:30 a.m.

First introduced to racing by his late father, Wilson fell in love with the game as a railbird and relished the opportunity to cover the sport dating back to the mid-1980s. He was active as recently as Feb. 10 when he covered the G3 Palos Verdes at Santa Anita for the Southern California News Group, a consortium that includes the LA Daily News, Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Long Beach Independent and many others.

In addition to covering stakes action and writing feature stories, Wilson wrote a weekly column for the So Cal News Group, with his final contribution a terrific piece on the late Toby Keith that ran on Feb. 16.

“Art was alert and coherent and then he went quickly this morning from heart failure,” said his brother and frequent racetrack confidant, Eddie Wilson. “He had stabilized, and when I left to come back home last night at 10:30 he was watching the race replays on his cell phone.”

Born Nov. 5, 1952 in Winchester, Massachusetts, Wilson moved with his family at age two to Azusa and later settled in Glendora, which is about 12 miles from The Great Race Place.He was a 1970 graduate of Glendora High School and attended Citrus Community College and Cal Poly Pomona.

At age 20, he became mesmerized by 1973 Triple Crown contender Sham, who won the Santa Anita Derby with Laffit Pincay, Jr. up by 2 1/2 lengths over odds-on favorite Linda’s Chief. Unfortunately, Sham was the same age as Triple Crown winner Secretariat.

“Art was a great guy and he loved this place,” said FanDuel’s Kurt Hoover in the Santa Anita press box. “I was just talking to him a couple weeks ago and he told me he got (the University of) Houston at 12 to 1 to win the NCAA tournament. He paid attention, and his last column on Toby Keith was without a doubt one of his best. He’ll be sorely missed.”

Deeply appreciative of racing’s history, Wilson would often seek out veteran trainers such as past legends Mel Stute and Bruce Headley, with whom he had solid, long-term relationships that provided his readers with unique racing insight from Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Del Mar, Los Alamitos or one of his favorite stops, the LA County Fair in Pomona.

Bob Baffert was also on Wilson’s speed-dial list of horsemen and according to Eddie Wilson, “Bob was in regular contact with my brother, checking on his health and how he was doing. It meant a lot to him.”

Beyond racing, Wilson’s favorite baseball team was the Texas Rangers, who finally won a World Series last year. His all-time favorite player was Frank Howard, 1960 Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers and later a fence-buster with both the Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers.

Wilson gleefully explained that one of his biggest thrills in life was being able to speak via telephone with Howard, a two-time American League home run champion, during spring training last year. Howard would pass away at 87 on Oct. 23.

Wilson was predeceased by his parents and is survived by his brother Eddie, sister Deborah Wills (Charles), nephew Cody Wills and his wife Kimberley, as well as cousins James Costa, Mark Costa and Heather McAvoy.

A memorial service will be held next month at Oakdale Mortuary in Glendora, with specific information to come in the next few days..

--Edited Santa Anita release

President's Newsletter: Eclipse Awards

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 22:23:34 GMT

Good morning. Thanks to those who tuned in for the NTWAB general membership meeting last week to discuss issues related to the 2023 Eclipse Awards. We had about 60 members on the teleconference meeting. In the wake of our meeting and comments made in the media about the Eclipse Awards process, NTWAB Vice President Greg Hall and I participated in an Eclipse Awards Steering Committee meeting Tuesday morning.

The NTWAB, along with the other members of the committee, received an apology from NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney on how the decision to present the Eclipse Award of Merit was handled and the reaction it caused.

We also received a promise that any decisions related to the special or merit Eclipse Awards would require a vote and a unanimous result to move forward. Abstentions will be accepted, but only for a direct conflict of interest. This promise follows years (decades perhaps) of unwritten tradition of the committee that any Special or Merit honors handed out would be after overwhelming approval of the Steering Committee. The longstanding unwritten process now is formalized, and this accomplishes the direction Greg and I were given by the board to get concrete assurances about process in the future.

The other area of concern has been the change in the media contest rules to allow work created by industry publicity vehicles. While no agreement was reached by the steering committee on this, everyone agreed to discuss the matter further to work toward a resolution, hopefully in time for our meeting this spring.

These issues first surfaced back in September, continued through the fall and early winter, and Greg and I would like to thank the NTWAB board members for their time spent discussing the issues. We had several board meetings, along with one that included NTWAB past presidents, who we also thank for their input. Thanks as well to anyone who shared comments after last week’s meeting. We are compiling all of those comments to share with the board for later discussion.

Long story short, we believe the NTWAB should continue its participation as a presenter of the Eclipse Awards with Daily Racing Form and the NTRA as we believe one of our major issues has now been resolved and the other will be discussed. The NTWAB has been on the steering committee since the inception in 1971, and many of our members have been recognized through the years, including writers Tim Layden and Sean Clancy just a few weeks ago.

A few other important items of business:

A spreadsheet of the 2023 first-place Eclipse Award votes of NTWAB members in good standing is attached . Publishing our votes continues a longstanding tradition of maintaining our transparency both to our members and the Thoroughbred industry. We also plan to inquire with some members who were eligible to vote and did not.

The Breeders’ Cup communications team would like some input from NTWAB members on their on-site media experience from start to finish at last year’s event at Santa Anita Park. In their words, “they’re evaluating every aspect of the entire experience and would appreciate candid feedback to take under consideration.” Please pass along any comments, feedback, etc. to me by February 18 and I’ll pass them along.

We’ll be in touch in the coming weeks ahead with details about our Derby Week meeting (traditionally either that Wednesday or Thursday). Finally, you should have already heard from Jennifer Kelly about 2024 dues. Thanks to those who have already paid. The deadline for dues payments is August 1.

Thanks for your time. Have a great rest of the week.

Tom Law
NTWAB President
February 14, 2024

Eclipse Awards Recap with Connections of Each Winnner

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 02:35:56 GMT

Twitter posts @NTWAB by Dick Downey

Fans voted the Moment of the Year, revealed earlier this week, to the stirring repeat win of the BigAss Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Cody's Wish as the late Cody Dorman and his family looked on. Our hearts go out to the Dorman family.

NTWAB congratulates all of tonight's #EclipseAwards winners, starting with champion 2-year-old male Fierceness, who capped off his 2023 campaign with an upset win of the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
Fierceness is the third Repole Stable 2 year old Champion after Uncle Mo and last year’s Champion Forte.
FIERCENESS CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: John R. Velazquez
Trainer: Todd A. Pletcher
Owner: Repole Stable
Breeder: Repole Stable, Inc.
City of Light - Nonna Bella, by Stay Thirsty

The champion 2-year-old filly is the well-deserved Just F Y I. She won coast-to-coast Grade I races in 2023, the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita after taking the Frizette Stakes at the "Belmont at the Big A" meet. #EclipseAwards
JUST F Y I CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Trainer: William I. Mott
Owner: George Krikorian
Breeder: George Krikorian
Justify - Star Act, by Street Cry (IRE)

Each year sees a new crop of Apprentice Jockeys who are given a weight edge as they start their careers. This year's award for best Apprentice Jockey goes to Axel Concepcion at the #EclipseAwards.

The 2023 Horseplayer of the Year, presented at the #EclipseAwards, is Paul Calia of Kansas City. He was best of of 779 entries in the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship and also finished fourth. It was the first contest that Calia ever won. In all, he took home $950,000.

Steeplechase racing has a rich history going back to 1752 Ireland, and it continues in the modern age. The 2023 champion Steeplechase horse is Merry Maker. #EclipseAwards

We have awesome Media #EclipseAward winners this year, and you can read about them in detail at https://www.ntwab.org/ntwab-members-headline-media-eclipse-awards

Media #EclipseAward - Writing – Feature/Commentary – NTWAB member Tim Layden, NBCSports.com – "Maple Leaf Mel and the long arc of a horse racing tragedy," Nov. 1, 2023 https://www.nbcsports.com/news/maple-leaf-mel-and-the-long-arc-of-a-horse-racing-tragedy

Media #EclipseAward - Writing- News/Enterprise – NTWAB member Sean Clancy, The Saratoga Special – “The Worst Test,” Aug. 6, 2023 See p. 17 at https://thisishorseracing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/08-06-23.pdf

Media #EclipseAward - Multimedia – TDN Writers’ Room Podcast – “Wade and Carson Yost,” September 20, 2023; Susan Finley, Publisher, Thoroughbred Daily News https://vimeo.com/876413676

Media #EclipseAward - Live Television Programming – NBC Sports – “The Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Nov. 3-4, 2023; Lindsay Schanzer, Senior Producer

Media #EclipseAward - Feature Television Programming – Woodbine Entertainment: “SECRETARIAT The Last Race,” – Oct. 8, 2023. Airing on TSN (The Sports Network) in Canada. Tammy Gillanders, Producer https://players.brightcove.net/61382429001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6340430983112

Media #EclipseAward - Photography – Carolyn Simancik – “Trading Horse Paint,” (Cody’s Wish/National Treasure battle in Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile) The Press Box, Nov. 4, 2023 https://www.ntra.com/wp-content/uploads/Eclipse-Awards-Media-Photo.jpeg

A most accomplished recipient of this year's Special #EclipseAward for Career Excellence is retired NTWAB member Tom Hammond. Here's the full release about him: https://www.ntwab.org/tom-hammond-named-for-special-eclipse-award-for-career-excellence Tom is not only talented but gracious and has always been a tremendous ambassador of our sport.

The champion male sprinter is Elite Power, who in 2023 went 4-for-5 with a second, cultimated with victory in the Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint. His campaign ran from February to November after winning the Sprint Eclipse for 2022. #EclipseAwards
ELITE POWER CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Trainer: William I. Mott
Owner: Juddmonte
Breeder: Alpha Delta Stables, LLC
Curlin - Broadway's Alibi, by Vindication

The champion Female Sprinter of the year is Goodnight Olive. In 2023 she won the Grade 1 Madison Stakes, Grade 2 Bed o' Roses Stakes and the Grade 1 PNC Bank Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Like Elite Power, she won the 2022 Eclipse in this category.
GOODNIGHT OLIVE CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Trainer: Chad C. Brown
Owner: First Row Partners and Team Hanley
Breeder: Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC
Ghostzapper - Salty Strike, by Smart Strike
#EclipseAwards

Outstanding Trainer of the Year at the #EclipseAwards is Hall of Famer Bill Mott. He trained three Breeders' Cup winners in 2023: Elite Power, Cody's Wish and Just F Y I. Mott also won this award in 1995, 1996 and 2011.

The top Male Turf Horse #EclipseAward goes to Up to the Mark, winner of the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic and was a close second in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. He won five races in all last year.
UP TO THE MARK CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Trainer: Todd A. Pletcher
Owner: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC
Breeder: Ramspring Farm
Not This Time - Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper

The #EclipseAward for champion Female Turf Horse goes to Inspiral (GB), who got up in the final strides to courageously win the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The victory came after back-to-back Group 1 wins in Great Britain and France.
INSPIRAL (GB) CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: Lanfranco Dettori
Trainer: John H. M. Gosden
Owner: Cheveley Park Stud, Ltd.
Breeder: Cheveley Park Stud Limited
Frankel (GB) - Starscope (GB), by Selkirk

Jockey of the Year honors go to Irad Ortiz, Jr, who in 2023 totaled 366 wins with three Breeders' Cup wins (White Abarrio, Elite Power and Goodnight Olive). This is his fifth #EclipseAward, having also won in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

The 2023 #EclipseAward for top owner goes to Godolphin, who also won in 2009, 2012, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Leader in earnings, Godolphin campaigned FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by PDJF winner Master of the Seas and BigAss Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish.

Godolphin was also named top Breeder at the #EclipseAwards after a truly outstanding year. It's the third consecutive year Godolphin has won this distinction.

The #EclipseAward for top 3-year-old Male is won by Arcangelo, whose most notable achievements were winning the Triple Crown final leg Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
ARCANGELO CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Trainer: Jena M. Antonucci
Owner: Blue Rose Farm LLC
Breeder: Don Alberto Corporation
Arrogate - Modeling, by Tapit

The #EclipseAward for Top 3-year-old Female is presented to Pretty Mischievous who won three consecutive Grade 1s, the Longines Kentucky Oaks, the Acorn Stakes Presented by Great Jones Distilling Co. and the Test Stakes.
PRETTY MISCHIEVOUS CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST RACE
Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione
Trainer: Brendan P. Walsh
Owner: Godolphin, LLC
Breeder: Godolphin
Into Mischief - Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit

The 2023 champion Older Dirt Female Idiomatic compiled an amazing eight wins from nine starts with a second, including wins in the Breeders' Cup Distaff and the Juddmonte Spinster to end her year. She ran to three Grade 1 wins, a Grade 2 win and a Grade 3 win.
IDIOMATIC CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST START
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Trainer: Brad H. Cox
Owner: Juddmonte
Breeder: Juddmonte Farms Inc.
Curlin - Lockdown, by First Defence

Cody's Wish is the winner in the Older Dirt Male category at the #EclipseAwards, as well as Horse of the Year. His accomplishments include winning his second consecutive BigAss Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Kylie Dorman was invited to the lecturn to present the final award.
CODY'S WISH CONNECTIONS AS OF LAST RACE
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Trainer: William I. Mott
Owner: Godolphin, LLC
Breeder: Godolphin
Curlin - Dance Card, by Tapit

Moment of the Year to Cody's Wish

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 18:07:15 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), and Daily Racing Form announced today that for the second year in a row, the story of Cody’s Wish has been voted the 2023 FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year based on the results of nearly 4,000 votes cast via Twitter and an online poll.

With his namesake Cody Dorman and his family standing by, Godolphin's Cody's Wish won the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile for the second consecutive year in a gutty effort down the stretch.

The FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year will be recognized during the 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards Presented by FanDuel, John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on January 25. In addition to FanDuel TV and RTN, the ceremony will be streamed live on multiple outlets including: NTRA.com , americasbestracing.net , bloodhorse.com, DRF.com , equibase.com , Thoroughbreddailynews.com , and NTRA’s YouTube channel.

Thirteen eligible 2023 moments were selected to illustrate the wide range of equine achievements and human emotions, as well as exceptional displays of athleticism. Voting concluded Jan. 17.

Past Moments of the Year

The first-ever “NTRA Moment of the Year” was the touching scene between Charismatic and jockey Chris Antley following the 1999 Belmont Stakes. The following year’s winner was the stretch run of the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic when Tiznow held on for a dramatic victory over Giant’s Causeway. Tiznow won again the following year as fans selected his stirring repeat victory in the Classic. In 2002, fans cited the passing of the last living Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew. In 2003, the popular Kentucky Derby win by Funny Cide was selected. Birdstone’s upset win in the Belmont Stakes over Smarty Jones took down top honors for 2004. In 2005, fans selected Afleet Alex’s spectacular victory in the Preakness Stakes.

Voters in 2006 chose Barbaro’s struggle to recover from his Preakness injury at the New Bolton Center. The 2007 Moment of the Year was a historic victory by the filly Rags to Riches over Curlin in the Belmont Stakes. In 2008, it was Zenyatta’s win in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. Zenyatta also named in 2009 as fans selected her triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

In 2010, fans selected Blame’s narrow Breeders’ Cup Classic victory over Zenyatta. Drosselmeyer’s hard-fought win over Game on Dude in the Breeders’ Cup Classic was the public’s choice for 2011. For 2012, the recovery of Paynter from near-deadly battles with laminitis and colitis captured the hearts of voters. In 2013, fans recognized Mucho Macho Man’s nose victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic for his popular connections. The 2014 award went to California Chrome’s dominant win in Kentucky Derby 140. In 2015 there was a landslide vote in favor of American Pharoah’s historic Triple Crown-clinching Belmont Stakes win. In 2016, California Chrome was again part of the winning moment – a dramatic Dubai World Cup victory that came as Victor Espinoza’s saddle slipped underneath him.

In 2017, the tragic fire at San Luis Rey and the industry’s response led the way among the votes cast while Justify’s sweep of the Classics to become just the 13 ^th Triple Crown winner was the clear pick the following year. In 2019, Maximum Security’s historic disqualification in the 145th Kentucky Derby – the first winner in Derby history to be demoted for a racing infraction— earned the distinction. In 2020, Authentic’s historic win in the 146 ^th Kentucky Derby, run in September and without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic, was voted as the FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year.

Breeders’ Cup success had eluded Japanese runners as evidenced by an 0-13 record heading into the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. That changed dramatically on Breeders’ Cup Saturday when Marche Lorraine (45-1/Distaff) and Loves Only You (4-1/Filly & Mare Turf) each won for trainer Yoshito Yahagi. The victories by the Japanese duo was voted the 2021 FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year.

In 2022, the uplifting story between a boy and a horse that swept across America had the ultimate ending when Cody’s Wish won the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in dramatic fashion at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. With Cody Dorman and family in attendance, Cody’s Wish gave a winning performance that continues to warm the hearts of all who watched in amazement. This story was voted the 2022 FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year.

Tom Hammond Named for Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 16:45:54 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced that Tom Hammond, whose storied career of more than 50 years in broadcasting, television production, and numerous contributions to the Thoroughbred industry, will be honored with the Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence.

Presentation of the award to Hammond, a retired NTWAB member, will be at the 53 ^rd Annual Eclipse Awards Dinner and Ceremony at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Jan. 25.

A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Hammond made a remarkable career as one of the nation’s top broadcasters, most prominently as host and anchor for NBC Sports’ broadcasts of the Triple Crown races and Breeders’ Cup World Championships; and his coverage of 13 Olympic Games, anchoring broadcasts of figure skating, speed skating, track and field, gymnastics, and other sports. He also was a play-by-play announcer on NFL games and the lead voice for Notre Dame Football on NBC.

"I have wanted to be a part of the Thoroughbred industry since I was 15 years old, though I could never have dreamed that involvement would come primarily as an announcer,” said Hammond. “The improbable nature of the Award makes it even sweeter. As I look back on my over 50-year career, I see the many opportunities that the Thoroughbred world has provided to me. No question that I consider the Career Excellence Award to be one of the most meaningful of my life."

“We are excited for Tom to receive such well-deserved special recognition,” said Sam Flood, Executive Producer, NBC Sports. “From the 1984 Breeders’ Cup World Championships and for the next 30-plus years, Tom was a fixture on NBC Sports’ horse racing coverage, documenting the thrilling competition, and telling the memorable stories that make the sport so compelling. But whether he was on the Turn 1 set at his beloved Churchill Downs, courtside, or in the broadcast booth, what most distinguishes Tom is that he was a terrific teammate and made everyone around him better.”

Hammond’s passion for Thoroughbred racing evolved early when he earned an animal science degree from the University of Kentucky (UK), specializing in equine genetics, and developed a keen interest in Thoroughbred pedigrees. This interest followed that of his grandfather, Thomas Poe Cooper, who was a former dean of the UK College of Agriculture and a former acting president of UK.

Hammond's broadcasting career began with WVLK Radio in Lexington, where he was news and sports director. In 1970 and for the next 10 years, he was sports director for WLEX-TV. It was at WLEX, and through Hammond Productions, he founded “The Winner’s Circle,” a half-hour weekly Thoroughbred program focused on the news and highlights of major races around the country. Hammond Productions specialized in video productions aimed at the equine industry and pioneered the use of video in the marketing of horses at the sales.

It was also during this period that Hammond began his association with Keeneland, as an announcer at its premier bloodstock auctions, and at Thoroughbred sales in 16 other states.

Hammond’s 34-year relationship with NBC Sports dates back to the network’s regional college basketball broadcasts in the late 1970s. His big break came in 1984 when he was hired on what was intended to be a one-time-only basis as a reporter for NBC’s telecast of the inaugural Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park. That program turned into an annual assignment, blossoming into a wide-ranging network career. Over the next three decades, Hammond was an integral part of NBC Sports, highlighted by horse racing – covering the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes 16 times apiece, and 11 Belmont Stakes, including American Pharoah’s historic Triple Crown victory in 2015.

Hammond was a part of multiple Eclipse Award-winning programs for NBC, including the 2022 Feature-Television Eclipse for his narration of the story of Cody Dorman and his bonding with Breeders’ Cup Champion Cody’s Wish.

Said NBC Sports Racing Analyst Randy Moss: “When Tom would slide into the host chair a couple of hours before the Kentucky Derby, and 'That Voice' would suddenly fill the airwaves, it was a jolt of adrenaline for everyone on the telecast. It was like, "Okay, here we go!" And not only did he bring pure professionalism and experience, from a racing perspective Tom was unique: he called all those big-time sports, but as a native Kentuckian he knew the most about Thoroughbred racing.”

Among his many honors over the years, Hammond is especially proud of receiving an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the UK in 2018. In 2000, Hammond was honored as a distinguished alumnus of UK, and the following year, he was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.

Hammond was inducted into the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor, National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame; a recipient of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Jim McKay Award, and is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. He was also a Thoroughbred Club of America Honor Guest.

Hammond and his wife, Sheilagh, have a daughter, Ashley, and two sons, David and Christopher, and six grandchildren.

Edited NTRA release

NTWAB Announces Three Recipients Of Internship Funding Assistance

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 21:31:19 GMT

By Natalie Voss

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters are pleased to announce the three outlets receiving internship funding assistance for 2024. The organization will assist in funding internship expenses for positions with Thoroughbred Daily News, XBTV and the New York Racing Association.

The organization had planned to award $5,000 to two outlets, but was met with a number of quality applications and decided to commit a total of $6,000 to three.

The Thoroughbred Daily News’ internship position is already filled and underway, allowing a student from the University of Kentucky to gain experience in producing video and written content, as well as social media marketing.

XBTV is currently searching for an intern to work at Santa Anita Park, assisting with morning and afternoon broadcast production, copywriting, social media, and scheduling. The internship will begin Feb. 22 and interested candidates are encouraged to apply by Jan. 15 at this ZipRecruiter link .

The organization will also support a broadcast production internship with the New York Racing Association, which runs its summer broadcasts in partnership with FOX Sports. The internship would include assistance with scheduling guests, shooting video content, research for stories, and some shooting and editing for the right candidate. The position will take place at Saratoga Race Course over the summer of 2024. Interested candidates should visit NYRA's careers page here later this year for more information as it becomes available.

“Last year we were happy to support two print media-based internship positions, and this year NTWAB is thrilled to assist media outlets in providing broadcast experience to interested students or industry newcomers,” said Natalie Voss, chair of NTWAB’s internship committee. “NTWAB is committed to sustaining the future of our profession by encouraging the creation of learning opportunities in racing media.”

NTWAB Members Headline Media Eclipse Awards Winners

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 18:02:35 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters announced the winners of the 2023 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories, led by several NTWAB members.

Writing – Feature/Commentary – NTWAB member Tim Layden, NBCSports.com – "Maple Leaf Mel and the long arc of a horse racing tragedy," Nov. 1, 2023

Writing- News/Enterprise – NTWAB member Sean Clancy, The Saratoga Special – “The Worst Test,” Aug. 6, 2023

Multimedia – TDN Writers’ Room Podcast – “Wade and Carson Yost,” September 20, 2023; Susan Finley, Publisher, Thoroughbred Daily News

Live Television Programming – NBC Sports – “The Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Nov. 3-4, 2023; Lindsay Schanzer, Senior Producer

Feature Television Programming – Woodbine Entertainment: “SECRETARIAT The Last Race,” – Oct. 8, 2023. Airing on TSN (The Sports Network) in Canada. Tammy Gillanders, Producer

Photography – Carolyn Simancik – “Trading Horse Paint,” (Cody’s Wish/National Treasure battle in Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile) The Press Box, Nov. 4, 2023

Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented their trophies at the 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony and Dinner at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, January 25.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Tim Layden

Layden, a writer-at-large for NBC Sports and NTWAB member, has won his fourth Media Eclipse Award for “Maple Leaf Mel and the Long Arc of a horse racing tragedy," which was published on NBCSports.com on Nov. 1, 2023. Layden related the story of Melanie Giddings, the trainer and cancer survivor of undefeated 3-year-old filly Maple Leaf Mel ― named after Giddings ― who suffered a fatal injury while leading the G1 Test Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 5. Giddings’s love for her horse and dedication to her craft, and the painful memories of the incident, is interspersed in the article with a larger account of equine fatalities that took place at major venues during the past year.

Layden, from Simsbury, Conn., also won the Feature/Commentary Eclipse Award in 2022 for “Beneath the Super Bowl’s Turf: The Ghosts of Hollywood Park,” which was published on NBCSports.com. He won his first Eclipse Award in 1987 for Newspaper Writing for Capital Newspapers in Albany, N.Y., and in 2018 for Sports Illustrated, for his Feature/Commentary article on track announcer Charles “Chic” Anderson.

"Painfully, horse fatalities have been an ongoing and important narrative in the sport, and we felt it was important to find an access point for that narrative as the 2023 season ended. Maple Leaf Mel's breakdown and death on Whitney Saturday was an especially difficult moment, because of the stage, but also because people inside racing knew that Mel was treated with the best of care. Often we look for villains, in all stories, but we were unlikely to find any here. That's what made the story so complicated and important, and that's why we wanted to tell it.”

"It's important to say that this is Melanie Giddings's story. I'm just the messenger. That is always true in journalism, but especially true here. Last August 5 was one of the worst days of Melanie's life, and she entrusted me with her recollections and emotions, for which I am thankful and readers are enlightened and enriched."

The winning article can be viewed here .

Judges in the Feature/Enterprise category were: Bob Kieckhefer, United Press International racing writer; David Papadopoulos, a senior editor at Bloomberg News; and Robert Yates, who covered racing for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and is a notes writer at Oaklawn Park.

News/Enterprise – Sean Clancy

Sean Clancy was not originally assigned to cover the Test Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 5, but sprang into action and wrote a news account of the race, the tragic consequences of the fatal accident to Maple Leaf Mel, and the reactions of individuals surrounding the event. Clancy writes of the immediate and incredible sense of loss, and the mixed emotions of trainer Brendan Walsh and his crew, whose filly Pretty Mischievous won the race.

Clancy, from Middleburg, Virginia and an NTWAB member, is the co-editor and publisher of The Saratoga Special along with his brother, Joe, which they co-founded in 2001. This is the second Eclipse Award for Clancy, who earned a News/Commentary in 2009 for “Life’s Work,” about his recollections of the late Hall of Fame Trainer Sidney Watters Jr.

"Winning a second Eclipse Award and a first for The Saratoga Special is an incredible honor,” said Clancy. “When I was informed, my first call was to my brother Joe. My second call was to Tom Law. I'm sure it was the same way for them. That's the team we have. One is my brother. The other is like a brother. We work together but it's far more than that. Just unbelievable friends who I'm lucky to work with and share the highs and lows of life.”

"I wasn't covering the Test. I was meant to cover the Whitney later in the day. I watched it with Tom, as a spectator, a fan. In awe of Maple Leaf Mel and then, like everyone, watched in horror. We both leapt into crisis mode and went to work. Paul Halloran, an integral member of The Special team, was meant to cover the Test. I followed Brendan Walsh, Paul switched to the Whitney and I wound up back at the barn with Brendan. He was honest, open, speaking for all of us, a devastated sport on a devastating afternoon. It was brutal to write but it had to be written. My thoughts are still with Maple Leaf Mel, Melanie Giddings and their team."

The winning entry can be viewed here (page 17).

Honorable mention in the News/Enterprise category went to NTWAB members Frank Angst and Bob Ehalt for “New York Thunder Breakdown Calls for Further Review,” which appeared on The BloodHorse website on Oct. 3, 2023.

Judges in the News/Enterprise category were: Reid Cherner former sports, racing writer and columnist for USA Today; Amanda Duckworth, an independent international communications consultant and journalist with a focus on Thoroughbred racing; and Bill Kolberg, former assistant director of publicity at Santa Anita and Del Mar and published author on Thoroughbred racing.

Television – Live Programming – NBC Sports

For the fourth consecutive year, NBC Sports has taken the Eclipse Award for Live Television Programming for its broadcast on NBC, Peacock, and the USA Network, of the two-day coverage of the 40 ^th Breeders’ Cup World Championships from Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

NBC showcased the captivating action of the World Championships accentuated by the dramatic stretch duel between Cody’s Wish and National Treasure in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) to the dominant performance of White Abarrio in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). To enhance its production, NBC utilized access to approximately 75 video sources, including cameras and feeds; and among other technologies, a special gyro camera on a vehicle inside the rail on the backstretch, providing a live wide-angle perspective as the horses raced with the San Gabriel Mountains as the backdrop, and an RF Super Slo Mo camera, used for the first time on NBC Sports’ horse racing coverage.

“We are proud to accept the Eclipse Award for our presentation of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. While the Breeders’ Cup is always one of the most spectacular events of the year to cover, this year – the 40 ^th running of the World Championships – was a particularly special experience,” said Lindsay Schanzer, NBC Sports Senior Producer. “We relished the opportunity to celebrate the origin and ensuing four-decade run of what has become the capstone of the yearly racing calendar, and were delighted to bring the unforgettable moments of year 40’s champions to audiences worldwide. This two days of racing is an enormous undertaking from a broadcast perspective, and we thank our incredible partners at the Breeders’ Cup, who put their trust in us each year to bring this world-class event to life. We look forward to many more World Championships to come.”

NBC Sports’ coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships was produced by Schanzer and Billy Matthews, and directed by Kaare Numme. Amy Zimmerman was the co-producer; Ron Vacarro, VP of Editorial, and NTWAB member John Furlong, the editorial producer. Sam Flood is Executive Producer and President, NBC Sports Production.

NBC talent consisted of Host: Ahmed Fareed; Host/Reporter: NTWAB member Britney Eurton; Analysts: Jerry Bailey and NTWAB member Randy Moss; Reporters: NTWAB members Nick Luck and Kenny Rice; Horseback Reporter: NTWAB member Donna Brothers; Handicappers: Eddie Olczyk and NTWAB member Matt Bernier; Insights Analyst: NTWAB member Steve Kornacki; Race Caller: NTWAB member Larry Collmus and Essayist: NTWAB member Tim Layden.

Honorable Mention in the Live Television Programming category went to NBC Sports, for “The 149 Kentucky Derby,” which aired on May 6, 2023. Lindsay Schanzer, Senior Producer.

Judges in the Live Television Programming category were: Jeannine Edwards, multiple award-winning reporter, and analyst for ESPN from 1995-2018; Dave Johnson, track announcer, television analyst, and race caller for ABC Sports, and now co-host of Down The Stretch on SiriusXM; and Jack Renaud, CBS News Producer, who’s been covering racing since his days at local stations in Lexington and Louisville.

Multimedia – TDN Writers' Room

Gulf War veteran Wade Yost and his son, Carson, joined TDN Writers’ Room podcast hosts and NTWAB members Bill Finley, Randy Moss, and Zoe Cadman on Sept. 23 for an in-depth and emotional discussion of Carson, a 31-year-old stricken with Wolf-Hirschorn Syndrome and a Grade 1-winning 2-year-old, Carson’s Run, named in his honor. With the screen displaying the hosts in three quadrants and Wade and Carson, and at times hugging his father, Wade describes how his friendship with fellow United States Military Academy cadet and West Point Thoroughbred President Terry Finely led to an idea more than 10 years ago to name a horse after Carson.

In rearing Carson, Wade relates the daily challenges that he and his wife, Kim, have faced, but how the incredibly unlikely occurrence of being a part of a winning Thoroughbred has been an uplifting experience for the family.

“I was watching the NYRA show the day that Carson's Run made his first start at Saratoga, and Maggie Wolfendale interviewed Terry Finley in the winner's circle after he won, and they talked about the story behind the naming of the horse,” said Susan Finley, Thoroughbred Daily News Publisher. “Bill Finley contacted Terry and wrote a story for that day's TDN, and when Carson's Run won the Grade I Summer Stakes, Bill decided to invite Wade Jost onto the Writers' Room. We were all very moved by his openness and honesty, and his willingness to discuss Carson's situation and struggles, and what Terry's friendship and the naming of the horse has meant to him.”

“All the credit to Wade Jost, and the incredible team that combines to produce the TDN Writers' Room every week; our hosts Bill Finley, Randy Moss, and Zoe Cadman, to our producers, the TDN’s Katie Petrunyak and Anthony LaRocca, and our editors Alia LaRocca and Nathan Wilkinson from the PW Media Group.”

Wade Yost added about this experience: “It’s been emotional. We just wanted to do something for Carson. We have four children and the other three are really good athletes. They’re grown now, but he was always going with us to their events as they competed in their various sports and was always in the background. So it was one of those things like, let’s give him some limelight—to live vicariously through an animal who can actually run. He’s been confined to a wheelchair from day one. It’s just a phenomenal thing that Terry and West Point Thoroughbreds have done for us.”

The winning entry can be viewed here .

Honorable Mentions in the Multimedia category went to America’s Best Racing for “Experience the Thrill of Winning the Kentucky Derby with Ramiro Restrepo,” which appeared on Bloodhorse.com and on NBCSports.com on May 9, 2003, Greg Charkoudian, producer; and to TDN for “Will Walden Racing Gives Fresh Start to an Improbable Team,” published on January 11, 2023, Katie Petrunyak, Producer.

Judges in the Multimedia category were: Mike Brunker, former racing writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal; John Engelhardt, 35 years as a producer in TV/radio/podcasts, and current host of The Regular Guy on winningponies.com; and Joe Withee, Director of Broadcast Publicity, Emerald Downs.

Television Feature – Woodbine Entertainment

“In SECRETARIAT The Last Race,” the Woodbine Entertainment broadcast team produced a retrospective of the last race of the 1973 Triple Crown winner’s career in the Canadian International on the turf at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. The feature aired on Oct. 8, 2023, on TSN (The Sports Network) during the 2023 running of the Canadian International.

Through compelling footage of Secretariat’s arrival in Canada with throngs of media in attendance at the airport and for his workout at Woodbine, the story is recounted, among others, by Secretariat’s jockey in the International, Eddie Maple, and longtime Woodbine public relations director Bruce Walker, and broadcast and Woodbine Journal editor, Jim Bannon.

Secretariat won the Canadian International on a bitterly cold day by 6 ½ lengths. His victory was so inspiring and uplifting that fans came out of the stands and across the dirt track to cheer him home.

“History has already dictated the indelible mark that Secretariat left on the world of sports and his story has been told a hundred times over,” said Rob Platts, Director of Broadcasting, Woodbine Entertainment. “The part of this narrative that hasn’t been as fully explored is how the greatest racehorse in the world ran his last race at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada and that’s the story we wanted to tell. We wanted viewers to understand what this historic event meant to those that were actually there in 1973 and what better way to do that than to hear first-hand from those that experienced it and truly feel the passion they felt 50 years ago.”

“The mix of archival film and the real emotions from those still here to remember what it felt like truly brought this story to life and the broadcast team at Woodbine couldn’t be more proud to have their hard work on this piece recognized.”

SECRETARIAT The Last Race was produced by Tammy Gillanders with support from Phil McSween and Paul Salvalaggio. The director of photography was David Syrie and Rob Deluca, and Andrew Doherty was the editor.

The winning entry can be viewed here .

Honorable Mention in the Television- Feature category went to CBS Sports Network for “Secretariat,” produced and directed by Laura Dunham, which aired on May 2, 2023.

Judges in the Television Feature category were: Bruce Casella, television producer and director, Pushin a Rock Productions and former Co-Host of ESPN’s Thoroughbred Digest show; Dick Jerardi, who covered more than three decades of Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup races for the Philadelphia Daily News; and Kristine Kugler, Horse Racing Producer, ESPN.

Photography – Carolyn Simancik

Carolyn Simancik, who has been photographing for Eclipse Sportwire since 2018, captured the most dramatic finish of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup World Championships in “Trading Horse Paint,” which appeared on the Press Box website on Nov. 4, 2023. Born in Troy, Michigan, and currently residing in Weatherford, Texas, Simancik zeroed in on the unrelenting battle in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) between defending champion Cody’s Wish, ridden by Junior Alvarado, and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner National Treasure, ridden by Flavien Prat.

With her Canon EOS R3, Simancik captured, the vivid contrast of Cody’s Wish and rider Alvarado covered in dirt, compared to front-runner National Treasure and Prat, virtually unmarked. Owing to the competitiveness of the moment, Prat’s right arm leans into Alvardo with barely inches of daylight between the two colts. Cody’s Wish prevailed by a nose but had to wait out a stewards’ inquiry before being declared the winner.

“It’s the most incredible feeling,” said Simancik on winning the Eclipse Award. “The caliber of photographers you are up against are people I have looked up to for a long time,” mentioning Eclipse Award-winning photographers, Michael Clevenger, Scott Serio, and Alex Evers.

“When I look back at all the photos on the day, that image stood out,” recalled Simancik. “That’s Cody’s Wish, eyes forward, gritty type of horse. He had every opportunity to quit and he won.”

Prior to her full-time work in photography, Simancik was the breeding manager for eight years at the Oklahoma Equine Hospital in Washington, Oklahoma.

The winning photograph can be viewed here .

Edited NTRA release with additional content by Dick Downey

John Shear Passes Away After A Lifelong Love of Racing

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 17:04:00 GMT

John Shear, the popular and durable Santa Anita Paddock Captain, passed away Tuesday from natural causes at age 102 according to a release from the track.

A nice man quick with a smile, Shear enthusiastically loved the racing industry. In 2021 he was given NTWAB's Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing at the organization's Annual Awards Dinner during Breeders' Cup week. With Shear was unable to attend the event, his son Mike Shear accepted the award. The previous summer, John had opted to retire while in good health at age 100.

“John will be deeply missed by countless life-long friends here at Santa Anita,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “We were honored to have him as part of the Santa Anita family for more than 60 years of dedicated service and we’ll never forget him.”

Born Jan. 17, 1921 in England, John was raised in an orphanage from age four to 14. At four feet 11 inches, he originally aspired to be a jockey. The plan was disrupted by World War II, when he sustained a shoulder injury while serving in an anti-aircraft unit. Following the war John emigrated to Vancouver, B.C. before going to southern California and Santa Anita as an exercise boy in 1954. Shear was an assistant trainer when he first began working in Santa Anita’s parking lot in 1961.

“I was exercising horses for a guy in Vancouver and he asked me if I’d like to go with him to Santa Anita that fall,” he said on the occasion of his 99th birthday. “I said ‘Sure,’ and as soon as I stepped off that van in the stable area here, I said ‘Lord, this is where I want to be.’ The place was so incredibly beautiful and I’ve never gotten tired of it.”

John attributed his fitness to a good diet, a consistent exercise regimen that included daily push-ups and walks, and regular trips to Las Vegas with friends to play poker and laugh. He had this very basic advice on the occasion of his retirement: “Find something you love, stay positive and exercise!”

John received national acclaim at age 90 after he likely saved a 5-year-old girl from catastrophic injury or worse when he shielded her from a loose horse that bolted out of Santa Anita’s Seabiscuit Walking Ring. He was run over and sustained multiple fractures, including a broken pelvis, and life-threatening internal bleeding. The young girl, Roxy Key, was unhurt.

Roxy's father Michael Key was with her when John gave up his body. “He didn’t save a daughter, he saved a family,” Key said. Roxy’s mother would later refer to John as her daughter’s “guardian angel.”

John Shear is survived by his wife Diane and their son Mike. The family plans to have a private ceremony in honor of John.

Edited Santa Anita release with additional content by Dick Downey

Jerardi, Moran Named to Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 13:59:02 GMT

Past and present NTWAB members Paul Moran and Dick Jerardi are among three selected to the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor, the National Museum of Racing announced Dec. 12.

Jerardi, a decades-long NTWAB member, grew up in Baltimore and graduated from the University of Maryland. He attended his first Preakness in 1973 and played a role in Pimlico Race Course officials erecting a fence to keep infield fans from getting too close to the inside rail after dozens did just that to get a glimpse of Secretariat. Jerardi became immersed in the game at Pimlico, Bowie, Laurel, and Timonium almost daily from 1977 to early 1985. He began authoring freelance articles about horse racing for the Baltimore News American and was the racing writer for Sports First, a Baltimore paper dedicated exclusively to sports that lasted just a year beginning in 1983.

In February 1985, Jerardi was hired as the horse racing writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and became a fixture on the national scene. He covered every Triple Crown race from 1987 through 2017 and nearly every Breeders’ Cup during the same period while writing more than 7,000 stories for the paper during 33 years there — mostly about horse racing — with time covering college basketball and some football and baseball coverage mixed in along with the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He covered 25 Final Fours for the Daily News and has been radio analyst for Penn State basketball since 2005. Jerardi was a Daily Racing Form weekly columnist for 20 years and was a charter member of the Beyer Speed Figure team first assembled in the mid-1980s.

Jerardi’s said his favorite experiences in racing occurred from 2004 through 2006, when three horses with Philadelphia connections — Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Barbaro — won five of seven Triple Crown races, with a second and a third.

In 2006, Jerardi won the Eclipse Award for his series on the late, great Barbaro. He won the Red Smith Award for Kentucky Derby coverage five times and is a three-time winner of the Joe Hirsch Award for best Breeders’ Cup story. He was honored for the best Preakness story in 2004. In 2007, Jerardi was chosen by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, then known as the National Turf Writers Association, to receive the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing.

His career also includes television. Jerardi is co-host of Let’s Go Racing, a 30-minute weekly horse racing show in the Philadelphia market since 1992, and he's been providing live analysis for a Pennsylvania Derby TV show annually since 2011. Additionally, he has served as a co-host for the Maryland Million on HRTV from 2009 through 2014 and has mades appearances throughout the country on radio shows prior to Triple Crown races and Breeders’ Cup sincde 2005. Jerardi was an ESPN panelist for Kentucky Derby preview coverage from 2005 to 2007, Preakness (2006) and Breeders’ Cup shows (2005 and 2006).

Moran (1947 ̶ 2013) was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and graduated from the University at Buffalo. He served in Vietnam and the Middle East as a sergeant in the Air Force before beginning a distinguished career in sports journalism, primarily known for his prowess as a racing writer.

Following his military service, Moran wrote about a variety of sports for the Tonawanda News near his hometown. He covered his first Triple Crown races in 1973 during Secretariat’s historic run and continued to cover the series without interruption for the next 35 years. Moran worked for the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel from 1975 to 1985 then joined the staff at Newsday on Long Island, N.Y., where he worked until 2008.

Moran won two Eclipse Awards while at Newsday. His 1985 Eclipse was for a profile on Daily Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch. Five years later, Moran was honored with his second Eclipse for his piece about the tragic breakdown of Hall of Fame filly Go for Wand. He also won the Red Smith Award for his Kentucky Derby coverage, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1990 and the Distinguished Sports Writing Award from the New York Newspaper Publishers Association in 1992.

Moran served on the board of directors of the National Turf Writers Association from 1987 to 1990 and was president of the New York Turf Writers Association from 1990 to 1992. Moran semi-retired to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2008 but continued to write for various outlets including ESPN.com, and worked six Saratoga meetings for The Associated Press. Moran was a contributor to the book Crown of Jewels of Thoroughbred Racing and his work was regularly featured in a variety of magazines.

Along with writing about racing, Moran was a participant in the sport as an owner of several New York-bred horses trained by James Bond. After a three-year battle with cancer, Moran died in November 2013. The following summer, a group of Moran’s friends and colleagues scattered his ashes in the Saratoga Race Course infield near the grave of Go for Wand, per Moran’s wishes.

The New York Times said Moran was “the last true turf writer, whose written words and outsize personality belonged on the same page and in the same press box with Ring Lardner and Damon Runyon, Joe Palmer and Red Smith.” ESPN.com added that he “brought a deep understanding of the sport and its history. With such a perspective, he could peer through a fog of pretense and publicity to see the real story. He had a mordant wit and could unleash a sardonic cleverness; he could be profoundly entertaining and entertainingly profound, but he always respected the sport and its competitors.”

John L. Hervey (1870 ̶ 1947), a native of Jefferson, Ohio, is the third 2023 Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor designee. Hervey began writing about thoroughbred and standardbred racing around the age of 16. Raised in a horseman’s family, Hervey developed a considerable knowledge of the art and science of horse breeding. While still a teenager Hervey put that knowledge to good use when he was hired by William Fasig to work in his sales organization — the Tipton Company of Cleveland, later becoming the famous Fasig-Tipton Company — and soon he was writing articles for a variety of turf journals.

Through his connection with Fasig, Hervey became editor of The Trotting Horse in 1892. He also provided racing coverage for the Chicago Tribune in the 1890s and became one of Daily Racing Form’s first contributors. He remained an occasional correspondent for the Form until his death. In 1912, Hervey became editor for The Thoroughbred Record. It was during this period that Hervey, who used the pen name “Salvator” in honor of the Hall of Fame racehorse, became widely regarded as one of America’s foremost authorities on all aspects of racing and breeding. Other publications Hervey wrote for included The Blood-Horse, Breeder and Sportsman, The Harness Horse, Hoof Beats, and The Thoroughbred of California, among others.

The Jockey Club hired Hervey to research and document American racing’s history in a multi-edition work, Racing in America. Hervey wrote three volumes in the series, the periods 1665 to 1865 (split into two books) and 1922 to 1936. Hervey’s exhaustively researched Racing in America books are considered by many to be his important works. He was also commissioned to write several volumes of the annual book American Race Horses, which was originally sponsored by Alfred G. Vanderbilt.

In 1947, Hervey was contracted by the Trotting Horse Club of America, Inc., to author the book The American Trotter, which has been revered as “the most comprehensive history of the standardbred ever published,” according to The California Thoroughbred. Hervey, who died in December 1947, was so well thought of in harness racing that he was posthumously inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1962. The John Hervey Awards for excellence in harness racing journalism are named in his honor.

Previous selections to the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor are Steven Crist (2010), Charles Hatton (2010), Bill Nack (2010), Red Smith (2010), Dr. Russ Harris (2011), Joe Palmer (2011), Jay Hovdey (2012), Whitney Tower (2012), Andrew Beyer (2013), Kent Hollingsworth (2013), George F. T. Ryall (2013), Jim Murray (2014), Jennie Rees (2014), Raleigh Burroughs (2015), Steve Haskin (2015), Jim McKay (2016), Maryjean Wall (2016), Barney Nagler (2017), Michael Veitch (2017), Jack Whitaker (2017), Joe Burnham (2018), Tom Hammond (2018), Charlsie Cantey (2019), Billy Reed (2019), Pierre “Peb” Bellocq (2020), William Leggett (2020), Walter Haight (2021), Jack Mann (2021), Jay Privman (2021), Heywood Hale Broun (2022), Bert Morgan (2022), and Damon Runyon (2022).

The National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor was established in 2010 to recognize individuals whose careers have been dedicated to, or substantially involved in, writing about thoroughbred racing (non-fiction), and who distinguished themselves as journalists. The criteria has since been expanded to allow the consideration of other forms of media.

Often referred to as the dean of thoroughbred racing writers, Hirsch won both the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Writing and the Lord Derby Award in London from the Horserace Writers and Reporters Association of Great Britain. He also received the Eclipse Award of Merit (1993), the Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1983), The Jockey Club Medal (1989), and was designated as the honored guest at the 1994 Thoroughbred Club of America’s testimonial dinner. The annual Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park is named in his honor. Hirsch, who died in 2009, was also a former chair of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and the founder of the National Turf Writers Association.

The Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor Committee is comprised of Edward L. Bowen (chairman), author of more than 20 books on thoroughbred racing; Bob Curran, retired Jockey Club vice president of corporate communications; Ken Grayson, National Museum of Racing trustee; Jane Goldstein, retired turf publicist; Steve Haskin, Secretariat.com and longtime BloodHorse columnist; G. D. Hieronymus, retired Keeneland director of broadcast services; Jay Hovdey, five-time Eclipse Award-winning writer; and Dan Smith, retired senior media coordinator of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Edited release

NTWAB Member Luck Named British Reporter of the Year

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 15:10:44 GMT

By Dick Downey

Nick Luck, a member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, was named Reporter of Year by the British-based Horserace Writers and Photographers Association in its annual Derby Awards.

It's Luck's 11th award win according to HWPA, which describes itself as the official organization representing the interests of racing media. Other nominees were Bill Barber (@RacingPost), Jonathan Harding (@RacingPost) and Callum Jamieson (@SunRacing). Luck has also been named HWPA's Broadcaster of the Year numerous times.

Luck hosts the sponsored Nick Luck Daily Podcast featuring "the talking points for the day" of the business and sport of Thoroughbred racing and is a featured member of NBC's Breeders' Cup broadcast team. According to Wikipedia, in 2017 Luck became the BBC Equestrian commentator and has since covered the Olympia Horse Show, Badminton Horse Trials, Burghley Horse Trials and the Olympic Games for BBC.

Luck also served as a member of British horseracing’s Whip Consultation Steering Group which in mid-2022 produced 20 recommendations relating to the use of the whip in British racing, all of which were approved by the Board of the British Horseracing Authority according to Wikipedia.

The HWPA website says it acts as liaison between the Racecourse Association in Britain and the horse racing media to provide the best possible race-day facilities at all UK racecourses for accredited members of the media.

The annual Derby Awards awards lunch is the association's signature event, similar to NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner. It's held each December and includes awards for the best journalist, broadcaster and photographer, as well as a number of other awards voted by members. There's more about the HWPA here .
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NTWAB Announces Renewal Of Internship Support Program For Horse Racing Media Outlets

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 16:01:26 GMT

By Natalie Voss

The National Thoroughbred Writers and Broadcasters have announced that the organization will assist racing media outlets in funding internships for the second year in a row.

The NTWAB’s internship assistance program is designed to better enable horse racing publications and broadcast outlets to offer paid internship positions. The program can offer up to $2,500 each in matching funds to two outlets per year, with the hope of funding one publication and one broadcast outlet.

In its pilot year in 2023, the NTWAB program supported paid summer internships at The BloodHorse and The Saratoga Special.

The Saratoga Special’s internship program traditionally takes place in the summer to coincide with the seasonal publication. Thanks to NTWAB support, Saratoga Special publisher Joe Clancy said the paper was able to include an additional intern position in its summer program, which was filled by high school student Alec DiConza.

"This year's internship at The Saratoga Special was a truly wonderful experience. Not only was it great fun to be at Saratoga Race Course almost every day for eight weeks, but I also significantly improved my skills in writing and communication,” said DiConza. “Through my work this summer, my ability to quickly craft a detailed piece of writing, such as a preview or a recap of a horse race, improved tremendously. Additionally, having the opportunity to speak with so many of the horse racing industry's most recognized names, while at first taking me out of my comfort zone, was extremely beneficial.

“Because of the well over 100 interviews I did throughout the summer, my confidence in speaking to others is higher than ever before. As a fan of racing for almost a decade, being able to work alongside some of the sport's great writers and to cover countless horse races myself was a dream come true. With all of the excitement and immeasurably helpful experience this internship provides, I think one would be hard pressed to find a better way for young people to get involved in racing."

See one of DiConza’s features from the Special here.

BloodHorse brought in Ali Cetinok, a junior majoring in journalism at the University of Kentucky. Cetinok has interest in covering all sports and found plenty to interest him during his time at BH.

“BloodHorse intern Ali Cetinok proved a valuable contributor for us in 2023,” said BloodHorse editorial director Frank Angst. “Ali contributed to all of our platforms, including an extensive magazine feature on universities and colleges that offer Thoroughbred breeding programs. He conducted an interview for our Daily newsletter, produced or assisted on videos for our BH+ platform, and contributed a sale-related feature, race previews, and race recaps to our website.

“We enjoyed having Ali and BH will look to participate in the program down the road. I’d recommend it to any NTWAB member.”

“It was an amazing experience. I was taught a lot, and I learned a lot,” said Ali Cetinok, who interned at BloodHorse. “The internship made me a better all-around journalist. It unlocked a new passion for me. I think something I'll always want to do.

“Of course, great people there. Help everywhere I looked. It was a great overall experience. I got to do actual journalism from morning to evening.”
An archive of Cetinok’s work from his internship is available here.

Any publication or broadcast outlet in the horse racing sphere interested in applying for internship assistance for 2024 is encouraged to apply by Dec. 15. Applying outlets are asked to submit basic information about their internship’s projected job responsibilities and funding request amount to an internship committee member or to ntwab2014@gmail.com.

President's Message: Breeders' Cup

Sat, 11 Nov 2023 15:11:43 GMT

Greetings. It was great seeing many of you last week at the Breeders’ Cup and for our two primary events – the 63rd annual NTWAB Awards Dinner and the membership meeting.

The Awards Dinner was blessed with more than 120 attendees, including a 100 percent attendance rate for our winners (something we were unlucky about the last two years). The venue – secured almost at the 11th hour by our event-planning team led by Loren Hebel-Osborne – at the Altadena Town & Country Club seemed well received. Take a moment to check out the photos from the event here , courtesy of Mary Eddy from NYRA (and former member of our team at The Saratoga Special).

The event obviously took on greater significance in the aftermath of the Breeders’ Cup with the passing of Cody Dorman, who came with his parents as part of “Team Cody’s Wish.” And the trend of good karma for horsemen who show up at the event also continued as Bill Mott, who was on hand with “Team Cody’s Wish,” won three races over the weekend.

Thirty-six members – 17 in person and 19 via Zoom – attended the membership meeting, where we discussed protocols, issues, complaints and other topics with representatives from HISA and HIWU. We also received a report from the Membership Review Committee, the Scholarship/Internship committee, discussed Media Eclipse Awards (the deadline is 8 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 17) and some changes in the rules for 2023 and approved applications for 10 new members.

Welcome to Regular Writer members Karen Johnson, Jim Mulvihill, Ken Snyder and Remi Bellocq; Regular Broadcaster members Todd Schrupp, Matt Bernier and Mike Joyce; and Associate members Dubbs Anderson, Carlos Morales and Anthony Mormino.

Attached are Minutes from the meeting from Jennifer Kelly, along with the Treasurer's Report from Dick Downey.

Please let me know of any issues you encountered at the Breeders’ Cup. I typically have a follow-up meeting with Jim Gluckson to discuss any issues related to access, credentialing, etc., in the immediate weeks after the event.

Eclipse Award voting will begin soon; so please be sure to have dues paid up and let Jennifer Kelly know of any address changes for the printed voting packet as soon as possible.

Finally, I wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Tom Law
NTWAB President
November 10, 2023

NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner Shines

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 16:56:22 GMT

PHOTOS BY MARY EDDY

The 62nd NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner held in conjunction with the 40th Breeders' Cup was led by Team Cody's Wish, winner of the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. Cody Dorman and his family were in attendance along with trainer Bill Mott and a contingent from Godolphin.

Mike Kane, pictured with Jennie Rees, won the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. Kane has been an NTWAB member since 1996and served as president and five-time vice-president. He's covered racing in print, radio, television and online since 1980.

The Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, represented by a large contingent led by Jenine Sahadi (left), was presented with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. The Gregson Foundation is a nonprofit developed to benefit California Thoroughbred racing’s backstretch workers and their families.

Kenny Rice (center), who rose to national prominence on NBC’s coverage of the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup starting in 1999, was honored with the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting. With him are good friends and colleagues Amy Zimmerman and Billy Rapaport.

Cindy Hutter, who continues her inspiring recovery from a severe brain injury sustained in a training accident in July 2022, was presented the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity. She is with her husband, trainer George Weaver.

Kelly Dorman, Cody Dorman's father, accepted the Mr. Fitz Award.

Paul Fitzsimmons, a great-great-grandson of legendary trainer "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, for whom the Mr. Fitz Award is named, joined Team Cody's Wish at the Awards Dinner.

FanDuel's popular host and analyst Scott Hazelton served as Master of Ceremonies at beautiful Altadena Town & Country Club in Altadena, CA.

COMPILATION BY DICK DOWNEY

President's Breeders' Cup Newsletter

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 14:01:39 GMT

Good morning. A couple notes as we inch closer to next week’s 63rd annual NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner, general membership meeting and of course the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park. Hopefully you’ll be making the trip for all of the above. If not, you’ll be able to join the meeting via Zoom and the link below.

The membership meeting will include a visit from HISA’s Lisa Lazarus, HIWU’s Ben Mosier and communications team members from both organizations. We extended the invitation for HISA/HIWU to attend our meeting to address some concerns regarding transparency and their protocol (or lack of) when dealing with the media. As always, the meeting will be informational and off-the-record. Those concerns surfaced late in the Saratoga season and after several conversations with HISA we’ve arranged to have them as a guest at the meeting.

The meeting will also include an update from the NTWAB membership review committee, membership applications, follow-up from the awards dinner and any other items of business. If you’d like specific issues to be added to the agenda, please let me or NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly know in advance of the meeting. We’re working with the Santa Anita and Breeders’ Cup communications teams for a meeting location. A complete agenda and meeting location will be sent next week.

If you would like to join us via Zoom, please use this link

Please remember that the Awards Dinner will be at the Altadena Town & Country Club, 2290 Country Club Drive in Altadena. Cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 with awards presentations to follow. We will have our five awards and the Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards to present.

From the Breeders’ Cup: Please note that this link to the Media Center on BreedersCup.com contains the replay of Wednesday’s National Media Pre-Entry Teleconference with Aidan O’Brien, Kelly Dorman, Jena Antonucci, Richard Mandella and Tom Robbins, Chairman of the Breeders’ Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Click on “Notes.” There is also a link to the workout towel identification key for horses pre-entered in the World Championships.

Thanks for your time and see you in California.

Tom Law
NTWAB President
October 27, 2023

2023 Media Eclipse Awards Rules

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 13:34:32 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), in conjunction with Daily Racing Form (DRF), and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB) laid out guidelines for the 2023 Media Eclipse Awards. The media awards are presented by the NTRA, DRF and NTWAB for outstanding achievement in media coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

2023 MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS RULES

Rules governing the Media Eclipse Awards are established by representatives of the three presenting organizations.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARD CATEGORIES

Writing – News/Enterprise
Writing – Feature/Commentary
Photography
Television – Live Racing Programming
Television – Features
Audio/Multimedia Internet

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be RECEIVED by 8:00 p.m. (ET), Friday, November 17, 2023. Entries received after that time will not be accepted.

Entries for the Writing, Photography, and Audio/Multimedia Internet, and Television awards will be accepted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Portal. Instructions are in the link below:

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

ENTRY FEE

None

RULES

Entries should display outstanding achievement in the coverage of North American Thoroughbred racing and must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 19, 2022, and November 17, 2023. All submissions are limited only to works pertaining to the Thoroughbred breed, and no other equine breed. Submissions on subjects, topics, and individuals that took place exclusively outside of North America will not be accepted.

Print and Internet submissions (news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, and photography) must have been published in a paid-circulation, independent publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation, independent publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website.
Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.
Audio/Multimedia entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been broadcast on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) are not eligible in any category.

LETTERS OF ENTRY

Please indicate the category of each submission in your cover letter. If you are submitting in two different categories please include two separate cover letters.

Editors may submit print materials on behalf of authors, provided such submissions include the cover letter described above. All other third-party submissions will be rejected. In the writing categories, submissions by editors on behalf of multiple writers from a publication on a feature subject, special section or a compendium of stories on breaking news will be rejected.

Authors and producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

The presenting organizations reserve the right to determine the eligibility of all entries and to disqualify an entry at any time, including after the determination of an award, at its sole discretion. The presenting organizations reserve the right not to bestow an award in a particular category, based on the quantity or (as determined by a panel of judges) the quality of submissions. Questions concerning eligibility should be directed to the address for entries, listed below.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns.

LIMITS ON ENTRIES

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS CATEGORIES

1) News/Enterprise and Feature/Commentary Writing

There are two categories of competition for Writing awards:

News/Enterprise – Submission guidelines for works in this category are the following: timely, hard news articles and expository pieces involving concentrated background research, investigative reporting, or news analysis.
Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines for works in this category are: columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles.

Please note that competition in the Writing categories is limited to three (3) authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series.

No Q&A submissions will be accepted in either category.

Multi-Part Series Rules

Within each category of writing, authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that:

A) Have been pre-arranged by the editors and stated in the published work that the articles constitute a specified series; with the same subject matter (e.g., racing surfaces, medication) examined or profiled in each article of the series. Articles submitted under the title “occasional series” will not be accepted. Collections of articles under the title “The Year in Horse Racing” will not be accepted.
B) Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter another category, subject to the rules outlined above.

Submission in either the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio and Multi-Media Internet category.

Books – Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

Authors must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

1. COVER LETTER

2. SUBMISSIONS TO THE JUDGES

Authors must submit ONE copy of each submission in common Microsoft Word format. No Zip files will be accepted. DO NOT PLACE A WEB LINK IN YOUR MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT TO THE JUDGES.
Submissions must appear as the article was worded in the PUBLISHED form.
At the top of your submission, you must include the date and time that the article was first published

3. All Headlines, Sub-Headlines, Bylines, and Hyperlinks MUST BE REMOVED from the submission.

4. No publication names are permitted on the submission.

5. You MUST REMOVE THE NAME OF YOUR PUBLICATION EACH TIME IT APPEARS IN YOUR SUBMISSION, and insert the words “name of publication removed”; e.g. “According to a recent study by the Anywhere USA Times…” must be changed to “According to a recent study by (Name of Publication Removed)…”

6. Photos, graphs, charts, hyperlinks or other graphic elements appearing within the article(s) must be deleted.

7. The author must indicate for which writing category the work is being submitted (e.g., “News Enterprise” or “Feature Commentary” in the cover letter).

Submissions Portal Link

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

2) Photography

Photography entries are limited to images for events that took place in North America.

Submission must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent news outlet. Photographs from recognized industry outlets that have been published on paid-circulation publications or recognized broadcast news organizations will be accepted. Submissions posted on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media outlet will not be accepted.

1. COVER LETTER

NOTE: The cover letter is to be sent as a single stand/alone attachment and not an open document in the email part of the submission.

2. SUBMISSION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Submissions Portal Link

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

3) Television – Live Racing Programming and Features

There are two television award categories:

Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be included.
Feature entries may be submitted as either single, stand-alone pieces, a documentary, a historical piece, a news report, or as part of a live-racing program. Entries in the Features category are limited to 120 minutes. “Medley” tapes containing more than two features, of any duration, will not be accepted

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal.

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

Please be sure your entry is not password protected and that your link will open directly to your submission.

4) Audio/Multimedia Internet

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

The Audio/Multimedia Internet category may consist of audio only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. No more than two (2) individual radio or Internet-based audio broadcasts per person may be submitted. “Medley” tapes containing more than three radio shows or Webcasts, of any duration, will not be accepted.

Submission in the Multimedia Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary categories.

Authors/Producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

Submissions of Webcasts and Radio Programs must be accompanied by:

A letter from the Web producer or equivalent senior official of the Website attesting that the work is that of the author who submitted it and including the date the program was Webcast and the name of the website on which it aired.
Program title and air date of the production or webcast
The name of the network, radio station, or web outlet

***

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than Tuesday, January 2, 2024.

--NTRA RELEASE

President's Newsletter: Breeders' Cup Meeting, Awards Dinner on Tap

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 21:03:19 GMT

Good morning. We’re just a few weeks away from the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park and the 63rd annual NTWAB Awards Dinner. I received some information related to the timing of the Classic post-race press conference from the Breeders’ Cup communications team this week and have pasted it below.

The invitation to the Nov. 1 Awards Dinner is attached . Please note that the location has changed to the Altadena Town & Country Club, 2290 Country Club Drive in Altadena. The new location – which has hosted multiple NTWAB Awards Dinner events in the past – is about 8 miles from Santa Anita and 4 miles from the Breeders’ Cup media hotel.

Our event-planning team led by Loren Hebel-Osborne and Julie Sarno made quick work of securing an 11th-hour location after we encountered some issues with the previously announced venue, which was hit with a break-in that resulted in significant damage to the Woolf Den. We’ve also been able to keep the costs down – just $85 for NTWAB members and credentialed Breeders’ Cup media – and hope you will attend if making the trip to California for the Breeders’ Cup.

The event will start at 6 p.m. with cocktails followed by dinner at 6:30 and the awards to follow shortly after. Keeping with tradition, we’ll move things along. We have an amazing slate of winners for this year’s event, with all the credit going to the membership for their selections. The Breeders’ Cup writing awards will also be presented during our event.

The NTWAB membership meeting will be at 11 a.m. PT Thursday, Nov. 2 at a location to be determined at Santa Anita. A detailed agenda will be sent prior to the meeting, but we will most likely discuss the awards dinner, membership applications, the NTWAB’s relationship with HISA and any other specific Breeders’ Cup related issues (access, parking, etc.).

Speaking of membership applications, the deadline to submit materials is Oct. 23. To apply, the prospective member must submit an application letter with their name, affiliation(s), years with affiliation(s), years covering racing and breeding and include two references from current Regular Members.

Please direct any application materials to either Tom Law (tlawky@gmail.com) or Jennifer Kelly (thesirbarton@gmail.com). Applicants who applied in the past and were asked by the board to provide additional information on their work status will need to re-apply with supporting materials. Associate members seeking to move to Regular status also need to re-apply.

Finally, if you are going to endorse an individual seeking Regular membership, please remember Article III of the bylaws which requires the applicant to be “actively and professionally engaged in the coverage of Thoroughbred racing.” Associate members are “people associated with the coverage of Thoroughbred racing but are not eligible for regular membership.” The NTWAB board will meet prior to the Nov. 2 membership meeting to review each application, before presenting those endorsed to the general membership for a vote.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Tom Law
NTWAB President

From Breeders’ Cup:

The Breeders’ Cup communications team is aware that, due to the placement of the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the order of the Saturday card, winning Classic connections may not be immediately available for the post-race press conference if they have a horse in the following races. We plan to personally reach out to any Classic connections (owner, trainer, jockey) with additional entries in the following races and request that they return to the press conference area after they have fulfilled their racing obligations. Of course, this is subject to participant cooperation. Additionally, the Breeders’ Cup notes team will provide post-race quotes immediately following the Classic, also subject to participant cooperation.

Hutter Named to Receive Bill Mooney Award

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 20:04:34 GMT

By Tom Law

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters will present Cindy Hutter, who continues her inspiring recovery from a severe brain injury sustained in a training accident in July 2022, with the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity.

Born and raised in Romansville, Pennsylvania, near the horse-centric area of Unionville, Hutter started riding at a young age before going to work for trainer Bruce Miller after she turned 16. Hutter later worked for D. Wayne Lukas, galloping such stars as Winning Colors, Thunder Gulch, Open Mind and Flanders; and later for Todd Pletcher, working with more greats such as More Than Ready, Jersey Girl and Graeme Hall.

Hutter and her husband, trainer George Weaver, launched their own stable in 2002. With Hutter serving as assistant and lead exercise rider, the couple campaigned Grade 1 winners Lighthouse Bay and Vekoma and graded stakes winners Christine’s Outlaw, Daddy Is a Legend, Devil’s Preacher, Drum Major, Falling Sky, Isotherm, Main Event, Majestic Dunhill, Pass the Champagne, Point of Honor, Saratoga County, Tizahit and Together Indy.

Hutter suffered injuries July 3, 2022, when a filly she was galloping on Saratoga’s Oklahoma Training Track collapsed and died from an apparent heart attack. Unconscious for several weeks, Hutter continues to bounce back through rehabilitation and therapy all while making her presence felt at the barn even from a distance.

“We’re very honored to win this award,” Weaver said. “Cindy was tough beforehand, and we ended up finding out how much tougher she was after everything happened. We’re doing everything we can and she continues to improve. She’s still got a strong work ethic.

“She might come out to the barn once a week, once every couple weeks. She came out the other day, spent the whole morning with us. And, of course, there was no shortage of comments to do this, and to do that.”

Hutter joins five prior Mooney winners – the award’s namesake who died after a long battle with cancer in 2017: horseman Kiaran McLaughlin, retired jockey Joy Scott, retired jockey and owner Rene Douglas and horsewoman Martine Bellocq. She will be honored along with the NTWAB’s other four award winners at the organization’s 63rd annual Awards Dinner at The Woolf Den by The Derby in Arcadia near Santa Anita Park, Wednesday, November 1.

Hutter was on hand this summer when her husband saddled Crimson Advocate to victory in the Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot, one of 10 stakes wins for the stable this year.

Sean Clancy, a longtime Turf writer and former steeplechase jockey who has known Hutter for decades, wrote about the trying times for the couple the last two summers in The Saratoga Special.

“Last year, I was standing by the outside rail of the Oklahoma talking to George. It had been two weeks, maybe, since Cindy’s accident,” Clancy said. “He was always a horse trainer to me. That day, he was a husband. Scared of what lay ahead, scared for what Cindy’s life would look like. It was all so uncertain. The thought of Cindy trapped, dependent, unable to live the life she had built ... man, it was devastating. The whole racetrack felt it.

“Then this year. What a difference a year makes. We finished a Stable Tour and I said to George, ‘Hey, if a year ago, someone said you would win a race at Royal Ascot, with Cindy there, you’d win nine at Saratoga and Cindy would be watching the horses and offering her insights, her valuable insights...’ George shook his head and smiled, ‘She’s come so far. I’m so proud of her. If someone told me a year ago that this is what it would be like, I’d have taken it. Sign me up, give me the contract.’

“Cindy wrote the contract. She worked her way from a farm in Pennsylvania, galloping jumpers in fields to the pinnacle of Thoroughbred racing, first on Wayne Lukas’ burners, then Todd Pletcher’s, then her husbands’ horses. We always knew she was a strong rider. In the last year, she showed she’s a strong woman, the strongest of the strong. Not that I’m surprised.”

Other honorees at the NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner will be Edwin Gregson Foundation (Joe Palmer Award), Team Cody’s Wish (Mr. Fitz Award), Kenny Rice (Jim McKay Award) and Mike Kane (Walter Haight Award), along with other writing award winners announced that evening.

The NTWAB Awards Dinner is traditionally held during Breeders’ Cup Week and is the organization’s only fundraiser. A portion of the proceeds from the event are used toward internships for prospective Thoroughbred racing journalists and to support Thoroughbred industry charities.

Tickets are available for the event either by contacting NTWAB at ntwab2014@gmail.com, Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com, or on the NTWAB website at the tickets page .

________________

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, formerly known as the National Turf Writers Association, is more than 60 years old and promotes and encourages closer relationships and camaraderie among its members. It also seeks to improve working conditions, foster better understanding between its membership and the governing powers of Thoroughbred racing, and develop a deeper understanding of Thoroughbred racing and breeding. The NTWAB is 501c, not-for-profit association. www.ntwab.org

NTWAB Member Shuelein Passes at 77

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 19:28:07 GMT

Steve Schuelein, a former sports journalist and turf publicist died at age 77 on August 29. The long-time resident of Playa del Rey, CA was an NTWAB member for many years.

According to his obituary, Schuelein was born in New York City in 1946 to Robert and Rosa Schuelein, both of whom fled Nazi Germany prior to the outbreak of World War II. Schuelein attended school in Norwich, NY and from an early age loved sports, especially horse racing, golf, and basketball. Growing up, he often visited his close relatives in the Utica area. He was never married and had no offspring.

Schuelein attended The State University of New York at Buffalo, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degrees in liberal arts in 1967 and Syracuse University, where he received a Master of Arts degree in journalism in 1969. Shortly after graduation, Steven enlisted in the United States Army Reserve and served through 1975.

As a sports journalist, Schuelein primarily covered horse racing. He moved to southern California in 1982 and worked publicity at Del Mar and Santa Anita. He was part of several Breeders' Cup notes teams and served as a correspondent for the now-defunct Thoroughbred Times. Throughout his life, he often attended sporting events, especially at his alma mater in Syracuse, New York, and he played golf regularly until his death.

Besides maintaining friendships with the people he got to know at school, the Army, and through sports, Steven also attended Congregation Tikvat Jacob in Manhattan Beach, CA as he always had a close bond with Judaism according to his obituary.

Funeral services will be held at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary at 6001 W. Centinela Avenue in Los Angeles Sept. 5 at 2:00. For those unable to attend the service, an interactive zoom link starts at 1:45 CT for the service, and thereafter the gravesite service and burial will be live-streamed. Contact Hillside for links to the zoom link and live stream.

NTWAB to Honor Team Cody’s Wish, Gregson Foundation, Kane, Rice

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 20:00:39 GMT

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (August 31, 2023) – Team Cody’s Wish – led by Cody Dorman and his multiple Grade 1-winning namesake – will be honored along with the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, turf writer Mike Kane and broadcaster Kenny Rice during the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters’ 63rd annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 1 in Arcadia, California.

The NTWAB Awards Dinner is the organization’s only fundraiser, and a portion of the proceeds of the event will fund Thoroughbred industry charities and internships for prospective racing journalists. The 2023 NTWAB Awards Dinner will be held at The Woolf Den by The Derby in Arcadia near Santa Anita Park.

Team Cody’s Wish, which also includes the Dorman family, owner-breeder Godolphin, trainer Bill Mott and his team and jockey Junior Alvarado, will be honored with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. The Cody’s Wish story began at Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm in October 2018 when Cody Dorman, 13 at the time, was introduced to a five-month-old weanling by Curlin. There was an immediate connection between the horse and Cody, who was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a rare genetic disease that causes serious and often fatal physical issues. Godolphin staff that witnessed that first meeting were so impacted they decided to name the horse for Cody. The Cody’s Wish story has resonated with people inside and outside of racing.

The Gregson Foundation, a nonprofit foundation developed to benefit California Thoroughbred racing’s backstretch workers and their families, will be honored with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. Named for the late trainer and past California Thoroughbred Trainers President Eddie Gregson, the foundation provides financial resources for children of backstretch workers to attend college. In 2022, the foundation issued five new scholarships with $23,000 in grants, which coupled with 19 past recipients’ applications approved, resulted in a $187,000 overall grant total for the year. The foundation has provided well over $1.3 million in scholarship grands over the past two decades.

Mike Kane, an NTWAB member since 1996 who served as president and five-time vice-president, has covered racing in print, radio, television and online since 1980, will be honored with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. Kane’s early newspaper work led the Schenectady Gazette from enhanced coverage of the Saratoga meetings to national coverage of Thoroughbred racing. With that, he won the Red Smith Kentucky Derby Writing Contest for five consecutive years. Still active, Kane is a longtime New York correspondent for BloodHorse and covers Saratoga and New York racing for Thoroughbred Daily News. His work has appeared in Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, the Louisville Courier-Journal, New York Times, New York Daily News, Albany Times Union, USA Today and Saratoga Living.

Kenny Rice, one of the most recognized and respected racing broadcasters who rose to national prominence on NBC’s coverage of the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup starting in 1999, will be honored with the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting. Rice earned an Eclipse Award for outstanding local television achievement in 1996, the same year he became the youngest winner of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association’s Charles W. Engelhard Award for lifetime contributions to the Kentucky Thoroughbred industry. He has also been honored with a John Hervey Award for outstanding television reporting of the Standardbred racing industry.

Tickets for the NTWAB Awards Dinner, which can be purchased through the NTWAB website , are $85 for NTWAB members and Breeders’ Cup credentialed media and $115 for non-members and guests. Invitations will be mailed to NTWAB members, and non-members can request an invitation by contacting Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com.

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, formerly known as the National Turf Writers Association, is more than 50 years old and promotes and encourages closer relationships and camaraderie among its members. It also seeks to improve working conditions, foster better understanding between its membership and the governing powers of Thoroughbred racing, and develop a deeper understanding of Thoroughbred racing and breeding. The NTWAB is 501c, not-for-profit organization. www.ntwab.org

Submit 2022 Breeders' Cup Writing Awards

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 14:56:47 GMT

The Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards honor excellence in coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. There are two awards that will celebrate outstanding writing: The Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting, and The Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing.

These awards are based on coverage of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

To enter the competition for these awards, contestants may submit a maximum of one submission per category: a choice from 2022 in Outstanding News Reporting, and a choice from 2022 for Outstanding Feature Writing. Please note that two submissions in one category from the same year will not be accepted.

Deadline for Entry is Friday, September 29, 2023

Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

This competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site. The submissions for the Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting are limited to a maximum of one submission. The submission must be a focused recap article of a 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships race. Your submitted article can be from a Breeders’ Cup race that took place on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022 or from a Breeders Cup race that took place on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Please include a timestamp web link to your article. It is understood that an article submitted under deadline circumstances may not have been posted by editors in a timely manner.

Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

The competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site. The submissions for the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing are limited to a maximum of one article. Your submission must be focused on a feature aspect of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup: an advance story on a race, an individual profile, a column, or a business article. Please also include the publication date of your article.

The winners of these awards will be announced at the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, at The Derby Restaurant in Arcadia, CA.

Submission instructions are as follows. There are two steps: (1) Cover Letter and (2) Clean Documents for Judging

1) Cover Letter. Write an email cover letter to jim@breederscup.com

a) Indicate the category for competition (News Reporting or Feature)

b) Name of publication

c) Headline of article

d) Include a web link to the article in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. We need a clean Word document for judging.

2) Clean Documents for Judging. Attach your Clean Documents of your submissions in Microsoft Word document or a similar format. Please do not submit an open document in an email. For a News Reporting submission, please place a timestamp at the top of the article. For Feature Reporting submissions, please place the date of publication. However, do not place your byline or the name of your publication in any of your clean documents that will be judged.

Again, submission deadline is Friday, September 29, 2023.

In Memoriam: NTWAB Member, Award-Winning Author Milt Toby

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:47:09 GMT

Milt Toby, a member of NTWAB, died July 24 at his home in Georgetown, Ky. following a battle with cancer. He was 73. Our parting story includes material from what he termed his biography at miltonctoby.com.

Toby was an attorney and award-winning author who wrote about Thoroughbred racing for more than 40 years. His ninth book, published by the University Press of Kentucky and released in Fall 2018, is "Taking Shergar: Thoroughbred Racing’s Most Famous Cold Case."

According to Toby's biography, on a miserably cold and rainy night in February 1983 a gang of armed men almost certainly from the Provisional Irish Repubican Army, entered Ballymany Stud near Kildare, Ireland, and made off with Epsom Derby winner Shergar. Days away from starting his second season at stud, Shergar was one of the most valuable horses in the world. The thieves demanded a multi-million-dollar ransom; when the ransom wasn’t paid, the horse disappeared, never to be found. "Taking Shergar" recounts the remarkable story of horse racing’s most famous cold case.

According to BloodHorse, Toby's tenth and final book is due for publication in August by University Press of Kentucky: "Unnatural Ability, The History of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Racing."

"It is fitting that this posthumous volume comes at the end of a remarkable half-century career, as 'Unnatural Ability' will stand as his magnus opus, a work of extraordinary breadth, insight, and importance to the industry he so loved," BloodHorse said.

Milt’s previous books include "Dancer’s Image: The Forgotten Story of the 1968 Kentucky Derby." Toby's work won the $10,000 first prize in the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award honoring the year’s best book about Thoroughbred racing, and an American Horse Publications award as the best equine book of the year. "Noor: A Champion Thoroughbred’s Unlikely Journey from California to Kentucky" was Milt’s second American Horse Publications book award winner. Toby also authored "Cañonero II: The Rags to Riches Story of the Kentucky Derby’s Most Improbable Winner," a book he took special care to mention in his list of accomplishments.

Toby, whose life and work define the word eclectic, also was a contributor to Thrillers: 100 Must Reads, published by International Thriller Writers and named USA Book News Book of the Year. Thrillers also was a finalist for the year’s Edgar, Anthony, and McCavity awards.

He was president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the nation’s leading organization representing freelance writers, from 2018 to 2020; and was a popular speaker discussing the business side of writing, copyright, publishing contracts, and other legal issues affecting writers. Among Toby's many other accomplishments, he graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1995.

Toby , who was born in 1949, worked for BloodHorse for 12 years after joining the magazine in 1973; supervised photography for the Olympic Games' equestrian events in Los Angeles in 1984; in 1986 began a freelance photo-journalism career that took him around the world writing for, among other publications, Soldier of Fortune magazine; went to law school in 1992; starting in 2003 taught at several Kentucky colleges and universities; and for a time chaired the Central Kentucky Bar Association's equine law division as well as being president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

Toby lived with his wife, equine veterinarian Roberta Dwyer, whom he called "an accomplished author and editor in her own right;" and a modest but much-loved pair of pets: Echo the Doberman and Winston, a gray and white cat that, in Toby's words, "took over the household."

According to BloodHorse no service or visitation is scheduled at the moment. A gathering of remembrance may be announced later. Donations in his name can be made to Bluegrass Care Navigators in Lexington, Ky.

Curated and additional content by Dick Downey

NTWAB Members Land AHP Media Awards

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:26:27 GMT

NTWAB members associated with BloodHorse and Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred received numerous honors from the American Horse Publications Media Awards, which recognized the contest winners in Tempe, Ariz., during the association's annual conference last week. The awards were for material published in 2022.

BloodHorse editorial director Frank Angst received first place in the breaking news/investigative reporting single article category for a feature about the initial impact on racing following the phase-out of race-day furosemide (Lasix) with 2-year-olds and in graded stakes. The feature, "Initial Impact of Lasix-Free Racing," appeared in BloodHorse's March 2022 edition.

"Such a complex topic and the data is daunting, yet the author did a nice job organizing a herd of stats into a cohesive story," a judge commented.

BloodHorse.com was given first-place honor for being the equine industry's leading website among the entities that belong to AHP. NTWAB member Claire Crosby was BloodHorse editorial director in 2022.

Second-place honors went to freelance writer and NTWAB member Julie June Stewart for her feature in BloodHorse named "Complementary Colors" about grade 1-winning owner Sandra Oppegard enjoying a life of horses and art in the Self-Supported Equine Media Personality Profile Single Article category.

Stewart's magazine feature "Powerful Portrait" about Lance G. Newman II's artwork telling the story of slave-turned-horse-trainer Eliza "Aunt Eliza" Carpenter was recognized with a third-place honor in the Freelance Writer Equine Journalism Article category and with an honorable mention in the Self-Supported Media Personality Profile category. That piece was also published by BloodHorse.

NTWAB member Joe Clancy authored "Dreaming of a Reset for Racing" for Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, which landed a second-place finish in the Personal Column Single Article category.

By Dick Downey with content from a release

Golden Honored at Santa Anita

Sun, 28 May 2023 21:23:41 GMT

Ed Golden, a longstanding member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, was honored upon his retirement with a race named after him today at Santa Anita.

For 30 years Golden authored the track's Stable Notes distributed nationally to media, insiders and fans virtually daily. His last installment came in December, and today he was recognized in a winner's circle ceremony after the second race.

According to Santa Anita director of publicity Mike Willman, Golden is a Philadelphia native and staunch fan of big league sports in the City of Brotherly Love, but for three decades his professional efforts centered on sources for California racing, jockeys, agents, trainers, owners, media members, officials and celebrities.

Tributes came to Ed even before his retirement, such as....

“Hey Ed, Happy New Year. Still enjoy reading your Notes, lots of pressure to keep them consistently informative and fresh, but you do it…”—Vince Bruun, Director of Media Relations, Emerald Downs, Feb. 12, 2014

“Wow. These Notes are supposed to be dry, boring stuff. Not Ed Golden’s. Sensational reporting and writing. I hope the rest of the Santa Anita media recognizes and appreciates what we have. Sorry if I am starting to sound like some groupie, but I know writing and reporting and I know what I’d be thinking if I still was the guy hiring in Times Sports.”—Bill Dwyre, longtime LA Times Sports Editor and columnist, June 8, 2015

Willman shared this anecdote from an interview Golden did with an oft-prickly Hall of Fame trainer.

“If you caught Bobby Frankel at a propitious moment and put your recording device on start, you could reap a profound interview not only on racing, but sports, politics, the state of the world in general and even unmentionables,” recalled Golden. “But the late, great trainer’s reputation as having an irascible vein was not without merit.

"Gathering news at his Santa Anita barn one morning, I asked about a Kentucky Derby prospect he had recently received. Delighted I got what I sought with barely a frown, I had a foot out the tack room door when I turned and asked him one more question—the name of the owner.

“Patience begone, Frankel exploded and barked out ‘Gann!!’ (Edmund Gann).”

Fittingly enough, in the winner's circle just before Golden was presented a crystal vase was a horse named Tizz a Good Thing.

President Tom Law: Spring Newsletter

Wed, 17 May 2023 13:42:40 GMT

It was great to see many of you at the Kentucky Derby and during our Derby Week membership meeting – either in person or via Zoom. The officers and directors appreciate all those who attended. The minutes from the meeting are attached.

During the meeting we said thanks to longtime director, Walter Haight winner and DRF mainstay Marty McGee, who hung up his Turf writing gear to become Joe Talamo’s agent. The organization made a $100 donation in Marty’s name to Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, along with a $100 gift card to the Capital Grille in Louisville.

Marty’s two-year director term also expired at the Derby Week meeting, along with those of Scott Hazelton and Natalie Voss. Marty and Natalie were not re-nominated (by their choices) and we thanked them for their service to the organization. Scott was re-elected to the board, along with Byron King of BloodHorse and Steve Byk from At The Races. Welcome to Byron and Steve and a welcome back to Scott.

Other important items related to the meeting are in the minutes , including the date and location of our Annual Awards Dinner – Wednesday, Nov. 1 at The Woolf Den by The Derby in Arcadia, California. The Woolf Den is The Derby’s new event space and Julie Sarno has been working with Loren Hebel-Osborne on the planning for the 63rd annual Awards Dinner. We’ll have more details on the dinner and nominations for our award winners soon.

A few committees were formed and re-formed during the Derby Week meeting. The membership review committee of Nathan Campbell, Jennifer Kelly and I met this week to start the annual process of checking the NTWAB’s roster. With that comes my annual call to members who might need to make a status change, depending on their job situation. Regular members (writers and broadcasters) are those actively and professionally engaged in coverage of racing. Please be aware that a member of the committee might contact you regarding your status. We’ve had several members the last few years reach out to say they need to be changed from Regular to Associate, or vice versa. If your status needs to be changed, please contact NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly.

Another group was formed to look into the bylaws to make sure they’re up to date by current journalism and modern-day media standards. They’ll be meeting soon and we’ll report any information as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the Preakness is this weekend and I’m sure I’ll see more of you there. Safe travels to Baltimore.

Take care,

Tom Law

NTWAB President

May 16, 2023

Old Hilltop Award Goes to Pedulla

Mon, 01 May 2023 02:17:03 GMT

Tom Pedulla, who has reported on Thoroughbred racing for more than three decades for numerous publications, will receive the Old Hilltop Award at the Alibi Breakfast May 18 at Pimlico Race Course.

The award is in recognition of Pedulla's coverage of Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction for more than 30 years. He is a past president and member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

Pedulla, who started his career keeping box scores at New York Yankees games for Associated Press, became the Yankees beat writer for Gannett in 1986. Pedulla has covered Thoroughbred racing for America’s Best Racing, Paulick Report, BloodHorse, Horse Racing Nation, the New York Times and USA Today.

The recipient of NTWAB's Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing last year, Pedulla is also a two-time winner of the David F. Woods for best Preakness story, also presented at the Alibi Breakfast.

Pedulla has covered 25 of the last 27 Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup events, 17 Super Bowls, six Olympics and 11 World Series.

"It is a great honor to receive the Old Hilltop Award from the Maryland Jockey Club," Pedulla said. "At this time, I cannot help but to think of my father, Louis, an English teacher who brought me The New York Times sports section each day from grammar school through college so I could study the writing style of columnist Red Smith and other greats. I am indebted as well to outlets such as America's Best Racing, BloodHorse, Paulick Report, Horse Racing Nation, The New York Times and others for allowing me to continue to write.”

The legendary Alibi Breakfast began in the 1930s on the porch of the old Pimlico Clubhouse and features a gathering of media, owners, trainers, jockeys, horsemen and fans to celebrate the Preakness while gaining interesting and humorous race predictions.

Tickets for the Alibi Breakfast can be purchased at: https://am.ticketmaster.com/marylandjockeyclub/ALIBI

--Edited Maryland Jockey Club release with additional content by Dick Downey

Alibi Breakfast to Honor Privman

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 21:50:03 GMT

Jay Privman and Rob Carr will be among the honorees at the Alibi Breakfast May 18 at Pimlico Race Course for their outstanding coverage of the 2022 Preakness Stakes.

Privman will be awarded the David F. Woods Award for his story on D. Wayne Lukas during the runup to last year's Preakness. He is a former president and board member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters and remains a member of the group. The Eclipse Award-winning writer and broadcaster retired from the Daily Racing Form in September.

Lukas, a Hall of Fame trainer who saddled the filly Secret Oath for the 2022 Preakness, “announced himself to a national audience” at Pimlico 42 years earlier, Privman wrote, when he saddled Codex to victory over the popular filly Genuine Risk.

In Privman's story, Lukas looks back on his six Preakness victories along with some low points. Privman wrote about how Lukas, who has been the subject of controversy, "morphed into everyone’s favorite uncle.”

“Building up relationships over years, and having access to those in racing, are both paramount to make stories like this possible,” Privman said. “I thank Wayne for his time last year that morning at the Pimlico stakes barn as we went down memory lane, and I thank the Maryland Jockey Club for continuing its support and acknowledgement of the vital role racing media plays in telling the sport's stories."

Privman also won the David F. Woods Award in 2002 and 2013.

Carr, a photographer, took the Frutkoff Award-winning image of Jose Ortiz overcome with emotion after winning the 2022 Preakness aboard Early Voting. Carr said the photo was taken “with a Canon R3 camera and a 400mm lens as the jockey waited to enter the winner’s circle.”

A Baltimore-based staff photographer with Getty Images, Carr began covering Thoroughbred racing more than 30 years ago and grew up in the Thoroughbred industry as his father worked at several farms in the region.

Carr previously earned the Frutkoff Award in 2009 and 2017.

According to Pimlico, tickets for the Alibi Breakfast can be purchased at: https://am.ticketmaster.com/marylandjockeyclub/ALIBI

President's Message: Spring Meeting Coming Up

Sat, 08 Apr 2023 15:01:26 GMT

Hopefully, your spring is off to a great start. We’re rolling fast toward the Triple Crown and with it a few key reminders:

• Please mark your calendar for Wednesday, May 3 for this year’s Derby Week meeting. We’ll finalize an agenda and meeting time as we get closer and will again offer a virtual option via ZOOM for members interested in participating without being in Louisville. That option has worked for the last several meetings.

• Since it’s an odd year, we have three director terms slated to expire at the Derby meeting. The terms of Scott Hazelton, Marty McGee and Natalie Voss will expire. They are eligible to run for re-election, and all other members in good standing can also throw their hats in the ring. Candidates must be nominated at the meeting. If you are interested or know someone interested, feel free to reach out to me in the weeks ahead before the meeting.

The terms of the following current officers/directors will not expire until the 2024 Derby meeting – President (Tom Law), Vice President (Greg Hall), Treasurer (Dick Downey), Secretary (Jennifer Kelly), Director (Frank Angst), Director (Nicole Russo) and Director (JN Campbell).

• The NTWAB is currently accepting new member applications to be considered by the board and membership during the Derby Week meeting. The board screens applicants before presentation to the membership and applicants are encouraged to submit materials by April 28.

The application process is spelled out in Article III of the NTWAB Bylaw, linked on the menu above. Please pay close attention to the rules, particularly if you are endorsing a candidate for membership. If you’re endorsing, remember that applicants should be actively and professionally engaged in the coverage of Thoroughbred racing. We receive support endorsement letters each year noting an applicant’s enthusiasm and passion for the sport. While we appreciate that, the main concern is their active and professional involvement in the coverage of racing. We are an organization of working writers and broadcasters.

• Finally, attached you will find the spreadsheet detailing the first-place votes of NTWAB members in good standing for the 2022 Eclipse Awards. The officers and board of directors appreciate everyone that took the time to vote.

Have a great weekend,

Tom Law

NTWAB President

April 7, 2023

NTWAB Accepting Membership Applications

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 16:52:36 GMT

NTWAB is taking new membership applications for consideration during its Derby week meeting at Churchill Downs on May 4, when NTWAB membership will vote on applicants.

The board screens applications several days before presentation to membership. Applicants are encouraged to submit their materials in by April 28.

Read about the different types of membership NTWAB offers in Article III of our Bylaws . The application process is described here . All materials should be submitted as a Word file (or similar) if possible.

Applications for new members must include a letter indicating their desire to join as well as their qualifications for membership [name, affiliation(s), years with affiliation(s), years covering racing and breeding] and two references from current Regular Members.

Flightline Leads 2022 Eclipse Award Winners; Voting Overview

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 02:24:07 GMT

A sold-out house of about 500 attended the 52d Eclipse Awards Ceremony at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fl. on Jan. 26. The event was hosted by Britney Eurton, Scott Hazelton and Maggie Wolfendale-Morley, with Caton Bredar serving as announcer throughout. The results and a breakdown of the voting follow.

Horse of the Year
No surprise to anyone, Flightline is Horse of the Year after only three starts in 2022, but all of them were high-quality, dominating efforts. Congratulations to the connections of Flightline. More information in the older dirt horse category, also won by Flightline.
O: Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point T'breds, Woodford Racing
Trainer: John Sadler
B: Summer Wind Equine (KY, by Tapit out of Feathered, by Indian Charlie)

Two-Year-Old Male
The Champion 2yo male is Forte, who won the G1 Hopeful, G1 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and G1 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
O: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable
T: Todd Pletcher
B: South Gate Farm (KY, by Violence out of Queen Caroline, by Blame)

Two-Year-Old Filly
Wonder Wheel is the 2yo female Eclipse winner. Victor of the Debutante, G1 Darley Alcibiades and G1 NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
O: D J Stable
T: Mark Casse
B: Three Chimneys Farm and Clearsky Farms (KY, by Into Mischief out of Wonder Gal, by Tiz Wonderful)

Three-Year-Old Male
Epicenter is the top 3yo male winning the G2 Risen Star, G2 Louisiana Derby, G1 Jim Dandy, G1 Travers, and 2d in the G1 Kentucky Derby and G1 Preakness. Bred in Bowling Green, KY by Westwind Farms.
O: Winchell Thoroughbreds
T: Steve Asmussen
By Not This Time out of Silent Candy, by Candy Ride (ARG)

Three-Year-Old Filly
Top 3yo filly Nest won five of eight in 2022, e.g. the G1 Central Bank Ashland, G1 CCA Oaks & G1 Alabama.
O: Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Michael House
T: Todd Pletcher
B: Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY, by Curlin out of Marion Ravenwood, by A.P. Indy)
Nest was second in both the G1 Kentucky Oaks and G1 Belmont Stakes.

Older Dirt Male
Flightline, the Eclipse Award-winning older dirt male of 2022, was bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Equine. He's by Tapit out of Feathered, by Indian Charlie. Flightline was the convincing winner of the G1 Hill 'N' Dale Met Mile, G1 TVG Pacific Classic and G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.
O: Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point T'breds, Woodford Racing
Trainer: John Sadler

Older Dirt Female
Malathaat, older dirt female champ, took the G1 Personal Ensign, G1 Juddmonte Spinster and G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff in succession.
O: Shadwell Stable
T: Todd Pletcher
B: Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings (KY, by Curlin out of Dreaming of Julia, by A.P. Indy)
Malathaat is one of two winners named tonight by Curlin out of an A.P. Indy mare. The other winner is Nest.

Male Sprinter
Top male sprinter Elite Power was well placed in his 2022 races, reeling off five straight wins ending with the G2 Vosburgh and G1 Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint.
T: William I. Mott
O: Juddmonte
B: Alpha Delta Stables (KY, by Curlin out Broadway's Alibi, by Vindication)

Female Sprinter
Female sprinter champ Goodnight Olive was 4-for-4 in '22, topped by the G1 Ballerina and G1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
T: Chad Brown
O: First Row Partners & Team Hanley
B: Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings (KY, by Ghostzapper out of Salty Strike, by Smart Strike)

Male Turf Horse
International star and top male turf horse Modern Games began '22 in Europe, then won the G1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile in Canada, was second in the G2 Queen Elizabeth II in Britain and took the G1 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile in the U.S.
T: Charles Appleby
Modern Games' breeder and owner is Godolphin. He was bred in Ireland, by Dubawi (IRE) out of Modern Ideals (GB), by New Approach (IRE)).

Female Turf Horse
Female turf horse winner Regal Glory won the G1 Jenny Wiley, G1 Longines Just A Game and G1 Matriarch during a 2022 campaign that ran from January to December.
T: Chad Brown
O: Peter M. Brant
B: Paul Pompa (KY, by Animal Kingdom out of Mary's Follies, by More Than Ready)

Steeplechase Horse
Hewick, the 7yo Eclipse steeplechase winner, highlighted his 2022 campaign by winner the G1 Grand National Hurdle Stakes.
T: John Joseph Hanlon
O: TJ McDonald
B: William Quinn (IRE, by Virtual (GB) out of Ballyburn Rose (IRE), by Oscar (IRE))

Owner
Godolphin is named the year's top owner after leading in 2022 earnings and owning four Breeders' Cup race winners:
Turf - Rebel's Romance (IRE)
Mile - Modern Games (IRE)
Dirt Mile - Cody's Wish
Juvenile Turf Sprint - Mischief Magic (IRE)
It's Godolphin's fifth win as top owner.

Breeder
Godolphin is also the winner of the Eclipse Award for best breeder. Godolphin topped the 2022 individual breeders list in North America with $18,621,521 in earnings. The operation bred 189 starters with 150 wins, 125 seconds, and 117 thirds from 873 starts. Godolphin also led the breeders list that includes partners with $22,135,787 in earnings and 229 wins from 1,603 starts. It's the second time Godolphin has been honored as top breeder.

Trainer
Todd Pletcher was named trainer of the year. He's used to being on this stage with previous wins coming in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2014. From 1,020 starters, Pletcher had 223 winners (22 percent) and 52 percent finishing in the money. Earnings: $30,482,937.

Jockey

Irad Ortiz, Jr. won his fourth Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey. His 2022 stats include 325 wins from 1,362 starts with 253 seconds and 205 thirds, generating $37,075,772 in earnings. Ortiz' win rate was 24 percent, and he hit the board in 57 percent of his starts.

Apprentice Jockey
Jose Antonio Gomez was the winner of apprentice jockey of the year, ranking 28th among all North American jockeys after wining 152 races and purses of $7,635,366 from 1,312 starts. He had 163 seconds and 156 thirds, won 12 percent of his starts and was in the money 36 percent.
_____________________________________

Moment of the Year is the Cody's Wish story, which is quite moving; more here https://www.ntwab.org/cody-s-wish-won-hearts-dirt-mile-and-moment-of-the-year

We congratulate and honor NTWAB's very own Jay Privman, recipient of a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence. The story is here https://www.ntwab.org/privman-honored-special-eclipse-award-for-career-excellence

There are Eclipse Media Award winners in six categories (Tim Layden, Tom Law, Wendy Woodey, HRRN and NBC Sports). We have their profiles and winning efforts detailed here https://www.ntwab.org/privman-honored-special-eclipse-award-for-career-excellence

David Harrison was presented an Eclipse Award as the 2022 Horseplayer of the Year .

_____________________________________

Voting Overview

In voting that concluded on Jan. 3, 2023, Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system.

This voting established the top three finalists in each division, whose names were released on Jan. 7, 2023.

The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.

Voter participation rate: 246/258= 95.3%

(Name, First-Place Votes)

Two-Year-Old Male
Forte, 243; Cave Rock, 2; Victoria Road (IRE), 1.

Two-Year-Old Filly
Wonder Wheel, 240; Hoosier Philly, 3; Meditate (IRE), 2; Julia Shining, 1.

Three-Year-Old Male
Epicenter, 155; Taiba, 66; Modern Games (IRE), 18; Cyberknife, 4; Rich Strike, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Three-Year-Old Filly
Nest, 238; Tuesday (IRE), 4; Echo Zulu, 2; Secret Oath, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Older Dirt Male
Flightline, 240; Country Grammer, 1; Jackie’s Warrior, 1; Life Is Good, 1; Olympiad, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Older Dirt Female
Malathaat, 241; Clairiere, 2; Goodnight Olive, 2; Letruska, 1.

Male Sprinter
Elite Power, 108; Cody’s Wish, 70; Jackie’s Warrior, 62; Jack Christopher, 4; Flightline, 1; Golden Pal, 1.

Female Sprinter
Goodnight Olive, 228; Caravel, 12; Echo Zulu, 2; Matareya, 2; Kimari, 1; Wicked Halo, 1.

Male Turf Horse
Modern Games (IRE), 189; Rebel’s Romance (IRE), 50; Nations Pride (IRE), 2; Casa Creed, 1; Classic Causeway, 1; Golden Pal, 1; Gufo, 1; Shirl’s Speight, 1.

Female Turf Horse
Regal Glory, 96; In Italian (GB), 51; War Like Goddess, 47; Tuesday (IRE), 40; Caravel, 6; Bleecker Street, 3; Gina Romantica, 1; Spendarella, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Steeplechase Horse
Hewick (IRE), 113; Snap Decision, 88; Down Royal, 15; Howyabud (IRE), 1. Voter Abstentions, 29.

Owner
Godolphin LLC, 195; Peter Brant, 20; Hronis Racing LLC, Sienna Farm LLC, Summer Wind Equine LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing LLC, 11; Klaravich Stables Inc., 6; Repole Stable, 5; End Zone Athletics, 2; Charles Fipke, 1; Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, 1; Winchell Thoroughbreds, 1; Voter Abstentions, 4.

Breeder
Godolphin LLC, 182; Summer Wind Equine LLC, 30; Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, 16; Calumet Farm, 11; Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables, 4; Voter Abstentions, 3.

Trainer
Todd Pletcher, 108, Chad Brown, 95; John Sadler, 16; Steve Asmussen, 12; William Mott, 6; Brad Cox, 4; Mark Casse, 1; Phil D’Amato, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.

Jockey
Irad Ortiz Jr., 218; Flavien Prat, 24; Jose Ortiz, 1; Joel Rosario, 1, Luis Saez, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Apprentice Jockey
Jose Antonio Gomez, 112; Vicente Del-Cid, 91; Jeiron Barbosa, 18; Kylee Jordan, 4; Marshall Mendez, 1; Madeline Rowland, 1; Voter Abstentions, 19.

Cody's Wish Won Hearts, Dirt Mile and Moment of the Year

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 16:33:12 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and Daily Racing Form announced today that the heartwarming story of Cody’s Wish was voted the 2022 FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year.

The uplifting story culminated when Cody’s Wish won the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 5 with namesake Cody Dorman and family in attendance. Cody was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder rendering him wheelchair-bound and unable to speak without an electronic device. At the age of 16 during Breeders' Cup, Cody had already far outlived the inital odds of his life expectancy. With the help of Make-A-Wish Foundation, Cody visited Gainsborough Farm in Kentucky when his namesake-to-be was six months old, and they bonded right away. Two years later they were able to meet again. The bond was unbroken, and the owners decided to name the horse Cody’s Wish.

The FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year will be recognized during the 52nd Annual Eclipse Awards Presented by John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Jan. 26. The ceremony will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV and Racetrack Television Network (RTN), and will be streamed live on multiple outlets including NTRA.com , americasbestracing.net , bloodhorse.com , equibase.com , and NTRA’s Youtube channel .

Voting concluded on Jan. 17. Moment of the Year voters chose from 11 events in 2022 illustrating a range of human emotions as well as outstanding displays of equine athleticism.

Past Moments of the Year

The first-ever “NTRA Moment of the Year” was the touching scene between Charismatic and jockey Chris Antley following the 1999 Belmont Stakes. The next year’s winner was the stretch run of the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic, which saw Tiznow hold on for a dramatic victory against Giant’s Causeway. Tiznow won again the following year as fans selected his stirring repeat victory in the Classic over Sakhee.

In 2002, fans cited the passing of the last living Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew. In 2003, the popular Kentucky Derby win by Funny Cide was selected. Birdstone’s upset win in the Belmont Stakes over Smarty Jones took down top honors for 2004. In 2005, fans selected Afleet Alex’s spectacular victory in the 2005 Preakness Stakes.

Voters in 2006 chose Barbaro’s gallant struggle to recover from his Preakness injury while at the New Bolton Center. The 2007 Moment of the Year was a historic victory by the filly Rags to Riches over Curlin in the Belmont Stakes. In 2008, it was Zenyatta’s win in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. Zenyatta “repeated” in 2009 as fans selected her triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The 2014 award went to California Chrome’s dominant win in Kentucky Derby 140. In 2015 there was a landslide vote in favor of American Pharoah’s historic Triple Crown-clinching Belmont Stakes win. In 2016, California Chrome was again part of the winning moment – a dramatic Dubai World Cup victory that came as Victor Espinoza’s saddle slipped out from underneath him.

Breeders’ Cup success had eluded 13 Japanese runners heading into the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. That changed dramatically on Breeders’ Cup Saturday when Marche Lorraine (45-1/Distaff) and Loves Only You (4-1/Filly & Mare Turf) each won for trainer Yoshito Yahagi. The victories by the Japanese duo were voted the 2021 FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year.

Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence to Privman

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:48:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters and Daily Racing Form will honor Jay Privman with a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence at the 52 ^nd Annual Eclipse Awards at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Jan. 26.

A highly respected member of his profession by Thoroughbred racing’s participants and peers alike, Privman’s career went far beyond his work covering horse racing. He is actively involved in many charitable endeavors, and as a key member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters has provided insightful guidance on matters affecting his colleagues and the sport.

"This is quite humbling and most appreciated, as it has been bestowed by my peers and those I covered," Privman said. "I get very emotional seeing whose names have also won a Special Award, like the greatest rider I ever saw, Laffit Pincay Jr., and the great racing journalist Charles Hatton. The number 30 is used in print journalism to signify the end of a story, so I find it incredibly moving to be the 30th recipient of the Special Award at the close of my career."

As a college student working part-time for The Los Angeles Daily News, Privman covered his first race in 1980 – eventual Hall of Fame inductee Spectacular Bid’s victory in the Malibu Stakes. He went on to work for The Daily News full-time from 1981 through 1991, then became West Coast editor for The Racing Times (1991 to 1992) and a West Coast correspondent for The New York Times (1992 to 1998). He also was a correspondent for The Thoroughbred Record and The Thoroughbred Times (1983 to 1998).

Privman is best known across the country for his work at Daily Racing Form, which he joined in October 1998 as national correspondent, eventually taking over the popular Derby Doings column that was launched decades earlier by one of his mentors, longtime Daily Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch. Privman and Hirsch are both members of the National Museum of Racing Roll of Honor. That esteemed group is named after Hirsch, and Privman was called to join it in 2021.

After Privman announced his retirement from DRF in September 2022, Flightline's romp in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar was the final major race he covered for the publication.

"For over three decades, Jay Privman has been the gold standard of professionalism and objectivity in news reporting," said Steven Crist, former Editor-in-Chief at The Racing Times and former CEO and Publisher of DRF. "He is widely respected by both his readers and his fellow journalists throughout the sport, and his exemplary coverage will be missed."

Privman has been a regular presence and influence at the semi-annual meetings of NTWAB held during Derby and Breeders' Cup weeks during his decades of service. He served as NTWAB president in 2000 and 2001 and was on its board of directors for many years.

In addition to a distinguished career in turf writing, Privman covered horse racing on television for CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and NBCSN. Radio was also within his domain -- Privman was the longtime co-host of the radio show Thoroughbred Los Angeles on KLAA-AM 830.

Privman worked tirelessly to tell the story of Thoroughbred racing, turning what he describes as a childhood hobby into a true vocation, one that lasted more than four decades. He was a mainstay on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, covering many major races leading to the Run for the Roses and Triple Crown. He covered every Kentucky Derby from 1982 through 2019, missing 2020 and 2021 because of covid restrictions and surgery for bladder cancer, respectively. He returned for a final Triple Crown go-round in 2022. Privman was there for every Breeders’ Cup from the inaugural in 1984 through 2021 except the pandemic-marred 2020 running.

Privman authored the books “Breeders’ Cup: Thoroughbred Racing’s Championship Day,” and “Del Mar at 75” and was a contributing writer to the DRF book “Champions.” He reported on eight Eclipse Award-winning television and radio broadcasts: three each with ESPN and NBC and one each with Sirius Radio and Fox Sports West 2.

Privman earned numerous other honors for his Thoroughbred racing coverage. He is a six-time winner of the Red Smith Award (1989, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2008) from Churchill Downs for the best Kentucky Derby story; a two-time winner of the David F. Woods Award (2002, 2013) from the Maryland Jockey Club for the best Preakness Stakes story; and a two-time winner of the Joe Hirsch Award (2010, 2016) from the New York Racing Association for the best Belmont Stakes story.

Privman’s Breeders’ Cup awards include six Joe Hirsch Awards (2001, 2003, 2005, 2015, 2017, 2018) for news reporting and the Bill Leggett Award (2017) for feature writing. Other honors include the Old Hilltop Award from the Maryland Jockey Club (2005); Walter Haight Award from the National Turf Writers Association (2005); induction into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (2011); and the Charles W. Engelhard Award from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (2016).

Privman and his wife Anne Warner reside in Carlsbad, CA, 11 miles from the first track he ever attended, Del Mar.

NTRA release edited by Dick Downey

2022 Eclipse Award Finalists

Sat, 07 Jan 2023 21:01:30 GMT

The 2022 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, were announced today.

In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, David Harrison will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2022 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Finalists are shown in alphabetical order.

Two-Year-Old Male: Cave Rock, Forte, Victoria Road (IRE)

Two-Year-Old Filly: Leave No Trace, Meditate (IRE), Wonder Wheel

Three-Year-Old Male: Epicenter, Modern Games (IRE), Taiba

Three-Year-Old Filly: Nest, Secret Oath, Tuesday (IRE)

Older Dirt Male: Flightline, Life Is Good, Olympiad

Older Dirt Female: Clairiere, Goodnight Olive, Malathaat

Male Sprinter: Cody’s Wish, Elite Power, Jackie’s Warrior

Female Sprinter: Caravel, Echo Zulu, Goodnight Olive

Male Turf Horse: Modern Games (IRE), Nations Pride (IRE), Rebel’s Romance (IRE)

Female Turf Horse: In Italian (GB), Regal Glory, War Like Goddess

Steeplechase Horse: Down Royal, Hewick (IRE), Snap Decision

Owner: Peter Brant, Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables Inc.

Breeder: Godolphin, Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, Summer Wind Equine

Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr., Flavien Prat, Joel Rosario

Apprentice Jockey: Jeiron Barbosa, Vicente Del-Cid, Jose Antonio Gomez

NTWAB Members Layden, Law, Penna Among 2022 Media Eclipse Awards Winners

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 21:20:59 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today announced the winners of the 2022 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories.

Writing – Feature/Commentary – Tim Layden – “Beneath the Super Bowl’s Turf: The Ghosts of Hollywood Park,” NBCSports.com, Feb. 8, 2022.

Writing- News Enterprise – Tom Law – “Big Tally,” Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, July 1, 2022

Audio/Multimedia – Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) – Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Nov. 5, 2022

Mike Penna, HRRN President

Live Television Programming – NBC Sports Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 4-5, 2022

Lindsay Schanzer, NBC Sports Producer of Horse Racing

Feature Television Programming – NBC Sports – “Cody’s Wish” Nov. 5, 2022

Jack Felling, Coordinating Producer

Photography – Wendy Wooley – “Elbow Room Please,” The Paulick Report, Oct. 1, 2022.

Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented their trophies at the 52nd Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony and Dinner at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Tim Layden

Tim Layden, a writer-at-large for NBC Sports and an NTWAB member, won his third Media Eclipse Award for “ Beneath the Super Bowl’s Turf: The Ghosts of Hollywood Park ,” which was published on NBCSports.com on Feb. 8, 2022. Layden, from Simsbury, Conn., won his first Eclipse Award in 1987 for Newspaper writing for Capital Newspapers in Albany, N.Y., and in 2018 for Sports Illustrated, for his Feature/Commentary article on track announcer Charles “Chic” Anderson.

“I'm happy for, and thankful to the people at NBCSports.com, who gave me a place to publish my work after I left Sports Illustrated and have been unfailingly supportive,” said Layden. “It's a thrill to see that work recognized, not just because we all like to be recognized, but also because of NBC's enduring relationship with racing.”

Super Bowl LVI in February 2021 was being played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., which was once the site of Hollywood Park, one of America’s most prominent and successful racetracks of the 20 ^th Century, with the biggest names in show business enjoying such outstanding horses as Seabiscuit, and Triple Crown winners Citation, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Hollywood Park hosted the first Breeders’ Cup in 1984.

“NBC owned the rights to Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. Ron Vaccaro, NBC's Vice President for Content, who I work with frequently, wondered if there might be something to write about the fact that SoFi Stadium sat on the ground that once was Hollywood Park,” Layden recalled. “It was a terrific idea. I love stories that connect the present to the past, and I had seen the old Hollywood Park, and like so many other frequent travelers, had watched the transformation during the approach to the LAX, where you could look down and see it happening.”

In his article, Layden drew a picture of the workmanlike atmosphere of Hollywood Park through the words of Hall of Fame Jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Doug O’Neill, and John Shirreffs, who trained Horse of the Year Zenyatta at Barn 55.

Honorable mention in the Feature/Commentary category went to three-time Eclipse Award winner Natalie Voss for “ After Rough Entry To The World, ‘Gumbo’ The Colt Is Overcoming The Odds ,” which appeared in the Paulick Report on Sept. 5, 2022, and to former Eclipse Award winner Bryce Miller for “ Complicated Case of Horse Racing Trainer Peter Miller Returns to Del Mar ,” which was published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on July 21, 2022.

Judges in the Feature/Commentary category were Reid Cherner, former sports and racing writer, and columnist for USA Today; Tom LaMarra, Director of Communications and Backstretch Services for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association; and Amy Owens, Communications Associate at Keeneland.

News/Enterprise – Tom Law

In “ Big Tally ,” Tom Law, born and raised in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., covered the 2022 Preakness Stakes for Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred and reported on the victory by Klaravich Stable’s Early Voting in the second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. This is the second Eclipse Award for Law, who shared the 2011 Audio/Multimedia and Internet Award with Greg Charkoudian of Thoroughbred Times, where he worked for more than 14 years in Lexington before joining ST Publishing as Managing Editor in 2012.

“Winning a second Eclipse Award is an incredible honor, and especially satisfying to be recognized for the coverage of a historic event like the Preakness,” said Law, who serves and has served for multiple terms as NTWAB president.

Enveloping crisp race reporting, Law bolstered his piece with quotes from winning trainer Chad Brown’s decision to skip the Kentucky Derby for Early Voting, and his preparations prior to the Preakness in Baltimore. Law also brought to light jockey Jose Ortiz’s decision to take the mount on Early Voting, and his calculated ride to victory.

“One of the many things I've learned working with colleagues, friends, and partners Joe and Sean Clancy for more than 10 years is there's always a story behind the story, and probably even another story,” said Law. “That was the case with Early Voting and his connections, who kept the colt in New York for the winter, skipped the Kentucky Derby, and were rewarded for those moves in the Preakness. Jockey Jose Ortiz also provided great insight into his early impressions of Early Voting and a short conversation with him an hour after the race laid the groundwork for my coverage.”

Honorable mention in the News/Enterprise category went to five-time Eclipse Award winner Jay Hovdey for “ Flightline Lands a Special Place in History ,” which was published in the BloodHorse Daily on Sept. 4, 2022, and to Paul Halloran for “ Fairytale (scroll down online at This Is Horse Racing),” about Cody’s Wish, which was published in the Saratoga Special on Aug. 31, 2022.

Judges in the News/Enterprise category were Bob Kieckhefer, racing writer for United Press International; NTWAB member Dan Liebman, former editor of The BloodHorse and The State-Journal in Frankfort, Ky., and Robert Yates, writer for Oaklawn Park Media Relations and also an NTWAB member.

Audio/Multimedia – Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN)

Horse Racing Radio Network has won its third Audio/ Multimedia Eclipse Award for its live broadcast of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Nov. 4-5, 2022 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

“To be honored with a third Eclipse Award is extremely special,” said HRRN President and broadcast anchor Mike Penna, also a member of NTWAB. “When we launched HRRN nearly 20 years ago, our only goal was to create something that would help the sport in some way. Thanks to the support of our sponsors, our listeners, and everyone who has ever taken the time to join us as a guest on our shows, we have been able to continue to tell the stories which make our sport great. We are truly grateful and humbled to be recognized once again.”

The 2022 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic was one of the most anticipated races of the season, headlined by the remarkable Flightline, who was undefeated in five career starts prior to the race. HRRN reached behind the scenes with pre-race interviews with Flightline’s co-owner and breeder, Jane Lyon, and produced a feature telling the story of Flightline as a baby before he became a star on the track.

While Flightline was the primary story line associated with the Classic, the HRRN team also spoke to connections of his talented rivals, which included WinStar Farm’s CEO Elliott Walden and their four-time Grade 1 winner Life Is Good. Trainer Eric Reed discussed Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike and the possibility of wrapping up a three-year-old championship with a Classic win, as well as discussions with Hall of Famers Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen, and Mike Smith. Immediately after the race, John Velazquez, who rode Happy Saver, shared his thoughts on Flightline and what it was like competing against him.

In addition to Penna, the HRRN analyst team included Bobby Neuman, NTWAB member Jude Feld, and Jeff Bloom. Keeneland announcer Kurt Becker provided the live call of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The broadcast was produced by Lee Dellapina along with engineer Shawn Seay. Production assistance was contributed by Feld, Justin Taylor, Keith O’Brien, Fanny Salmon, and Michelle Penna.

Honorable mention in the Audio Multimedia category went to Horse Racing Nation for “Jockey gets her 1st Saratoga win on filly trained by her dad,” about Robbie Davis and his daughter Jackie. The video was produced by Andrew Capone and was posted on Aug. 13, 2002.

Judges in the Audio/Multimedia category were Glenn Crouter, former lead television anchor for Woodbine Live Network and sports and lifestyle announcer for Newstalk 1010 in Toronto; Bob Curran, longtime Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Jockey Club and graduate of the St. Bonaventure University journalism program; and NTWAB member Julie Sarno, freelance writer, a former editorial staff member of The BloodHorse, staff member at The Meadowlands, and staff member and Department Head at Del Mar.

Television - Live Racing Programming - NBC Sports

For the third consecutive year, NBC Sports has won the Eclipse Award for Live Television Programming for its broadcast on NBC, Peacock, and the USA Network, culminating its two-day coverage of the 39 ^th Breeders’ Cup World Championships from Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., with the scintillating performance of Flightline in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Continuing to provide its audience with technical innovations and multiple viewing opportunities, NBC Sports employed unique perspectives from the track with access to approximately 75 video sources, including multiple live jockey cams and jockey and trainer/owner mics; a backstretch camera; jockey cams connecting to real-time data that allowed viewers to see graphic overlays on replays, including speed, current position, distance from the leader, and distance from the finish; and a megaladon camera to share live-action footage of the fashion and flavors surrounding the event.

For individual access to the horses, NBC Sports utilized Breeders’ Cup Contender Cams, featuring paddock ISO cameras and front-side ISO roof cameras. For the first time, NBC Sports added a side set with a full-screen telestration monitor for our two desk analysts to be able to take a deep dive into each Breeders’ Cup race.

“At NBC Sports, we are grateful to be a part of the biggest horse racing events in the country – and this year’s Breeders’ Cup capped them all off with an absolute flourish,” said NBC Sports Senior Producer of Horse Racing Lindsay Schanzer. “The entire weekend was a thrill, highlighted by the inspirational story of Dirt Mile winner Cody’s Wish and his namesake Cody Dorman, and the otherworldly Flightline finishing his illustrious career with a dominant win in the Classic. These are the moments you dream about covering in sports and in racing. We are incredibly proud of this broadcast and thank our NBC Sports colleagues and our partners at Breeders’ Cup for all of their efforts to make this possible.”

Joining Schanzer on the production team were director Kaare Numme; assistant producer Caroline Sayer; assistant director Jared Sumner; associate director Jeff Burriesci and editorial producer Amy Zimmerman.

The NBC talent team was comprised of Ahmed Fareed, Jerry Bailey, Matt Bernier and NTWAB members Randy Moss, Britney Eurton, Donna Brothers, Kenny Rice, Nick Luck, Steve Kornacki, and Larry Collmus.

Judges in the Live Television Programming category were Jeannine Edwards, multiple award-winning reporter, and analyst for ESPN from 1995-2018; NTWAB member Dick Jerardi, who covered more than three decades of Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup races for Philadelphia Daily News; and Chris Svendsen, Director - CBS Sports.

Television Feature – NBC Sports

In “Cody’s Wish” NBC Sports produced a feature, which aired on USA Network on Nov. 5, on one of the most heartwarming stories of 2022 about teenager Cody Dorman, and the racehorse Cody’s Wish. Cody Dorman was stricken at birth with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. At age 4, in a chance visit through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Cody went to Gainsborough Farm in Versailles, Ky., and immediately bonded with a young foal, who was later named Cody’s Wish.

After Cody’s Wish began racing Cody came to see him win his first race at Churchill Downs in 2021. Cody went to subsequent races to see Cody’s Wish win twice more. After the segment aired, Cody was also at Keeneland to see Cody’s Wish win the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland during the World Championships.

“For as long as I’ve been working on horseracing, I can’t recall a connection between horse and human like the bond shared by Cody Dorman and Cody’s Wish . That horse has truly made a lasting impact on Cody’s life,” said NBC Sports Coordinating Producer Jack Felling, “Cody is such a courageous young man, and his parents, Kelly and Leslie, are two of the most selfless and loving people I’ve ever met on the job. The sight of the Dormans celebrating together after Cody's Wish won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile is a scene I’ll never forget. That was horseracing at its very best. All of us at NBC Sports feel lucky to have had the chance to tell that story.”

“Cody’s Wish” was narrated by former NBC award-winning broadcaster Tom Hammond. Ryan Yeager was the editor. Lindsay Schanzer is NBC Sports Senior Producer for Horse Racing.

Honorable Mention in the Television Feature category went to ESPN for “Bob Baffert Conversation,” produced by Kristine Kugler, which aired on May 6, 2022.

Judges in the Television Features category were Liz Bronstein, television showrunner and executive producer, and creator of the Animal Planet 2008-09 series “Jockeys”; Bruce Casella, Television producer and director, Pushin a Rock Productions, and NTWAB member Lenny Shulman, an Emmy Award- winning writer, producer, author, and former senior correspondent for Bloodhorse.

Photography – Wendy Wooley

Wooley, from Lexington, Ky., has won her first Eclipse Award, for “ Elbow Room Please ,” a head-on photograph of the $500,000 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs on Oct. 1, depicting a furious stretch battle between Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve winner Rich Strike and 2021 Kentucky Derby runner-up Hot Rod Charlie. Wooley’s image captured Rich’s Strike’s jockey, Sonny Leon, attempting to elbow jockey Tyler Gaffalione and his mount, Hot Rod Charlie, in the battle to the wire. Hot Rod Charlie prevailed in the Lukas Classic by a half-length.

“Winning an Eclipse Award feels surreal to me! It's an amazing honor,” said Wooley. “I'm a bit speechless. I grew up in the Detroit area as a typical horse-crazy girl. I always watched racing on television and I'll never forget when Affirmed won the Triple Crown. I got out of racing when my life had me going in a different direction, but then Barbaro reignited my interest. I started shooting racing in the Chicago area since that was the closest track for me at the time. It was fun and photographing horse racing is how I eventually met my husband, Matt, and moved to Lexington.”

The Wooleys, full-time photographers working for many farms in Central Kentucky, run EquiSport Photos and have been shooting for the Paulick Report for nearly 10 years.

They were at Churchill on Oct. 1 to primarily shoot the Ack Ack Stakes on assignment for the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race, but also took a great interest in the Lukas Classic, which was Rich Strike’s first race at Churchill since winning the Derby.

“Since I shoot with big glass (600mm lens) I usually like to shoot head-on,” Wooley remembers in setting up her shot using a Canon R3 camera. “So that's where I went, down at the clubhouse turn going around the turn enough so that I get them running straight towards me, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing through my camera while shooting.”

When Wooley returned to the Churchill Downs media center, she found multiple Eclipse Award-winning writer Jennie Rees and said "You've got to see this!" and showed her the whole sequence of images. “We both chalked it up to some rough race riding. I sent the image to the Paulick Report and Ray wrote me back with ‘this is a heckuva shot.’ That's when I knew it was a special image. I realized I was the only one with that angle too. No one else shot the head-on that day.”

Honorable Mention in the Photography category went to former Eclipse Award winner Scott Serio for his photo “ The Coach ” of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, which appeared first on Hipismo.net on Nov. 15, 2022.

Judges in the category were Mark Abraham, freelance photographer and currently deputy director of the United States Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery; Rob Carr, Getty Images/Chief Photographer, Sports; and NTWAB member Mike Kane, veteran Thoroughbred journalist and photographer.

Edited release

President's Fall Newsletter with Meeting Minutes

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:20:11 GMT

It was great to see so many of you at last week’s NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner, membership meeting and the Breeders’ Cup. The minutes from the meeting are set out below, and as you’ll see we voted in 10 new members to the association.

Also, a recap of our dinner with a photo array is on our website .

The program for the 2022 dinner is also available online at ntwab.org . Many thanks to Graham Allen for providing us a PDF in the proper format to load such a large file, and to Dick Downey for getting it up on the website.

There are always issues that pop up at major events like the Breeders’ Cup. If you encountered any, or had any problems with access, credentialing, parking, shuttles, etc., please let me know and I’ll make sure the appropriate people from the BC are aware.

Eclipse Award voting will begin soon; so please be sure to have dues paid up and let Jennifer Kelly know of any address changes as soon as possible. The deadline for submission in the Eclipse Award media categories is also coming fast – 5 p.m. November 18 – so don’t miss out.

I wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Take care,
Tom Law
NTWAB President
November 10, 202

NTWAB General Membership Meeting
Breeders’ Cup Week 2022
November 3, 2022, 11 am ET

Minutes by Jennifer Kelly, Secretary

Call to Order – Tom Law called the meeting to order at 11:12 am ET.

Roll Call – Alex Orr, Marty McGee, John Cherwa, Julie June Stewart, Danielle Gibson, Kim Rinker, Vance Hanson, Paul Rolfes, Ron Flatter, Ed DeRosa, Jennie Rees, Greg Hall, Alicia Hughes, Justina Severini, Cindy Deubler, Beverley Smith, John Scheinman, Naomi Tukker, Liane Crossley, Debbie Arrington, Jay Privman, Dick Downey, Byron King, Sara Gordon, Natalie Voss, Joe Nevills, Tim Wilkin, Frank Angst, Robert Kieckhefer, Scott Hazelton, Nathan Campbell, Jessie Oswald, Evan Hammonds, Andrew Champagne, Dave Johnson, Gregory Hall.

NTWAB Dinner Wrap-Up – Dick gave an update on the NTWAB awards dinner the previous evening. The event cost $16,013, including a $2,400 gratuity. Byron King sold more than $23,000 in ads for the evening’s program, and with the addition of ads Mike Kane sold, ad sales are more than $24,000. Oaklawn Park still owes for its 2021 advertisement. Bob Kieckhefer asked about the amount. Dick shared that the total owed is $600. He also solicited for anyone with contacts within the Oaklawn administration to help take care of this outstanding debt.

For those unable to attend this year’s dinner, you can find a few photos from the evening’s festivities here.

Treasurer’s Report – Dick Downey shared his Treasurer’s Report. NTWAB currently has $113,305.56 in Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares and $13,319.19 in Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund, for a total of $126,624.75. NTWAB’s checking account has $23,947.78 and the charitable fund has $6,275.25. Total assets stand at $156,847.22. Donation of $7,500 to seven organizations following the NTWAB banquet on behalf of award recipients, emcee Tom Leach, and Jay Privman.

Privman Donation – In honor of Mr. Privman’s retirement, the board has voted to donate $1,000 to an organization of his choosing. He selected Old Friends as the beneficiary.

New Member Applications – Tom Law moved to discuss new member applications. Ten applications were submitted. All were approved as Regular members (writers and broadcasters) except for John Furlong, who was admitted as an Associate member owing to his largely supporting role at NBC. Table with applicant names and affiliations given in chart below.

Ron Flatter asks about the decision behind admitting Furlong as an associate rather than a full member. Greg Hall chimes in with discussion about nuances within Furlong’s role and how it relates to NTWAB.

Jennie Rees offers support for Danny Brewer’s application, followed by Frank Angst. FA said he researched Brewer’s activities and felt that they merit his qualification for inclusion.

Bob Kieckhefer moves to pass slate of applications. Gregory Hall seconds.

All present on Zoom and in person approve. All applicants are approved for membership.

Internship Program Update – Natalie Voss gives update on internship program. NTWAB will offer two $2,500 stipends for summer internships. The aim is to have one broadcast and one print/digital internship for journalism or broadcasting students interested in learning more about the sport or for those with equine experience looking to learn more about working in media.

HISA Information Requests – Byron King shares information about HISA’s policies about information requests and asks NTWAB to consider pushing for better disclosure policies about data and other information HISA collects. Ron Flatter relates issue to that of working with entities like FTC and other private entities with quasi-public/government intersection and their policies about FOIA requests and similar.

Gregory Hall proposes that the organization may need to consult with an attorney about this topic. Also brings up the interaction between state racing boards subject to laws like FOIA.

Dick Downey and Frank Angst suggest collaborating with business journalists to ask about working with private organizations with ties to public entities, like the SEC, on the issue of information requests.

King asks NTWAB to write a letter to HISA to encourage them to clarify their policies. Greg Hall motions for President to write a letter on this issue to HISA. Frank Angst suggest we ask them to clarify their policies regarding disclosures, re: FOIA and similar. Julie June Stewart suggests adding language about FOIA to letter to get something in writing. Seconds from Dick Arrington and Justina Severini.

Motion passes. Tom Law will elicit help for this from Associated Press Sports Editors as done with CHRB issues.

Breeders’ Cup Questions and Concerns for NTWAB Members – Natalie Voss asked about media parking for Breeders’ Cup. Tim Wilkin mentioned the shuttles schedule from media hotel, with concerns about timing for those on deadline.

Alicia Hughes brought up issues with parking on Rice Road with media credentials and no hangtags. Security was not accepting media credentials when it came to accessing parking or certain parts of the track. Jennie Rees reports same issue. Frank Angst added that photographers had run into similar. Tom Law assured he would follow up with Jim Gluckson of Breeders’ Cup.

Commendations for Loren and Tom – Dick Downey moved to thank both Tom Law and Loren Hebel-Osborne for their efforts in putting on a successful NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner. Membership offered thanks.

Miscellaneous – Frank Angst shared comments about NTWAB’s handling of CHRB issue.

Adjournment - Frank Angst moved motioned to adjourn meeting. Byron King seconded. Meeting adjourned at 11:56 am ET.

Applicants for Membership – November 2022
Name Sponsors Board Decision Membership Vote
Danny Brewer Jennie Rees & Tim Wilkin Recommended Approve
Sara Elbadwi Ed DeRosa & Mark Midland Recommended Approve
John Furlong John Cherwa & Ron Flatter Recommended Approve
Lauren Gash Frank Angst & Claire Crosby Recommended Approve
Mike Gandolfo John Cherwa & E.J. Clark Recommended Approve
Marcus Hersh Tom Law & Frank Angst Recommended Approve
Steve Kornacki Ron Flatter & John Cherwa Recommended Approve
Louis Rabaut Jennie Rees & Tim Wilkin Recommended Approve
Rishi Persad Scott Hazelton & Tom Law Recommended Approve
Robert Rodriguez John Pricci & Marty McGee Recommended Approve

NTWAB Announces Internship Opportunities

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 14:02:25 GMT

The NTWAB education committee is pleased to announce that the organization will offer two $2,500 stipends to support internships at horse racing media outlets in 2023. We intend for the stipends to be matched by the outlets offering the internships with the hope that our contribution can enable an outlet to more easily fund a paid summer internship experience. One of the stipends will be earmarked for a broadcast outlet, and the other for a print or digital outlet. The committee will work alongside the outlets to promote their internship and help source potential internship candidates.

We expect that supported outlets will construct an internship experience that is engaging and educational for the intern, ideally providing them the chance to leave the experience with one or more bylines/credits in published or broadcasted work. We expect outlets to allow the intern hands-on opportunities for news or feature coverage, ideally with the chance to attend race meetings or industry events as credentialed media.

We expect the intern to have a strong interest in horse racing, and are open to both a prospective intern with journalism or broadcast experience who wants to learn more about racing, or to someone with equine experience who wants to learn more about media. We are open to supporting virtual, in-person or hybrid internship experiences, depending upon the needs of the media outlet. The goal is to create or improve readiness of interns to be suitable candidates for entry-level positions in this field, if they so choose in future.

The committee will accept letters of application from interested outlets for the 2023 summer season. We request that outlets provide us a brief outline of the timeframe, salary match, and expected responsibilities for a summer intern by Jan. 15. Letters can come to natalie@paulickreport.com and tom@thisishorseracing.com.

Awards Dinner A Hit - Photo Array

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 14:38:33 GMT

A full house attended NTWAB's 62d Annual Awards Dinner on Nov. 2 at Malone's Prime in Lexington, Ky. ahead of Breeders' Cup. Our thanks to event organizer Loren Hebel-Osborne and NTWAB president Tom Law for their tireless efforts. We had a lot of fun! Scroll down for awards winners' photos and more. (Photo by Dick Downey)

Among our six award winners were Tom Pedulla (first photo below, right) and Mike Welsch (below, center), who both received the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. Bob Ehalt (first photo below, left), Pedulla's best friend for over 50 years and an outstanding turf writer, presented to Pedulla. They're shown with NTWAB president Tom Law (second from left) and Tom Leach, our esteemed master of ceremonies. Pedulla, who covered racing for USA Today from 1995 to 2012, started his career in 1976. He continues as the lead writer for the America’s Best Racing and contributes to multiple publications. Pedulla's a longtime NTWAB member who served as the organization’s president from 2012 to 2016,

Welsch was presented his award by fellow Daily Racing Form journalist David Grening (below, left). They're joined by Law in the photo. Welsch has been a member of Daily Racing Form’s editorial team since 1972. He serves as DRF’s lead clocker at racing’s major events and works on-site for the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby, Breeders’ Cup and other major events as well as being on the job daily at major tracks writing reports from morning workouts and gallops along with stakes advances. (Photos by Loren Hebel-Osborne)

Chris Lincoln was voted the winner of NTWAB's Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting. An Eclipse Award-winner who served as longtime producer and host of ESPN’s Racing Across America and Racehorse Digest programs in the 1980s and ‘90s, Lincoln logged more than 8.6 million travel miles over six continents for more than 25 years covering racing, Lincoln is a member of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Steve Byk, left, was last year's McKay winner and said during his presentation Lincoln was an inspiration to him during his formative years. (Photo by Loren Hebel-Osborne)

Kiaran McLaughlin was named by NTWAB to receive the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity. Kiaran's flight from New York was delayed for three hours, causing him to miss the awards dinner, but almost two dozen family members were on hand, and Neal McLaughlin, Kiaran's brother, delivered a moving, spellbinding tribute. Born and raised in Lexington, Ky., McLaughlin was introduced to racing through longtime friend Greg Burchell. He worked for Burchell’s father, John, and other trainers before landing a job with Hall of Fame conditioner D. Wayne Lukas in the mid-1980s.

McLaughlin left Lukas’ operation in 1992 to become a jockey’s agent, working with the late Chris Antley for about a year until taking a job as private trainer for the Maktoum family in Dubai. He later divided his time in Dubai and the U. S. training for Shadwell Farm, Godolphin Racing, Darley and other Maktoum operations and helped produce dozens of major stakes victories, including 41 Grade 1s. He trained eight millionaires from 1995 to 2020 when he retired from training, including Hall of Famer and $3.8 million earner Frosted. (Photo by Dick Downey)

Jim McIngvale and Barbara Livingston were unable to be on hand for the party. McIngvale appeared by video, though, and said we need to find a way for the equine stars of the sport to have longer racing careers. A presentation was made to his assistant, Cordell Anderson (below), of the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. Anderson ebulliently shouted "Runhappy!"

McIngvale, widely known as “Mattress Mack," was honored with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. McIngvale is one of the most visible personalities in racing through the tireless promotion of his stallion, Runhappy, the 2015 Champion male sprinter. His philanthropy and generosity during regional crises have brought him widespread praise. Known for making massive wagers on racing and sporting events, he was in Philadelphia for the World Series. McIngvale had wagered $10 million on the Houston Astros. The Astros pulled off a win that night to even the series 2-2.

Livingston is chief photographer for Daily Racing Form and was honored with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. A native of Schenectady, New York, Livingston was photographing horse racing at age 10. A six-time Eclipse Award winning photographer, Livingston is the author of seven books, including four in her Old Friends series. She also owns the Raftery/Turfoto collection of historical negatives, preserving the work of legendary photographer Jim Raftery. (Photo of Anderson by Loren Hebel-Osborne)

Jay Privman was in town from California and attended the awards dinner after visiting Silver Charm at Old Friends in Georgetown, Ky. He was surprised with an announcement by Old Friends founder and president Michael Blowen that a street on the farm will be named after him. (Photo by Dick Downey)

Dick Downey, NTWAB treasurer, described the charitable contributions that will be made in November with the support of those at the dinner and the ad sponsors in our program. NTWAB's distributions are made to recipients named by our award winners listed in abetical order: Chris Lincoln: The Tulsa Boys Home; Barbara Livingston: Our Mims Retirement Haven; Jim McIngvale: Churchill Downs Backside Learning Center; Kiaran McLaughlin: The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The Racetrack Chaplaincy of America; Tom Pedulla: Old Friends at Cabin Creek, NY; Mike Welsch: Take2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program. In addition to these, donations will be made to Shepherd's House in Lexington, Ky. on behalf of emcee Tom Leach, and to Old Friends on behalf of Jay Privman. (Photo by Loren Hebel-Osborne)

Santa Anita Names Race for NTWAB's Privman

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 18:40:41 GMT

NTWAB past president and board member Jay Privman will be honored Saturday in Santa Anita's fourth race named in his honor when he'll be presented with a plaque acknowledging his 40-plus years of covering the Sport of Kings.

Recently retired as Daily Racing Form's national correspondent and nducted into the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in August, 2021, Privman began his journalistic journey in racing while an undergrad at Cal State Northridge.

“I’ve been to many racetracks all over the world, and there’s no more beautiful place to watch a race than Santa Anita,” said Privman, who currently resides in Carlsbad, CA with his wife Anne.

A Los Angeles native, Privman began covering high school football on a part-time basis for the LA Daily News while enrolled as a journalism student at CSUN in the winter of 1979-80. With no one regularly assigned to cover horse racing, Privman requested to cover some big races that winter at Santa Anita.

The primary reason Privman sought the racing assignment was Spectacular Bid. An imposing Maryland-bred colt, grey in color and trained by the irascible Grover G. (Bud) Delp, “The Bid” had won the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and had taken up residence at The Great Race Place in advance of his 4-year-old campaign.

Spectacular Bid would go on to have a winter for the ages, winning four graded stakes -- the Grade II Malibu on Jan. 5, 1980, the Grade II San Fernando on Jan. 19, the Grade I Strub on Feb. 3 and the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap under 130 pounds on March 2 -- all in combination with Bill Shoemaker and on all four occasions with a gutty California-bred named Flying Paster checking in second.

From that point forward, it’s safe to say that through an incredible career that saw him cover racing for the Daily News full-time for 10 years beginning in 1981, serve as West Coast editor for the Racing Times from 1991-92, West Coast correspondent for the New York Times from 1992-98 and finally as National Correspondent for DRF from 1998 until his retirement at the end of the Del Mar meet last month, Privman’s love for and devotion to racing never waned.

“We’re honored to be able to name a race for Jay and to acknowledge his contributions to racing,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “Jay’s love of the game and his professionalism through these many years are what made him stand out. He covered our sport with a steady hand and was always fair.

“Although we certainly miss him in print and as a regular voice on radio, we’re happy that with all of his newly found free time as a retiree, he’ll be able to spend significant amounts of quality time with us as a fan and horseplayer. He’s truly a Hall of Famer and we wish him and Anne all the best in the years to come.”

In all, Privman, 62, whose resume also includes television assignments with CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBCSN and as the Saturday morning radio host of “Thoroughbred Los Angeles” on KLAA, AM 830, covered 39 of the past 41 Kentucky Derbies dating back to 1982 and 37 of the 38 runnings of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships beginning at Hollywood Park in 1984.

Privman remains a member of NTWAB and will be in Lexington Breeders' Cup week in attendance at the organization's annual awards dinner on Nov. 2.

--Edited Santa Anita release with content by Dick Downey

Guidelines for 2022 Media Eclipse Awards

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:50:24 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), in conjunction with Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters, today released the guidelines for the 2022 Media Eclipse Awards. The media awards are presented by the NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and the NTWAB for outstanding achievement in media coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

All submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m. (ET), Friday, November 18, 2022.

Categories for the 2022 Media Eclipse Awards are:

Writing - News/Enterprise
Writing - Features/Commentary
Photography
Television - Live Racing Programming
Television - Features
Audio/Multimedia Internet

Beginning with the 1998 Awards, Eclipse Awards voting has been presented by the NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters. Previously, the Eclipse Awards were sponsored by Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (TRA) in conjunction with Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association. Prior to the start of the Eclipse Awards in 1971, the TRA and Daily Racing Form separately honored racing’s annual champions. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 career starts.

***

2022 MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS RULES

The Eclipse Awards for Media are presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters. Rules governing the Media Eclipse Awards are established by representatives of the three presenting organizations.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARD CATEGORIES

Writing - News/Enterprise
Writing - Features/Commentary
Photography
Television - Live Racing Programming
Television - Features
Audio/Multimedia Internet

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be RECEIVED by 5:00 p.m. (ET), Friday, November 18, 2022. Entries received after that time will not be accepted.

Entries for the Writing, Photography, and Audio Multimedia and Internet, and Television awards will be accepted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Portal.

ENTRY FEE

None

RULES

Entries should display outstanding achievement in the coverage of North American Thoroughbred racing and must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 20, 2021, and November 18, 2022. All submissions are limited only to works pertaining to the Thoroughbred breed , and no other equine breed. Submissions on subjects, topics, and individuals which took place exclusively outside of North America will not be accepted.

Print and Internet submissions (news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, and photography) must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website.
Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.
Audio/Multi-Media Internet entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been broadcast on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) are not eligible in any category.

Submissions are limited to outlets that are managed by an independent editorial department.

LETTERS OF ENTRY

Please indicate the category of each submission in your cover letter. If you are submitting in two different categories please include two separate cover letters.

Editors may submit print materials on behalf of authors, provided such submissions include the cover letter described above. All other third-party submissions will be rejected. In the writing categories, submissions by editors on behalf of multiple writers from a publication on a feature subject, special section or a compendium of stories on breaking news will be rejected.

The presenting organizations reserve the right to determine the eligibility of all entries and to disqualify an entry at any time, including after the determination of an award, at its sole discretion. The presenting organizations reserve the right not to bestow an award in a particular category, based on the quantity or (as determined by a panel of judges) the quality of submissions. Questions concerning eligibility should be directed to the address for entries, listed below.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns.

LIMITS ON ENTRIES

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS CATEGORIES

1. News/Enterprise and Feature/Commentary Writing

There are two categories of competition for Writing awards:

News/Enterprise – Submission guidelines for works in this category are the following: timely, hard news articles and expository pieces involving concentrated background research, investigative reporting, or news analysis.
Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines for works in this category are: columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles.

Please note that competition in the Writing categories is limited to three (3) authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series.

No Q&A submissions will be accepted in either category.

Multi-Part Series Rules

Within each category of writing, authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that have been pre-arranged by the editors and state in the published work that the articles constitute a specified series; with the same subject matter (e.g., racing surfaces, medication) examined or profiled in each article of the series. Articles submitted under the title "occasional series" will not be accepted.

Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter another category, subject to the rules outlined above.

Submission in either the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio and Multi-Media Internet category.

Books – Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

I. COVER LETTER

II. SUBMISSIONS TO THE JUDGES

Authors must submit one copy of each submission in common Microsoft Word format. No Zip files will be accepted. DO NOT PLACE A WEB LINK IN YOUR MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT TO THE JUDGES.
Submissions must appear as the article was worded in the published form.
At the top of your submission, you must include the date and time that the article was first published
All Headlines, Sub-Headlines, Bylines, and Hyperlinks must be removed from the submission.
No publication names are permitted on the submission.
You must remove the name of your publication each time it appears in your submission, and insert the words “name of publication removed”; e.g. “According to a recent study by the Anywhere USA Times…” must be changed to “According to a recent study by (Name of Publication Removed)…”
Photos, graphs, charts, hyperlinks or other graphic elements appearing within the article(s) must be deleted.

Submissions Portal Link

The portal link is here .

2. Photography

Photography entries are limited to images for events that took place in North America. Submission must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website. Submissions posted on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media outlet will not be accepted.

I. COVER LETTER

II. SUBMISSION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Submissions Portal Link

The portal link is here .

3. Television - Live Racing Programming and Features

Only television media outlets may submit entries in this category. Submissions from racetracks or racing organizations, or promotional projects from breeding farms, will not be accepted into the competition. (i.e. The Kentucky Derby broadcast must be submitted by NBC Sports)

There are two television categories:

Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be included.
Feature entries may be submitted as either single, stand-alone pieces, a documentary, a historical piece, a news report, or as part of a live-racing program. Entries in the Features category are limited to 120 minutes. Features may NOT be submitted for separate consideration in this category if the same program has been submitted for entry in the Live Racing category. “Medley” tapes containing more than two features, of any duration, will not be accepted.

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal.

The portal link is here .

Please be sure your entry is not password protected and that your link will open directly to your submission.

4. Audio/Multimedia Internet

All entries in this category must be limited to 60 minutes. Entries for live radio broadcasts may submit a compilation of the best work over the course of one program. ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal.
The Audio/Multimedia Internet category may consist of audio only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. No more than two (2) individual radio or Internet-based audio broadcasts per person may be submitted. “Medley” tapes containing more than three radio shows or Webcasts, of any duration, will not be accepted.
The Multimedia Internet entries must have one integrated theme and be presented in a Webcast centering on a news event, subject, or feature. To be eligible, the Webcast must include at least two forms of media, one of which must be original audio. The complementary form(s) of media may be video, photographs, graphics, and/or print (e.g., a story or stories). Please note that if the entry includes video, the video must be produced as original content.
The entry, in its entirety, must be retrievable from one Internet frame, with links to components of the package being considered part of the frame, provided they link back to pages within the originating Web site and not to other, external Websites. Entries that first appeared over the air or on cable television prior to appearing on the internet will not be accepted.
Submission in the Multimedia Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary categories.
Multimedia Internet submissions must be accompanied by a letter from the editor or equivalent senior official of the website, attesting that the package is the work of the author(s) or organization that submitted it and that it appeared on the website on the date(s) in question.
Authors/Producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

Submissions of Webcasts and Radio Programs must be accompanied by:

A letter from the Web producer or equivalent senior official of the Website attesting that the work is that of the author who submitted it and including the date the program was Webcast and the name of the website on which it aired.
Program title and air date of the production or webcast
The name of the network, radio station, or web outlet

Submissions Portal Link

The portal link is here .

***

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

NTWAB Member Scheinman Finds the 'Magic' in Laurel Handicapping Contest

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Sun, 16 Oct 2022 22:44:22 GMT

John Scheinman of Baltimore, an NTWAB member and two-time Eclipse Award-winning writer, won the the Maryland Jockey Club’s Champions Handicapping Tournament held Oct. 15 at Laurel Park, landing a berth in the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge at Keeneland.

Scheinman compiled a bankroll of $1,691.10, besting 130 other entrants and edging second finisher Robin Buser by $51.90. He earned $12,000 in prize money to go with a $2,500 BCBC entry fee and a $7,500 stake to play in the tournament.

Scheinman said he devised a strategy in advance to play three horses only to see it go haywire out of the gate.

"The first one, Mugsy Malone in the second at Laurel, I chickened out on and actually bet his key rival because of how sharp he looked warming up and watched in horror as Mugsy came in and paid $16.40," Scheinman related. "That was supposed to be a $100 win wager. I almost had a meltdown in the press box, where I holed up to play, because I deviated from my approach on the very first bet and should have been in first place. It took about 20 minutes to calm down, and then I recomposed and sniffed around for something to attack."

Scheinman said he "called a solid audible" in a Keeneland allowance and hit with $16.88 winner Kentucky Ghost, trained by Vickie Oliver, to move into in eighth place. That got him back to his original plan, which was waiting for the stakes races.

"I laid my entire bankroll on Skims in the Sands Point at Aqueduct and vaulted into the lead, doubling the winnings of the second-place contestant. I bet that horse solely because Shug McGaughey called on Johnny Velazquez for the ride, and I spent enough time around the backstretch when I had my NYRA job at Saratoga to learn he was the go-to jockey for important turf assignments for some of the older trainers."

Scheinman went on to increase his advantage with the final horse in his plan, Gina Romantica, who won the QE II at Keeneland.

"I picked her over McKulick in the QEII because she's a miler and McKulick had been running in these really long races," he said via email.

Scheinman decided it would be a mistake to stand pat with one race left at Keeneland.

"I worried I might get caught by somebody dropping a desperation big bet, so I put $30 to win and place on Divine Leader. On the turn, he emerges from a four-horse pace war, and Laurel chart caller Keith Feustle and I start screaming in unison in front of the TV like happy children. Divine Leader puts away the favorite in the lane only to get nailed on the wire by a head. My place bet paid $5.24. If you look at the final tally, that place bet secured the win," said Scheinman.

Scheinman made the BCBC, set for Nov. 4-5, his selection among the tournament options offered to the contest winner. The other choices were the National Handicapping Championship and the Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge.

"I don't really have any interest in the tournament world," Scheinman said, "but I virtually always play the Champions Tournament at Laurel. I've come in second in the past, losing to tournament killer Tony Zhou on the final race at Saratoga.

"I was about $1,000 up on the field when he passed me. At the table to collect, he turns to me and says, 'You're the guy I beat, huh?' I said, 'Yeah,' and he says, 'I didn't even know the name of the horse I bet on.' He's a computer algorithm player. Let's just say I showed a little more grace Saturday talking with my runner-up, and I actually do my own picking."

Scheinman authored "Bal Harbour Blues," a comic crime novella that climaxes at Gulfstream Park. The BCBC at Keeneland will climax his 2022 betting action.

"I feel like I'm going to be in way over my head at the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge, but I've always been a big-day player. I touted Rich Strike twice on Twitter and Facebook before he even had drawn into the field and made a really nice Kentucky Derby score," Scheinman happily recalled. "This has been a fine year playing, and just maybe I have one more bit of magic in me."

President's Newsletter: Upcoming Events, Tributes to Jack Will

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 15:41:30 GMT

Good day, everyone. I wanted to pass along some sad news this week about the passing of longtime turf writer and publicist Jack Will, a friend and colleague to many of our members. Jack passed away in early October at the age of 78, and Daily Racing Form and Paulick Report posted tributes Thursday. Sincere condolences to all who knew and cared for Jack.

Links to the tributes may be found here for Paulick Report and here for Daily Racing Form .

Annual Awards Dinner: Don’t delay purchasing tickets for this year’s NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 2 at Malone’s Prime Events in Lexington. Members receive a discount on the ticket price, and tables of 8 or 10 can be purchased by contacting Byron King or Dick Downey, or by emailing ntwab2016@gmail.com .

We will honor six individuals – Kiaran McLaughlin, Jim McIngvale, Barbara Livingston, Chris Lincoln, Tom Pedulla and Mike Welsch – along with some other special guests. The Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards are also presented at the Awards Dinner.

Individual tickets for this year’s 62 ^nd Annual Awards Dinner can be purchased at this link to Eventbrite .

Breeders’ Cup meeting: Please mark your calendars for the NTWAB General Meeting at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 3 at Keeneland. Note, location to be announced and time also subject to change depending on press conferences, availability, etc. A detailed agenda will be sent the week of the meeting. Topics will include developments and progress on the internship program, membership applications, etc.

New Members: The above meeting is one of two times new member applications can be approved by the organization. If you know someone interested in becoming a member of the NTWAB, please have them send a letter of interest, along with two letters of support from members in good standing, to NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly ( thesirbarton@gmail.com ) and NTWAB President Tom Law ( tlawky@gmail.com ). Please refer to this link to Article III of the NTWAB bylaws for membership qualification information.

Annual Awards Dinner, Breeders' Cup Meeting Set

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 20:59:48 GMT

Mark your calendars for two upcoming NTWAB events, our Annual Awards Dinner and Breeders' Cup membership meeting.

Both events are happening in Lexington, Ky. during the week leading up to this year's Breeders' Cup at Keeneland.

The NTWAB dinner will be Wednesday, Nov. 2 at Malone's Prime Events and Receptions on Tates Creek Road. We will have a great happy hour and meal before celebrating the winners of our annual awards. Tickets are $85 for NTWAB members and credentialed Breeders' Cup media, and $110 for non-members. You can purchase tickets at this link .

Our meeting, the second one of 2022, will be Thursday, Nov. 3 at 11 a.m. ET at Keeneland, with the exact location to be determined. Members are encouraged to attend in person. If you cannot attend in person, please contact us at ntwab2016@gmail.com so we can send you a Zoom invitation closer to that date.

Kiaran McLaughlin Earns Bill Mooney Award for Courage

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 22:05:01 GMT

The National Turf Writers And Broadcasters will present lifelong horseman Kiaran McLaughlin, a former leading trainer who has quietly battled multiple sclerosis for more than two decades, with the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity.

Born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, McLaughlin was introduced to racing through longtime friend Greg Burchell. He worked for Burchell’s father, John, and other trainers before landing a job with Hall of Fame conditioner D. Wayne Lukas in the mid-1980s. McLaughlin left Lukas’ operation in 1992 to become a jockey’s agent, working with the late Chris Antley for about a year until taking a job as private trainer for the Maktoum family in Dubai.

McLaughlin later split time between Dubai and the United States and his long association with Shadwell Farm, Godolphin Racing, Darley and other Maktoum operations produced dozens of major stakes victories. He won 41 Grade 1 stakes and trained eight millionaires from 1995 into 2020, including Hall of Famer Invasor and $3.8-million earner Frosted. He retired from training in early 2020.

“I’m incredibly honored to receive this award,” said McLaughlin, who currently works as a jockey’s agent for Luis Saez.

McLaughlin joins four prior Mooney winners – the award’s namesake who died after a long battle with cancer in 2017, retired jockey Joy Scott, retired jockey and owner Rene Douglas and horsewoman Martine Bellocq.

“It’s remarkable the way he’s handled the adversity of MS all these years; you wouldn’t even know it,” said McLaughlin’s longtime friend, colleague and former Lukas protege Todd Pletcher. “He’s met it head on, never relinquished his pursuit of excellence, whether it was training and now as an agent for Luis.

“I’m sure it’s a lot more difficult than he makes it look. The way he’s attacked it and never let him slow him down is admirable. I’m sure there are days that it’s not easy but you’d never know it. He always has a smile on his face and is happy to be there. Overall he’s a terrific person, with a great family. And he’s been a good friend, a good husband, a good parent to his kids. All the things you would want, and he’s a good role model for everyone."

McLaughlin will be honored along with the NTWAB’s other five award winners at the organization’s 62nd annual Awards Dinner at Malone’s Prime Events in Lexington, Wednesday, Nov. 2.

“Kiaran was always a pleasure to deal with whether interviewing him as a trainer, a jockey agent or just talking about his days working with Wayne Lukas,” said Daily Racing Form’s David Grening, winner of the NTWAB’s Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing in 2011. “As dedicated as he was as a horseman, he still had time to be a great family man.

”Other honorees at the NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner will be Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale (Mr. Fitz Award); Eclipse Award-winning photographer Barbara Livingston (Joe Palmer Award); Chris Lincoln (Jim McKay Award); and Mike Welsch and Tom Pedulla (Walter Haight Award), along with other writing award winners announced that evening

The NTWAB Awards Dinner traditionally is held during Breeders’ Cup Week and is the organization’s only fundraiser. A portion of the proceeds from the event are used toward internships for prospective Thoroughbred racing journalists and to support Thoroughbred industry charities

Tickets are available for the event either by contacting Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com, NTWAB at ntwab2016@gmail.com, or this link to Eventbrite .

Submissions Invited for 2021 Breeders' Cup Writing Awards

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:43 GMT

The Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards honor excellence in coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. There are two awards that will celebrate outstanding writing:

-The Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

-The Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

These awards are based on coverage of the 2021 (last year’s) Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

To enter the competition for these awards, contestants may submit a maximum of one submission per category: a choice from 2021 in Outstanding News reporting, and a choice from 2021 for Outstanding Feature writing. Please note that two submissions in one category from the same year will not be accepted.

Deadline for entry is Monday, October 3, 2022

Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

This competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site. The submissions for the Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting are limited to a maximum of one submission. The submission must be a focused recap article of a 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships race. Your submitted article can be from a Breeders’ Cup race that took place on Friday, Nov. 5, or from a Breeders Cup race that took place on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. Please include a timestamp web link to your article. (It is understood that an article submitted under deadline circumstances may not have been posted by editors in a timely manner.)

Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

The competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, or internet site. The submissions for the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing are limited to a maximum of one article. Your submission must be focused on a feature aspect of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup: an advance story on a race, an individual profile, a column, or a business article. Please also include the publication date of your article.

The winners of these awards will be announced at the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022 in Lexington, Ky.

Submission Instructions

There are two steps: 1) Cover Letter and 2) Clean Documents for Judging

1) Cover letter. Write an email cover letter to jim@breederscup.com

a) Indicate the category for competition (News Reporting or Feature)

b) Name of publication

c) Headline of article

d) Include a web link to the article in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. We need a clean Word document for judging.

2) Attach your Clean Documents of your submissions in Microsoft Word document or a similar format. Please do not submit an open document in an email. For a News Reporting submission, please place a timestamp at the top of the article. For Feature Reporting submissions, please place the date of publication. However, do not place your byline or the name of your publication in any of your clean documents that will be judged.

Submission deadline is Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.

NTWAB to Honor McIngvale, Livingston, Lincoln, Pedulla, Welsch

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 14:07:00 GMT

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 8, 2022) – Thoroughbred owner and breeder Jim McIngvale will be honored along with Eclipse Award-winning photographer Barbara Livingston, broadcaster Chris Lincoln and turf writers Tom Pedulla and Mike Welsch during the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters’ 62nd annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Lexington.

The NTWAB Awards Dinner is the organization’s only annual fundraiser, and a portion of the proceeds of the event will fund Thoroughbred industry charities and internships for prospective racing journalists. The 2022 NTWAB Awards Dinner will be held at Malone’s Prime in Lexington.

McIngvale, widely known as “Mattress Mack” for the television personality he long ago adopted as owner of a hugely successful chain of furniture stores in Texas, will be honored with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. McIngvale is one of the most visible personalities in racing through the tireless promotion of his stallion, Runhappy, the 2015 champion male sprinter. McIngvale’s philanthropy and generosity during regional crises also have brought him widespread praise, while several massive wagers on racing and sporting events in recent years also have brought him a measure of attention as someone willing to roll the dice in the name of free enterprise and charity.

Livingston, chief photographer for the Daily Racing Form, will be honored with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. A native of Schenectady, New York, Livingston started her obsession with photographing horse racing at age 10. A six-time Eclipse Award winning photographer, Livingston is the author of seven books, including four in her Old Friends series, and also owns the Raftery/Turfoto collection of historical negatives, preserving the work of legendary photographer Jim Raftery.

Lincoln, an Eclipse Award-winner who served as longtime producer and host of ESPN’s Racing Across America and Racehorse Digest programs in the 1980s and ‘90s, will be honored with the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting. Lincoln logged more than 8.6 million travel miles over six continents over a more than 25-year career covering racing, Lincoln is a member of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Welsch, a member of Daily Racing Form’s editorial team since 1972; and Pedulla, who covered racing for USA Today from 1995 to 2012 and current contributor to multiple publications, will each be honored with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. Welsch serves as DRF’s lead clocker at racing’s major events and works on-site for the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby, Breeders’ Cup and other major events. Pedulla, a longtime NTWAB member who served as the organization’s president from 2012 to 2016, started his career in 1976 and continues as the lead writer for the America’s Best Racing website.

Tickets for the NTWAB Awards Dinner, which can be purchased through this link to EventBrite , are $85 for NTWAB members and Breeders’ Cup credentialed media and $110 for non-members and guests. Invitations will be mailed to NTWAB members, and non-members can request an invitation by contacting Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com.

CHRB Withdraws Media Licensing Plan

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 02:28:02 GMT

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was posted August 10. It was updated August 11 with information about the contribution of APSE.

After the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters and the Associated Press Sports Editors took issue with a recent California Horse Racing Board announcement it would require media members to obtain licenses for restricted access areas at California racetracks, CHRB withdrew the decision on August 10.

On August 9, NTWAB president Tom Law notified CHRB via email of NTWAB's vehement objection to the licensing requirement, citing concerns about constitutional issues, the lack of a statutory basis for the plan, and the traditional role track publicity departments play in issuing media credentials.

"I want to thank our colleagues in and out of the racing media world for their efforts over the last week," said Law. "We also appreciate the CHRB giving consideration to the concerns of our members and the media in making their decision to not go ahead with a plan to require members of the media to obtain a license. We look forward to covering California racing as we have for decades and working with the tracks and regulators on a professional level going forward."

A letter to CHRB executive director Scott Chaney jointly signed on August 9 by Associated Press Sports Editors president Jorge Rojas and legal affairs committee ch-chairs Gerry Ahern and John Cherwa urged CHRB to reverse course.

"In short, in the strongest possible terms, we object (to licensing) in that it allows you the ability to control the coverage and make us pay a fee for the 'privilege.' Nowhere in the directive does it even explain what offenses might disqualify someone from getting a license or if it is just the whim of a staffer," APSE related. "It’s our understanding this move was made without consulting any media groups for input. We have had similar attempts for background check requirements from everyone from the NFL to the NBA to NASCAR to the United States Olympic Committee. In every case we have prevailed. It is up to us to determine the quality and honesty of our employees, not you."

CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten issued a formal release declaring an end to the licensing dispute.

"While the California Horse Racing Board values safety and security in the stable area, it also recognizes the importance of a free and independent press. After considerable feedback, rather than requiring licenses or visitors passes for stable area media access, the CHRB will allow publicity departments to issue credentials for visitor access to the stable areas," Marten said. "The CHRB will hold the racetracks responsible for the conduct of credentialed media they authorize for stable area access."

Despite the concession, Marten said CHRB will monitor who is granted media access by racetracks.

"The CHRB needs to know who has been authorized by racetracks to enter stable areas, so publicity departments have agreed to provide the names of those individuals. The CHRB has made it clear that the lists will not be submitted for CHRB approval. The information will be used solely for the purpose of understanding who the tracks have authorized to be in the restricted area," Marten said.

NTWAB Vehemently Opposes CHRB Licensing Decision

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 12:11:35 GMT

On Monday, August 8, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) released a statement requiring licensure for media access to the stable areas at CHRB administered racetracks. The following day NTWAB President Tom Law submitted the following to CHRB executive director Scott Chaney and the members of CHRB.

Mr. Scott Chaney,

The National Turf Writers And Broadcasters vehemently opposes the Aug. 8, 2022 decision by the California Horse Racing Board to “require all individuals who enter the stable areas, including members of the news media, to obtain a CHRB license.”

Professional members of the news media do not fall under the California Code of Regulations 2022 Rules and Regulations Title 4, Division 4, Article 4 (Occupational Licenses), Rule 1481. Members of the news media are acting independently and not in the involvement of operation of a racetrack and/or care of racehorses.

Members of the news media, for decades, have been granted access to racetracks across the country through publicity departments and the Turf Publicists of America to conduct business without a license and/or required to pay a fee to do their jobs. The requirement by the CHRB for members of the news media to purchase a license sets an unnecessary and bad precedent for the racing industry besides the First Amendment implications of government licensing the free press. If media members needed to be licensed, the same logic could be twisted to say the CHRB then could discipline media members as well.

The NTWAB Board of Directors and its members strongly encourage the CHRB to reverse this decision and allow the news media to continue to operate independently and after the approval of racetrack management.

Sincerely,

Tom Law
President, National Turf Writers And Broadcasters

The original statement from CHRB

REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCESS TO STABLE AREA

The California Horse Racing Board requires all individuals who enter the stable areas, including members of the news media, to obtain a CHRB license. Those who request infrequent access to the stable area will not need a license but must be signed in as a guest by the host racetrack. Non-CHRB media credentials are not sufficient for entry to the restricted stable area.

Historically, all news media have been screened and approved by each track’s publicity department. Those with legitimate business have been granted access to stable areas. This practice will continue for those who infrequently need access to stable areas. But those with a more regular presence in stable areas will need to acquire a CHRB “Z” (Other) license from one of the CHRB licensing offices. The fee for a Z license is $75, and depending on the applicant’s birth date, the license is good for two-to-three years. All applicants must be fingerprinted and are checked for California and nationwide criminal history. Individuals have until August 31 to come into compliance.

NTWAB Spring Newsletter

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 19:36:50 GMT

By Tom Law, NTWAB President

Good day. I hope this note finds you well and enjoying the start of the summer racing season at Saratoga, Del Mar, Colonial Downs and beyond. We’re starting the nomination process for the NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Lexington. Our event planning team, led by Loren Hebel-Osborne, is finalizing a location and we’ll announce that as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we need suggestions for potential award winners in up to five categories. Please send along anyone you feel might be worthy of consideration. Feel free to send as many suggestions as you wish, and to include a short note on why you feel your suggestion should be considered.

The NTWAB board will meet in a few weeks to discuss the candidates and come up with a group of finalists to be voted on by the general membership. Please refer to the NTWAB website to find a list of past winners.

Mr. Fitz Award (Typifying the spirit of racing): Last year’s winner was John Shear, Santa Anita Park’s 100+-year-old paddock captain. Other recent winners include D. Wayne Lukas, Mike Smith, Rick Porter, Team American Pharoah, Art Sherman and Ramon Dominguez.

Joe Palmer Award (Meritorious service to racing): Last year’s winner was Dan Smith, Del Mar’s longtime and popular publicist. Other recent winners include the late trainer and advocate Rick Violette, Breeders’ Cup’s Jim Gluckson, Winners Foundation, AAEP and Cathy Schenck of the Keeneland Library.

Walter Haight Award (Career excellence in Turf writing): Last year’s winner was Lenny Shulman of BloodHorse. Other recent winners include Tim Wilkin, Marty McGee, Matt Hegarty, Hanck Wesch and Tim Layden.

Jim McKay Award (Career excellence in broadcasting): Last year’s winner was radio broadcaster Steve Byk. Other recent winners include Caton Bredar, Donna Barton Brothers, Randy Moss, Dave Johnson and Tom Hammond.

Bill Mooney Award (Displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity): The Mooney Award started in 2015, presented to its namesake, and has been presented on three other occasions to Rene Douglas, Martine Bellocq and Joy Scott.

Please send suggestions to Jennifer (thesirbarton@gmail.com) by Monday, Aug. 1.

The minutes from the Derby Week meeting are attached. I’d also like to welcome our new secretary, Jennifer Kelly, to the officer team. Greg Hall (Vice President), Dick Downey (treasurer) and I were re-elected for two-year terms. Frank Angst and Nicole Russo were also re-elected to director posts and we welcome Nathan Campbell to the board of directors.

Hello all, it’s your friendly neighborhood brand new Secretary, Jennifer Kelly! Thank you so much for the opportunity to work with you guys as part of NTWAB and its slate of officers. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to reach out and let me know. Thank you to Dick and Tom for making this transition a smooth one and thank you to Jessie for her eight years of service to this organization. Have a wonderful rest of your summer! JK

Have a great week.

Clancy Named for Old Hilltop Award at Alibi Breakfast

Fri, 13 May 2022 19:20:44 GMT

Joe Clancy, editor of Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred magazine and co-owner with brother Sean of ST Publishing, Inc. -- parent company of The Saratoga Special newspaper and thisishorseracing.com -- has been named recipient of the 2022 Old Hilltop Award for covering Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction.

Clancy will be presented with the Old Hilltop May 19 at the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico.

Clancy grew up with horses and worked for his father, trainer Joe Clancy Sr., through high school and college. The 1987 University of Delaware graduate covered his first Preakness, won by Summer Squall, for Maryland’s Cecil Whig newspaper in 1990 and has written about racing and other topics for the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun and others. Joe lives in Fair Hill, Md., with his wife Sam. They are the parents of three sons – Ryan, Jack and Nolan.

In addition to the Old Hilltop Award, Clancy was recognized with the Maryland Jockey Club’s David F. Woods Memorial Award for coverage of the Preakness in 2014, 2016 and 2020; an Eclipse Award for his coverage of the 2014 Preakness (with his brother Sean); and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association’s Charles W. Engelhard Award for outstanding coverage of the Thoroughbred industry.

“You can’t just read the list of Old Hilltop Award winners. You have to stop and think about the names . Red Smith ... Joe Hirsch ... Jim McKay ... Billy Reed ... Howard Cosell ... Shirley Povich ... Bill Nack ... and all the rest. To receive an award given to people like that is truly humbling,” Clancy said. “Anyone who does this for a living simply covers the races as they come. After a while, you look up and realize you’ve built a career. I’m proud of this honor, and of my work, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be in the same league as those peo ple.

“Thank you to the Maryland Jockey Club for recognizing the work of the media, to everyone at Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred magazine, to my brother Sean and co-worker Tom Law for the inspiration and the editing) and to the horses and horse people who let me tell their stories ."

The Alibi Breakfast began in the 1930s on the porch of the old Pimlico Clubhouse and features a gathering of media, owners, trainers, jockeys, horsemen and fans to celebrate the Preakness and gain interesting and humorous race predictions.

MacAdam to Receive David F. Woods Award at Alibi Breakfast

Fri, 13 May 2022 18:46:52 GMT

Mike MacAdam, a member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, will be among the honorees at the Alibi Breakfast May 19 at Pimlico when receiving the David F. Wood Awards for best Preakness story.

MacAdam, turf writer and sports columnist for the Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y., is a native of Rochester, New York who was first exposed to horse racing in 1987 and has provide d daily live coverage of the Saratoga meet.

MacAdam’s story, written on deadline, was entitled: “Preakness Winner Rombauer Runs Out of the Baffert Shadow.”

In 2012, MacAdam won the Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Award for Belmont Stakes coverage. He recently was named Sportswriter of the Year by the New York Press Association for the second time in the last three years, finished first in the sports column writing category of the New York New Publishers Association writing contest in 2020 and has been recognized over the years by the New York State Associated Press Association.

“It’s a gross understatement to say what an honor it is to be recognized by the Maryland Jockey Club with the David F. Woods Award,” MacAdam said. “Writing stories about horse racing is never anything less than a fascinating and rewarding challenge. Thanks again to the MJC for this wonderful award, and to the Gazette for maintaining a commitment to racing coverage on a broad scale beyond our [rightfully] hyperlocal profile. Mostly, though, thanks to our readers for being a passionate audience.”

The Alibi Breakfast began in the 1930s on the porch of the old Pimlico Clubhouse and features a gathering of media, owners, trainers, jockeys, horsemen and fans to celebrate the Preakness and gain interesting and humorous race predictions.

Patrick Smith, a staff photographer based in Baltimore for Getty Images, will receive the Jerry Frutkoff Award for the best Preakness picture of 2021 at the Alibi Breakfast. This is his second consecutive win, and third overall in the Frutkoff.

“During the 2021 Preakness, I was camped on the head-on position," Smith said. "As I watched Flavien Prat guide Rombauer through the field and gain momentum, I know he’d rejoice with an iconic moment if he crossed the finish first - and he did.

President's Spring Newsletter

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 14:29:25 GMT

Good day. Hopefully your year is off to a great start; it’s hard to believe we’re already almost a quarter of the way into 2022. The Kentucky Derby is fast approaching – only about five weeks to go – along with the next NTWAB Business Meeting. Please mark your calendar for Wednesday, May 4 for this year’s Derby Week meeting.

We’ll finalize an agenda and meeting time as we get closer and will most likely again offer a virtual option for members interested in participating without being in Louisville. That option seemed to work last year at the Derby meeting and at the Breeders’ Cup Week meeting.

Attached here you will find the spreadsheet detailing the first-place votes of NTWAB members in good standing for the 2021 Eclipse Awards. The officers and board of directors appreciate everyone that took the time to vote. Greg Hall and I will be meeting soon with the Eclipse Awards Steering Committee to discuss this year’s event, voting procedures and any other issues that popped up during the awards season.

Since we’re in an even-year, the full slate of officers and three director positions will be elected for 2-year terms at the Derby meeting. All members in good standing are eligible for these positions, which serve the racing media in a variety of ways.

The positions with expiring terms in 2022 (and current officer/director) are:
President (Tom Law)
Vice President (Greg Hall)
Treasurer (Dick Downey)
Secretary (Jessie Oswald)
Director (Frank Angst)
Director (Nicole Russo)
Director (Tim Wilkin)

The terms of directors Scott Hazelton, Marty McGee and Natalie Voss will not expire until the 2023 Derby meeting.

It is with regret to inform the membership that Jessie Oswald has indicated she will not seek another term as secretary. Jessie has served the organization for eight years, through several sets of leadership, and the organization has been very fortunate to have someone as professional, accurate, thorough and organized on board all this time. Jessie will be extremely missed. If you’re interested in being considered for the secretary position, please let us know and reach out to Jessie with any questions you might have regarding the secretary’s responsibilities.

Please send along any suggestions for individuals to serve in the officer or director positions. Formal nominations and the election will be conducted at the May 4 meeting.

Finally, former NTWAB President Alicia Hughes passed along the following information regarding a journalistic fellowship with a paid master’s degree and full-time job opportunity that Advance Local Media is conducting with Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Click here to read more about the program and opportunity.

I’ll be in touch again in advance of the May 4 meeting. Have a great spring. See you soon,

Tom Law
NTWAB President

Knicks Go Horse of the Year; 2021 Eclipse Award Winners and Voting

dick@thedowneyprofile.com (James Downey) — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 03:43:01 GMT

On Feb. 10, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced during the 51st Eclipse Awards presented by 1/ST Racing and FanDuel Racing Group, that Knicks Go, who captured both the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), was voted the 2021 Horse of the Year.

The ceremony at Santa Anita Park, timed in about an hour and 46 minutes, was hosted by Acacia Courtney, Britney Eurton, Gabby Gaudet and Michelle Yu.

Horse of the Year Knicks Go was consistent throughout 2021, flashing speed and daring his competition to pass him at the highest levels. They rarely did. He captured both the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in front-running fashion. He was bred in Maryland by Angie Moore and owned by Korea Racing Authority. Brad Cox trained Knicks Go to tops in earnings.

Knicks Go received 228 votes out of a possible 235 first-place votes for Horse of the Year. Knicks Go, a gray son of Paynter, was also voted Champion Older Dirt Male. Racing as a 5-year-old in 2021, Knicks Go won five races in seven starts, which also included victories in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3), the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga, and the Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs. He culminated his season with a 2 3/4-length victory in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Corniche (Quality Road-Wasted Tears) won the Eclipse Award as top Two-Year-Old Male after an undefeated campaign culminating in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Owned by Speedway Stables LLC, bred in Kentucky by Bart Evans & Stonehaven Steadings, and trained by Bob Baffert.

Unbeaten in four starts, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Echo Zulu (Gun Runner-Letgomyecho) is top Two-Year-Old Filly. Trained by Steve Asmussen for owner L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds; bred in Kentucky by Betz/J. Betz/Burns/CHNNHK/Magers/CoCo Equine/Ramsby.

The Three-Year-Old Male champion is Essential Quality (Tapit-Delightful Quality), also the 2020 juvenile male champ. Owned and bred in Kentucky by Godolphn, he won the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes (all G1) and Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) for trainer Brad Cox.

Malathaat (Curlin-Dreaming of Julia) got the Eclipse for best Three-Year-Old Filly. Trained by Todd Pletcher, owned by Shadwell Stable and bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, five Grade 1 races yielded wins in the Ashland Stakes, Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes.

Knicks Go (Paynter-Kosmo's Buddy) is Older Dirt Male winner after book-ending his year with wins in the Pegasus Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Bred in Maryland by Angie Moore and owned by Korea Racing Authority, Brad Cox trained Knicks Go to tops in earnings in 2021.

Letruska (Super Saver-Magic Appeal) took Older Dirt Female honors after reeling off wins of four Grade 1's (Apple Blossom, Ogden Phipps, Personal Ensign & Spinster) and a Grade 2 in five consecutive starts. Owned and bred by St. George Stables, she remains in training by Fausto Gutierrez.

Top Male Sprinter is Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music-Unicorn Girl), whose wins included the Pat Day Mile (G2), Amsterdam Stakes (G2), Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) and Gallant Bob Stakes (G2) for trainer Steve Asmussen J. Kirk and Judy Robison own; bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables.

Ce Ce (Elusive Quality-Miss Houdini), shortened up in distance from her 2020 campaign, finished 2021 with a bang in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) for owner-breeder Bo Hirsch and trainer Mike McCarthy. The Kentucky-bred won four of five sprint starts last year and is recipient of the Female Sprinter Eclipse.

The Male Turf Horse champion is Yibir (GB) (Dubawi [IRE]-Rumh [GER]). After competing in Great Britain in spring-summer, he crossed the pond to win the Jockey Club Derby Invitational (black type) on the east coast and Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) on the west coast for owner-breeder Godolphin. Trained by Charles Appleby.

Japanese invader Loves Only You (Deep Impact [JPN]-Loves Only Me), tops in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) in her sole career start on U.S. soil, is the top Female Turf Horse. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi, her owner is DMM Dream Club. She was bred by Northern Farm.

The Mean Queen (IRE) (Doyen [IRE]-Gail Borden [IRE],is Steeplechase Horse champion. The first female winner of the Grand National (G1) in nearly a century, she's only the second female to win this award. Trained by Keri Brion, owned by Buttonwood Farm and bred by Kevin Purfield.

Godolphin , as expected, is champion Owner. The outfit established a single-season record as the leading owner by earnings, per Equibase, with 84 North American wins from 479 starts and $17,403,204 in earnings, eclipsing $12.2 million in 2013 earned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey.

Godolphin was also named top Breeder at the Eclipse Awards. With $18,447,150 in earnings per The Jockey Club Information Systems, Godolphin bred 172 starters with 136 wins, 126 seconds, and 115 thirds out of 804 starts.

Brad Cox was named Trainer of the year after amassing 1,015 starts, 267 wins (a 26 percent rate), 189 seconds, 143 thirds and earnings of $31,733,745. Cox trained Eclipse winners Knicks Go and Essential Quality.

Joel Rosario is the top Jockey at the Eclipse Awards and for good reason. From 1,083 mounts he had 228 winners along with 163 place and 153 show finishes. Horses he rode won$32,944,478. His 49 graded stakes wins included victories by Knicks Go, Echo Zulu and Jackie's Warrior.

The Eclipse-winning Apprentice Jockey is Jessica Pyfer , 23. Based in southern California, she led all apprentice jockeys in earnings with $2,738,863 and was second in wins, with 56 from 535 starts.

Earle Mack received an Eclipse Award of Merit for Lifetime Achievement. Breeding and racing Thoroughbreds since 1963, he's accounted for 25 stakes winners. He served on the NYRA Board (1990–2004) and was Chairman of the NY State Racing Commission (1983–1989). He served as a member of the New York State Thoroughbred Racing Capital Investment Fund (1987–1996), was on the Board of Directors of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund (1983–1989), and was Senior Advisor on Racing and Breeding in the New York Thoroughbred Industry. The Earle I. Mack Thoroughbred Champion Award has been presented annually since 2011 to an individual for outstanding efforts and influence on Thoroughbred racehorse welfare, safety, and retirement.

Justin Mustari was presented an Eclipse Award as 2021 Horseplayer of the Year. At age 26 he topped a field of 563 entries to win the National Horseplayers Championship. Mustari, who works for his father Frank’s insulation contracting company, is the youngest NHC winner.

The 2021 Media Eclipse Award winners are:

Feature/Commentary Writing – NTWAB member Sandra McKee , Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, “A Jockey’s Life. Baltimore’s Adams Set Riding Record in 1930”; June 2021.

News/Enterprise Writing – NTWAB member Eric Mitchell , Bloodhorse.com, “Tracks Join Rallying Cry to End Cargo Shipping”; Aug. 24, 2021.

Television – Live Racing Programming – NBC Sports , “The Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Nov. 6, 2021 on NBC; Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, Producers.

Television – Features – NBC Sports “Hot Rod Charlie,” April 30, 2021 on NBCSN; Sam Flood, Executive Producer; Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer; Jack Felling, Coordinating Producer; David Picker, Senior Feature Producer and Annie Koeblitz, Producer.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Attheraces.com “Breeders’ Cup Magical Moments,” Oct. 25, 2021; Matthew Taylor, Director of New Media and Innovation; Peter Fornatale, writer and interviewer and Naomi Tukker, interviewer.

Photography – Jeff Faughender, courier-journal.com (Louisville Courier-Journal); “Between the Shadows,” May 1, 2021.

The Eclipse Awards were sponsored by Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup, EquinEdge, FanDuel Group, The Stronach Group and 1/ST Racing, Santa Anita Park, TVG, Dean Dorton, Stonestreet Farm, Keeneland, Racetrack Television Network, Jackson Family Wines, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Spendthrift Farm, Hallway Feeds, WinStar Farm and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

VOTING

In voting that concluded January 10, 2022, Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system.

This voting established the top three finalists in each division, whose names were released on Jan. 15, 2022.

The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.

Voter participation rate: 235/245= 95.9%

(Name, First-Place Votes)

Horse of the Year
Knicks Go, 228; Letruska, 2; Loves Only You (JPN), 2; Essential Quality, 1; Lil Latigo, 1; Medina Spirit, 1.

Two-Year-Old Male
Corniche, 214; Jack Christopher, 12; Modern Games (IRE), 2; Tiz the Bomb, 2; Frosty Storm, 1; Gunite, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.

Two-Year-Old Filly
Echo Zulu, 233; Baytown Valleygirl, 1; Twilight Gleaming (IRE), 1.

Three-Year-Old Male
Essential Quality, 131; Medina Spirit, 84, Life Is Good, 18; Hurricane Nation, 1; Hot Rod Charlie, 1.

Three-Year-Old Filly
Malathaat, 227; Going Global (IRE), 3; Shantisara (IRE), 2; Bella Sofia, 1; Eida’s Storm, 1; Santa Barbara (IRE), 1.

Older Dirt Male
Knicks Go, 232; Maxfield, 2; Lil Latigo, 1.

Older Dirt Female
Letruska, 221; Marche Lorraine (JPN), 11; Damisela, 1; Gamine, 1; Monomoy Girl, 1.

Male Sprinter
Jackie’s Warrior, 110; Aloha West, 50; Flightline, 33; Golden Pal, 19; Dr. Schivel, 18; Extravagant Kid, 1; Life Is Good, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.

Female Sprinter
Ce Ce, 136; Gamine, 97; Bella Sofia, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Male Turf Horse
Yibir (GB), 135; Domestic Spending (GB), 33; Space Blues (IRE), 33; Golden Pal, 14; Colonel Liam; 11; Smooth Like Strait, 6; Town Cruise, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Female Turf Horse
Loves Only You (JPN), 136; War Like Goddess, 70; Santa Barbara (IRE), 10; Going Global (IRE) 6; Althiqa (GB), 5; Shantisara (IRE), 2; Con Lima, 1; My Sister Nat (FR), 1; Regal Glory, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.

Steeplechase Horse
The Mean Queen (IRE), 210; Snap Decision, 2; Voter Abstentions, 23.

Owner
Godolphin LLC, 216; Klaravich Stables LLC, 7; End Zone Athletics Inc, 2; Korea Racing Authority, 2; Gary Barber, 1; Calumet Farm, 1; LNJ Foxwoods, 1; St. George Stable LLC, 1; Voter Abstentions, 4.

Breeder
Godolphin LLC, 205; Calumet Farm, 8; Angie Moore, 7; Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, 6; Gail Rice, 3; Nick Alexander, 1; Fred W. Hertrich III and John Fielding, 1; Spendthrift Farm LLC, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.

Trainer
Brad Cox, 189; Steve Asmussen, 33; Charlie Appleby, 3; Bob Baffert, 2; Chad Brown, 2; Karl Broberg, 1; Michael McCarthy, 1; Todd Pletcher, 1. Voter Abstentions, 3.

Jockey
Joel Rosario, 213; Irad Ortiz Jr., 17; Paco Lopez, 1; Flavien Prat, 1; Luis Saez, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Apprentice Jockey
Jessica Pyfer, 156; John Hiraldo, 46; Charlie Marquez, 12; Voter Abstentions, 21.

Billy Reed, Past President of NTWAB, Passes At 79

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 19:29:16 GMT

Billy Reed, 79, died peacefully Feb. 5 while in care at Hospice. He served as president of the National Turf Writers Association (now NTWAB) from 1988 to 1990 and won three Eclipse Awards for writing spanning four decades-- one each at the Louisville Courier-Journal (1979), Lexington Herald-Leader (1988) and Thoroughbred Times (2008).

Reed was a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, Transylvania University (his alma mater) Hall of Fame and U. S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame. He received eight awards as Kentucky Sports Writer of the Year.

A native of Mount Sterling, Ky., Reed engaged professionally in sports coverage for over 60 years after starting his career at the Herald-Leader in 1959. He also worked two stints at Sports Illustrated and topped off his career at the Northern Kentucky Tribune , where he wrote a weekly column.

Reed is survived by two daughters, a son-in-law and four grandchildren. There will be no funeral service. According to the Tribune, his family said a celebration of his life will be held, perhaps close to the Kentucky Derby, a race Reed loved.

By Dick Downey

2021 Eclipse Awards Finalists

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 01:42:19 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) , and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced the finalists for the 2021 Eclipse Awards , recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on TVG, and other outlets, during the 51st annual Eclipse Awards, on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2021 Horse of the Year.

Of the 245 eligible voters represented by the NTRA, consisting of member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the NTWAB and DRF, 235 (95.9%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

The 2021 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, in alphabetical order are:

Two-Year-Old Male: Corniche, Jack Christopher, Modern Games (IRE)

Two-Year-Old Filly: Echo Zulu, Juju’s Map, Pizza Bianca

Three-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality, Life Is Good, Medina Spirit

Three-Year-Old Filly: Clairiere , Malathaat, Santa Barbara (IRE)

Older Dirt Male: Knicks Go, Maxfield, Mystic Guide

Older Dirt Female: Letruska, Marche Lorraine (JPN), Shedaresthedevil

Male Sprinter: Aloha West, Flightline, Jackie’s Warrior

Female Sprinter: Bella Sofia, Ce Ce, Gamine

Male Turf Horse: Domestic Spending (GB), Space Blues (IRE), Yibir (GB)

Female Turf Horse: Loves Only You (JPN), Santa Barbara (IRE), War Like Goddess

Steeplechase Horse: Baltimore Bucko (GB), Snap Decision, The Mean Queen (IRE)

Owner: Godolphin LLC, Juddmonte Farms Inc., Klaravich Stables Inc.

Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin LLC, Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC

Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Chad Brown, Brad Cox

Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr., Flavien Prat, Joel Rosario

Apprentice Jockey: John Hiraldo, Charlie Marquez, Jessica Pyfer

In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Justin Mustari will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2021 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the NTWAB, NTRA and DRF. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by the NTRA.

Eclipse Awards ticket information is available at the NTRA website https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-awards/ .

The Eclipse Awards are sponsored by Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup, FanDuel Group, The Stronach Group, Santa Anita Park, TVG, Dean Dorton, Stonestreet Farm, Keeneland, Racetrack Television Network, Jackson Family Wines, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Hallway Feeds and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

Six Win 2021 Media Eclipse Awards

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 22:14:33 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced the winners of the 2021 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories.

The 2021 Media Eclipse Award winners are:

Feature/Commentary Writing – Sandra McKee, Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, “A Jockey’s Life. Baltimore’s Adams Set Riding Record in 1930”; June 2021. McKee is a member of NTWAB.

News/Enterprise Writing – Eric Mitchell, also a member of NTWAB, bloodhorse.com (BloodHorse), “Tracks Join Rallying Cry to End Cargo Shipping”; Aug. 24, 2021.

Television – Live Racing Programming – NBC Sports, “The Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Nov. 6, 2021 on NBC; Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, Producers.

Television – Features – NBC Sports “Hot Rod Charlie,” April 30, 2021 on NBCSN; Sam Flood, Executive Producer; Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer; Jack Felling, Coordinating Producer; David Picker, Senior Feature Producer and Annie Koeblitz, Producer.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Attheraces.com “Breeders’ Cup Magical Moments,” Oct. 25, 2021; Matthew Taylor, Director of New Media and Innovation; Peter Fornatale, writer and interviewer and Naomi Tukker, interviewer.

Photography – Jeff Faughender, courier-journal.com (Louisville Courier-Journal); “Between the Shadows,” May 1, 2021.

Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented their trophies at the 51 ^st Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony and Dinner at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California on Thursday, Feb. 10. Eclipse Award ticket information is available at the NTRA website https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-awards/ .

Feature/Commentary Writing – Sandra McKee

On Sept. 12, 1930, 16-year-old apprentice rider Albert Adams set the world record for most consecutive wins by a jockey with nine when he guided Wandering Jim, who had won a race for him just two days before, to victory at Marlboro Race Track in Maryland. Writing in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, Sandra McKee brought Adams’ story of a boy with great character, who battled against crooked stables that cost him his career, back into the spotlight in “A Jockey’s Life. Baltimore’s Adams Set Riding Record in 1930.” The article earned McKee, from Baltimore, her first Media Eclipse Award.

“I wanted to win this award for so long,” said McKee, who has been a contributing writer to the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred for the past eight years, following a 36-year career as a sports writer for the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Baltimore Sun. “Over the years, all the horse racing writers at The Sun wanted to win an Eclipse Award. And then I followed Tom Keyser on the beat. Tom won the Eclipse Award three times in four years. To say I was motivated is an understatement. And now, to be chosen 10 years after leaving The Sun, is unbelievable. I’m very excited to be in the company of all the talented people who have won this award. It is a great honor.”

The Adams legacy was kept alive by his descendants, especially Ed Adams, the great nephew of Albert Adams, who died in 1970. Ed Adams contacted Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred and when Editor Joe Clancy heard of it, he offered the story to McKee.

“I got the pleasure of getting to know Albert Adams by getting out the biggest magnifying glass I could find to pore over old newspapers,” said McKee. “Ed Adams had a big thick notebook of clippings from the 1930s. Ed’s cousin Judy Adams, remembers Albert clearly and recalled his descriptive recollections, his laugh and personality.”

As McKee recounts, Adams’ winning streak was heralded among other great records in sports of the day. “It was a glorious moment, celebrated by local newspapers and various racing publications around the world. Adams was commemorated in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. A sports headline compared him to New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig. Illustrated sports cartoons measured him against Indianapolis 500 champion Ralph DePalma, who competed in more than 1,500 auto races, and New York Giants ace pitcher Art Nehf, who won the deciding games of back-to-back World Series (1921 and 1922).”

However, as Albert Adams became more successful, and gained mounts from trainers at larger stables, he was ordered to hold back horses, which was clearly opposite of his “ride to win” philosophy. So much so that when he disobeyed instructions to lose on purpose, he was subjected to suspensions by those stables. “The groundings, basically for wanting to ride an honest race, had taken their toll. By the end of the 1934 season his riding career was over.”

Still Adams went on with his life. He continued to gallop horses and worked to find mounts for younger jockeys. In World War II, he served as an infantry sergeant in the 29th Division in the Pacific. Following the war, he worked in an automobile assembly plant for five years before taking a job with the Baltimore Sanitation Department. “On his days off, he still enjoyed going to the races and he rooted for the young jockeys who took aim at his nine-in-a-row record.”

Judges in the Feature/Commentary category were Bob Kieckhefer, racing writer for United Press International; Bill Kolberg, former assistant director of publicity at Santa Anita and Del Mar and published author on Thoroughbred racing; and Rob Longley, sports columnist, who first covered the Triple Crown in both Canada and the U.S. in 1996 and is currently baseball columnist for the Toronto Sun.

The winning article can be viewed here .

News/Enterprise – Eric Mitchell

In “Tracks Join Rallying Cry to End Cargo Shipping,” Eric Mitchell investigated the deplorable conditions of racehorses shipped by boat in steel container boxes from the United States to Puerto Rico, and the response of American racetracks to this much-criticized practice. The article was published on Aug. 24, 2021.

This is the first Media Eclipse Award for Mitchell, from Lexington, Kentucky, who is the BloodHorse bloodstock editor and a 21-year veteran at the publication.

“I’m obviously thrilled by this honor,” said Mitchell on winning an Eclipse Award. “More important, though, I hope this brings awareness to the issue. It is a topic I have written about for a couple of years, talking to a number of people in the U.S. and Puerto Rico who are keen to see more pressure and attention to make it stop.”

Mitchell became aware of this inhumane shipping practice in April 2019 when he got a call from Kim Heath of Ocala, Fla., about nine horses that had tragically died during one shipment from the Port of Jacksonville. He began following the issue and getting more information on the toll this journey takes on the horses, long after they have arrived in Puerto Rico. This year, Thoroughbred racing in Puerto Rico became more attractive due to substantial bonus incentives in its purse programs, which in turn drove more owners to claim inexpensive horses in the U.S. and ship them by cargo ship.

In this piece, Mitchell described the typically treacherous voyage lasting three days, as horses are first loaded in Jacksonville but remain in loaded and cramped conditions on a ship for hours before the journey even begins across the Caribbean Sea. “These horses then get trucked to the Port of Jacksonville, where they are loaded onto a TOTE Maritime ship, which does not leave the port until 3 a.m. Wednesday and will arrive around midnight on Thursday. The horses stay on the boat until mid-Friday morning because the longshoremen don't start unloading until 9 a.m.”

While many horses survive the trip, they often later suffer a variety of illnesses caused by dehydration, stress during shipping, and unsanitary conditions of the shipping container. Many develop pleural pneumonia or laminitis and are euthanized weeks after shipping in. The flood horses in Puerto Rico also overwhelmed the resources of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare.

A groundswell of support from horsemen and racing organizations coalesced last August led by Caesars Entertainment’s Indiana Grand and 1/ST Racing (Stronach Group tracks), which pledged to ban horsemen from their tracks who shipped horses to Puerto Rico by container ship. The Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association also followed with denunciation of the practice.

Mitchell said many people helped him follow this story but particular recognition goes to Dr. Jose Garcia Blanco, a veterinarian and bloodstock agent who buys for the Confederación Hípica of Puerto Rico, the largest of the island's two Thoroughbred owners' organizations; Kelley Stobie, co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare and Eduardo Maldonado, a leading Puerto Rican breeder and former executive director and president of the Puerto Rico Breeders Association.

The winning article can be accessed here .

Honorable mention in the News /Commentary category went to 2015 Media Eclipse Award winner Tim Sullivan for “Kentucky Derby Steward Finally Tells All About Stunning Maximum Security Disqualification,” which was published in the Louisville Courier-Journal on April 22, 2021.

Judges in the News/Enterprise category were: Tom LaMarra, Director of Communications and Backstretch Services for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. Amy Owens, Communications Associate at Keeneland; and David Papadopoulos, a senior editor at Bloomberg News.

Television - Live Racing Programming - NBC Sports

For the second consecutive year, NBC Sports has won the Eclipse Award for Live Television Programming for its broadcast of the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic on NBC and Peacock, rising to the finish of its live two-day coverage of the 38 ^th Breeders’ Cup World Championships from picturesque Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California.

Continuing to provide its audience with technical innovations and multiple viewing opportunities, NBC Sports employed unique perspectives from the track with access to approximately 75 video sources, including multiple live jockey cams and jockey and trainer/owner mics; and jockey cams connecting to real-time data that allowed viewers to see graphic overlays on replays, including speed, current position, distance from the leader, and distance from the finish. For individual access to the horses, NBC Sports utilized Breeders’ Cup Contender Cams, featuring 14 paddock ISO cameras and 10 front-side ISO roof cameras.

“It was a privilege to present the greatest two days in horse racing -- the Breeders’ Cup World Championships -- all culminating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” said Lindsay Schanzer, NBC Sports producer, Breeders’ Cup. “As always, this production was a real team effort, and it is a tribute to the entire NBC Sports group, along with the incredible collaboration between our partners at both the Breeders’ Cup and TVG, that we were able to give viewers the most comprehensive Championships coverage yet. We kicked things off with an entertaining open by world-renowned chef (and 2021 Breeders’ Cup winner!) Bobby Flay, balanced highlighting the beautiful scene at Del Mar as well as the wide range of storylines in the final race of the Championships, and capped it all off with an unforgettable race won by best-in-class champion Knicks Go. We are so proud of the final product, and look forward to bringing many more Breeders’ Cups to audiences for years to come.”

In addition to Schanzer, the production team was led by producer Billy Matthews and director Kaare Numme. Ron Vaccaro was the editorial producer.

The NBC Sports talent on the broadcast consisted of Ahmed Fareed, Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss, Laffit Pincay III, Nick Luck, Eddie Olczyk, Matt Bernier, Steve Kornacki, Kenny Rice, Donna Brothers, Britney Eurton, Larry Collmus and Maria Taylor.

Judges in the Live Television Programming category were Liz Bronstein, television show runner and executive producer, and creator the Animal Planet 2008-9 series “Jockeys”; Jack Renaud, 33-year producer for CBS News, who began covering racing at local stations in Lexington and Louisville; and Toni Slotkin, Emmy Award-winning producer/associate director at ABC Sports and member of ABC’s Eclipse Award-winning horse racing teams; consulting producer/special projects for MLB Network.

Television Feature – NBC Sports

In setting the scene for one of the more popular Kentucky Derby ownership stories of 2021, NBC Sports produced an Eclipse-Award winning Feature on Boat Racing LLC, five former Brown University football players who became part owners, (along with Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss and Gainesway Stable) of Derby contender Hot Rod Charlie.

NBC Sports chronicled the vitality and sheer joy of Patrick O’Neill, Alex Quoyeser, Daniel Giovacchini, Eric Armagost and Reiley Higgins hitting it big and getting to the coveted Run for the Roses with just their third sales purchase. The feature begins with the Boat Racing team sitting in Adirondack chairs on a lawn in Santa Monica, California, telling their story of staying connected after college graduation. Later, they join Partrick’s uncles, Doug O’Neill, trainer of Hot Rod Charlie, and bloodstock agent Dennis O’Neill, for early morning workouts at Santa Anita Park. The scene shifts next to the TwinSpires Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where the team goes wild with exultation when their beloved “Chuck” crosses the wire first in this key Derby prep race. The journey concludes with the team bounding up to the rail to watch Hot Rod Charlie workout on the Churchill Downs backstretch in eager anticipation of fulfilling Derby dreams, or as reporter Jac Collinsworth deadpanned: “Infusing youth into a sport typically fit for kings.”

“It was an honor to share the story of Hot Rod Charlie with our viewers,” said NBC Senior Feature Producer David Picker. “And what a story it was. In just a few short years, the Boat Racing guys went from college to the Kentucky Derby as owners. And they brought so much enthusiasm to the sport along the way. It’s the kind of story we love to tell on racing’s biggest day.”

In addition to Picker, the NBC production team included Sam Flood, Executive Producer; Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer; Annie Koeblitz , Producer and narration from Collinsworth.

The winning entry can be viewed here: here .

Judges in the Television Features category were Dick Jerardi, who covered more than three decades of Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup races for Philadelphia Daily News; Kris Kugler, Horse Racing Coverage Producer, ESPN; and Lenny Shulman, Emmy Award-winning writer/producer; author, and senior correspondent for Bloodhorse.

Audio/Multimedia Internet – Attheraces.com and Peter Fornatale

In “Breeders’ Cup Magical Moments,” Matthew Taylor of Attheraces.com, the website for U.K. racing broadcaster Attheraces and Sky Sports, and journalist, author and “In the Money” podcast host Peter Fornatale, present a multimedia display featuring recorded interviews with 17 racing personalities recalling their most memorable moments of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which has been run consecutively since 1984. The interviews were conducted by Peter Fornatale and Naomi Tukker. The presentation was also supported by text from the subjects and vivid colorful graphics, as well as race replays.

The stories were told from both an American and European perspective. Among the personalities interviewed were renowned racing journalist and author Andy Beyer; handicapper Jonathon Kinchen; Breeders’ Cup winning jockeys Jerry Bailey, Frankie Dettori, Rosie Napranik, Lester Piggott, Mike Smith, Gary Stevens and John Velazquez; trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Aidan O’Brien; broadcasters Kevin Blake, Matt Chapman, Randy Moss and Nick Luck; and Jamaican cricket legend Michael Holding.

“It’s a tremendous honor for us to win this award,” said Taylor, Director of New Media and Innovation for At The Races. “There has been a great interest in American racing in the U.K. during the pandemic, and there is no better way to promote American racing to a European audience than through the Breeders’ Cup. The willingness of the participants we approached to be a part of this was extraordinary. No one raised their hands and said ‘No.’ They were all proud to talk about the Breeders’ Cup as a part of their successful careers.”

“I’m blown away,” said Fornatale, who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Eclipse Awards have been won by so many people and so many horses I’ve admired over the years. To be included among the recipients is just a tremendous honor. From the shed row to the saddle to the stands, we wanted to create a mosaic of great events and memories that captures what makes the Breeders’ Cup so special. I am so proud to work with Matthew, one of my biggest supporters, and also with Naomi, who did a fantastic job with her interviews and was indispensable. This was a team project all the way.”

The winning entry can be viewed: here

Judges in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category were Glenn Crouter, former lead television anchor for Woodbine Live Network and sports and lifestyle announcer for Newstalk 1010 in Toronto; Bob Curran, longtime Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Jockey Club and graduate of the St. Bonaventure University journalism program; and Julie Sarno, freelance writer, former editorial staff member of The BloodHorse, staff member at The Meadowlands, staff member and Department Head at Del Mar.

Photography – Jeff Faughender

Faughender, from Louisville, Kentucky, has won his first Eclipse Award for a rooftop photograph capturing the entire 20-horse field from the 147th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, which was run on May 1, 2021. With the horses racing down the Churchill Downs stretch after the start of the Run for the Roses, Faughender captured the Derby field in between the shadows cast by the famed Twin Spires over the racetrack.

The photograph was published on the Louisville Courier-Journal website. Faughender has been with the Courier-Journal the past 22 years in various capacities, and has worked as a visual journalist since 2017.

“I’m really blown away by it,” Faughender said on winning the Eclipse Award. “I am thrilled beyond words. It’s quite an accomplishment for me and the people who supported me at the Courier-Journal.”

Good fortune from bad luck seemed to smile on Faughender last year in taking the winning Eclipse Award photo. A few weeks before the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Faughender injured his knee playing tennis and asked for a photo assignment that wouldn’t require too much walking. So he was assigned to cover the race from the roof of the racetrack with the focus on shooting the finish.

“I was delighted to get the rooftop assignment,” said Faughender. “I was focused on shooting the finish but also the start of the race. In setting up my shots, I turned to my left. I saw shadows of the spires over the racetrack, and I thought about getting the field in one view.”

Using his Canon 5D Mark IV camera with a Canon 200-400mm f/4 L lens, Faughender caught the Derby start at 6:59 p.m., with an extender, but turned it off to reframe the Twin Spires in shadow as the horses approached the wire for the first time. “I knew that there was a shot to get and I was hoping that the horses would stay together going to the first turn.

“It wasn’t until I got back to the Media Center that I saw it on my computer and said, ‘Yes, I got it.’”

The photo appeared that night on the Courier-Journal website. Faughender also put it on his Facebook page, where it was discovered by fellow Courier-Journal photographer and three-time Eclipse Award Photography winner Michael Clevenger, who praised Faughender’s image and put it on his Facebook page.

“The picture got lots of attention after that, especially from veteran photographers, who had never seen a photo like that,” said Faughender. “Sometimes it takes just one shot.”

The winning photograph can be viewed here .

Honorable Mention in the Photography category went to five-time Eclipse Award winner Barbara Livingston of Daily Racing Form for her photo of France Go da Ina losing his rider Masaki Takano during a pre-Preakness workout on May 12, 2021. The image was posted on DRF.com.

Judges in the category were Mark Abraham, freelance photographer and currently deputy director of the United States Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery; Rob Carr, staff sports photographer with Getty Images; and Mike Kane, veteran Thoroughbred journalist and photographer.

NTWAB Member Privman Selected For Hirsch Media Roll Of Honor

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 16:29:02 GMT

Daily Racing Form national correspondent Jay Privman has been selected to the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor along with late turf writers Walter Haight and Jack Mann. Privman is a member, past president and former board member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

Privman, 62, a resident of Carlsbad, Ca., covered his first race in 1980 — Spectacular Bid’s victory in the Malibu Stakes — while in college at California State University, Northridge, and working part-time for The Los Angeles Daily News. Privman worked for The Daily News full-time from 1981 through 1991, then served as West Coast editor for The Racing Times from 1991 to 1992. We was West Coast correspondent for The New York Times from 1992 to 1998). He was a correspondent for The Thoroughbred Record and The Thoroughbred Times from 1983 to 1998 before joining Daily Racing Form in October 1998, where he has covered the Thoroughbred racing industry since.

Along with his distinguished print career, Privman served as a television reporter or handicapper for CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC Sports Network from 1998 through 2018, and he has been host of “Thoroughbred Los Angeles,” a Saturday morning show on AM-830 KLAA, from 2003 to the present.

Privman covered every Kentucky Derby in person from 1982 through 2019, missing 2020 and 2021 because of covid-19 and a health issue, respectively, and every Breeders’ Cup except 2020 from the inaugural running at Hollywood Park in 1984 through 2021.

Not much grass grows under Privman's feet. He authored the books “Breeders’ Cup: Thoroughbred Racing’s Championship Day,” and “Del Mar at 75” and was a contributing writer to the Daily Racing Form book “Champions".

Privman's outstanding work hasn't gone without notice. He is a six-time winner of the Red Smith Award (1989, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2008) from Churchill Downs for the best Kentucky Derby story; a two-time winner of the David F. Woods Award (2002, 2013) from the Maryland Jockey Club for the best Preakness Stakes story; and a two-time winner of the Joe Hirsch Award (2010, 2016) from the New York Racing Association for the best Belmont Stakes story.

Privman’s Breeders’ Cup awards include six Joe Hirsch Awards (2001, 2003, 2005, 2015, 2017, 2018) for news reporting and the Bill Leggett Award (2017) for feature writing. Other honors include the Old Hilltop Award from the Maryland Jockey Club (2005); Walter Haight Award, from the National Turf Writers Association (2005, now National Turf Writers and Broadcasters); induction into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (2011); and the Charles W. Engelhard Award, from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (2016). Privman has also been a reporter on eight Eclipse Award-winning broadcasts: three each with ESPN and NBC and one each with Sirius Radio and Fox Sports West 2.

Shown at Del Mar recently with Hall of Fame jockey Darrel McHargue.

Haight (1899-1968), in whose name a career excellence award is given annually by NTWAB at its awards dinner, is a native of Washington, D.C. He joined The Washington Post in 1924, embarking on a prolific 44-year run with the paper. He started with The Post as a general assignment reporter and began covering Thoroughbred racing for the paper in 1932. He reported on his first Kentucky Derby that year, beginning a streak of 37 consecutive years writing about the event. Haight was The Post’s racing writer and editor for 36 years and held the honorary Number. 1 seat in the Churchill Downs press box for his longevity covering the Run for the Roses.

Known for his storytelling ability, Haight had a 2-year-old horse named after him in 1941 that provided him fodder for several entertaining columns. Haight was known to inject himself into his writing through first-person narratives, and in the book “Bred to Run,” he created a horse named Flat Tire that had whimsical conversations with the author.

Haight was a charter member and president of the Maryland Racing Writers Association and a vice president of the then-National Turf Writers Association. Upon his death in 1968, The Blood-Horse (now BloodHorse) said Haight “wrote with glee, for he saw the humor and the drama in the game.” The publication described him as a “jolly man” who reveled in his role as “Aesop of the press box." Some of his funniest stories never made it into print. He could relate to the intricate machinations of past-posting a bookie or the heart-breaking collapse of a four-horse parlay with an admixture of merry pathos that kept listeners enthralled.

”Mann (1925 ̶ 2000), a New York City native, began his writing career in 1940 while in high school for the weekly Long Islander. He attended Columbia University for a year on the GI Bill and served with the Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946 in the North Pacific during and immediately after World War II. In 1947, he returned to newspapers as a reporter and editor of two Long Island weeklies, then joined Newsday, first as a reporter, then as assistant city editor, then as sports editor.

Specializing in coverage of horse racing and baseball, and a well-traveled person, Mann wrote for Newsday (1952 to 1962); The Detroit Free Press (1962 to 1963); The New York Herald-Tribune (1963 to 1965); Sports Illustrated (1965 to 1967); The Miami Herald (1968 to 1970); The Washington Daily News (1970 to 1971); The Washington Star (1971 to 1972); The Baltimore Evening Sun (1980 to 1990); and The Racing Times (1991 to 1992), among others. While sports editor at Newsday, Mann led the section’s transition from having a local focus to one that covered sports nationwide.

Mann won an Eclipse Award in 1987 and was honored with the Walter Haight Award from the National Turf Writers Association in 1993. He also received the Maryland Jockey Club’s Old Hilltop Award for lifetime achievement. Mann also authored the 1966 book, “The Decline and Fall of the New York Yankees.” Along with racing and baseball, Mann also covered professional football and did freelance work for Look, Life, People, and Penthouse magazines, among others.

Known for his attention to detail, Mann also had a combative side that led him to tangle with his superiors and often change employers.

“He did some outstanding stuff, but at some point, no matter how well he was doing, somebody would fool with his copy,” said Clem Florio of the Maryland Jockey Club upon Mann’s death in 2000. “They just couldn’t leave their hands off of his stuff. He cared about getting the facts straight and writing well. He said he’d been fired from the best. He was a very special kind of guy. He had a special insight into things — and he was a stickler for English. He’d say, ‘If you’re going to tell a story, tell it right. If you’re going to write, write correctly.’ He kept a bulletin board of faux pas, including his own."

At Newsday, Mann was fired, but returned in the early 1960s — when he either quit or was fired again, according to Newsday sports columnist Steve Jacobson, who was first hired by Mann.

“He’s the guy who dragged Newsday from local sports into the big leagues, Jacobson said. “He was brilliant.”

Previous selections to the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor are Steven Crist (2010), Charles Hatton (2010), Bill Nack (2010), Red Smith (2010), Dr. Russ Harris (2011), Joe Palmer (2011), Jay Hovdey (2012), Whitney Tower (2012), Andrew Beyer (2013), Kent Hollingsworth (2013), George F. T. Ryall (2013), Jim Murray (2014), Jennie Rees (2014), Raleigh Burroughs (2015), Steve Haskin (2015), Jim McKay (2016), Maryjean Wall (2016), Barney Nagler (2017), Michael Veitch (2017), Jack Whitaker (2017), Joe Burnham (2018), Tom Hammond (2018), Charlsie Cantey (2019), Billy Reed (2019), Pierre “Peb” Bellocq (2020), and William Leggett (2020).

The National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor was established in 2010 to recognize individuals whose careers have been dedicated to, or substantially involved in, writing about Thoroughbred racing (non-fiction), and who distinguished themselves as journalists. The criteria has since been expanded to allow the consideration of other forms of media.

Often referred to as the dean of Thoroughbred racing writers, Hirsch won both the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Writing and the Lord Derby Award in London from the Horserace Writers and Reporters Association of Great Britain. He also received the Eclipse Award of Merit (1993), the Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1983), The Jockey Club Medal (1989), and was designated as the honored guest at the 1994 Thoroughbred Club of America’s testimonial dinner. The annual Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park is named in his honor.

Hirsch, who died in 2009, was also a former chair of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and the founder of the National Turf Writers Association as well as its first president. The Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor Committee is comprised of Edward L. Bowen (chairman), author of more than 20 books on Thoroughbred racing; Bob Curran, retired Jockey Club vice president of corporate communications; Ken Grayson, National Museum of Racing trustee; Jane Goldstein, retired turf publicist; Steve Haskin, Secretariat.com and longtime BloodHorse columnist; G. D. Hieronymus, retired Keeneland director of broadcast services; Jay Hovdey, five-time Eclipse Award-winning writer; and Dan Smith, retired senior media coordinator of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Edited release

Winter Newsletter From President Tom Law

Sat, 04 Dec 2021 18:42:55 GMT

Good day, belated Happy Thanksgiving to all. It was great to see many of you out in California for the Breeders’ Cup and our successful 51st annual Awards Dinner at The Brigantine in Del Mar. The minutes from our pre-Breeders’ Cup meeting are attached for your reference.

As you can see, we discussed several topics and welcomed two new members and changed another from Associate to Regular Writer. We also formed a new committee to look into ways to fund a scholarship/internship program independently or with industry organizations/publications. That committee will hopefully be meeting soon to get the ball rolling and have something to present at our Kentucky Derby Week meeting.

If you’re interested in working on the committee, or have any ideas, feel free to send me a note at tom@thisishorseracing.com . Any and all help is appreciated.

Speaking of help and back to our Awards Dinner, another hearty round of applause for the team that pulled everything together and made the night special. Julie Sarno, Loren Hebel-Osborne, Jay Hovdey, Jay Sarno, Byron King and Dick Downey took the lead and we can’t thank them enough for their efforts. Thanks as well to all who bought tickets and tables and to our emcee Peter Lurie. Great work by all.

Other items of note:

• Voting for the Eclipse Awards will commence soon. A committee with representatives designated by the three voting groups – NTWAB, NTRA and Daily Racing Form – will meet next week to discuss horses to include in the voting supplement and voting will begin Friday, Dec. 17 and run through Monday, Jan. 10.

Regular or tenured members in good standing are eligible to vote for the Eclipse Awards. If you have not paid dues you are not in good standing and will not receive a ballot.

The NTWAB board and the Eclipse Award Steering Committee over the past year has discussed the issue of conflicts of interest by eligible Eclipse Award voters. Please remember that if you have a direct or even indirect conflict of interest in any of the categories to please recuse yourself from voting. The integrity of the voting process is important, so please do the right thing.

If you have a question about whether there is a conflict or not, feel free to reach out to me at any time to discuss.

Hopefully your coverage of the Breeders’ Cup went off without any issues. If you did encounter any problems with access, credentialing, etc., feel free to let me know and we can discuss it with Jim Gluckson and his team.

I wish you all a safe and enjoyable holiday season and a Happy New Year. See you soon,

Tom Law

NTWAB President

December 3, 2021

Reminder: Deadline Looming For Media Eclipse Awards

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 18:14:42 GMT

The entry deadline for the 2021 Media Eclipse Awards is Friday, Nov. 19 at 5:00 ET.

The Media Eclipse Awards are presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters for outstanding achievement in media coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse trophies will be presented to the Award winners at the 51st annual Eclipse Awards, presented by Daily Racing Form , the Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group, on the evening of Feb. 10, 2022, at Santa Anita Park.

Categories for the 2021 Media Eclipse Awards are:

Writing - News/Enterprise
Writing - Features/Commentary
Photography
Television - Live Racing Programming
Television - Features
Audio/Multimedia Internet

For more information, please review the story posted at this site on Oct. 25 .

NTWAB 2021 Award Winners: Photo Essay

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 18:45:25 GMT

From our Annual Awards Dinner held at The Brigantine Del Mar on Nov. 3, 2021, we bring you shots of our award winners and our chief event planner for this wonderful evening.

Dan Smith (left) went to work as a publicist for Del Mar in 1964 and made a lively career there. The Joe Palmer Award was presented to him by Jay Hovdey .

Lenny Shulman was named to receive the Walter Haight Award, which was presented by Frank Angst. Lenny couldn't be at the dinner and addressed the crowd via phone.

Steve Byk was honored with the Jim McKay Award for his prodigious radio work covering all things Thoroughbred racing. The photo includes the charity for whom NTWAB made a donation at Steve's request. Rick Hammerle made the presentation. Donations were made on behalf of all the major award winners.

Mike Shear was on hand to help us honor his dad, John Shear, who was the Santa Anita paddock captain for decades. Gary Mandella riveted the assembled when he told about the Mr. Fitz Award winner, now age 100, saving a 5-year-old girl from an out-of-control horse in the Santa Anita paddock 10 years ago, and later cheerful while hospitalized with a dozen injuries.

Bob Ehalt and Alicia Hughes were the 2021 NTWAB writing award winners.

Julie Sarno (left) provided great leadership organizing the dinner with Loren Hebel-Osborne, and Jay Sarno (right) generously provided and set up sound for the event.

Photos by Loren Hebel-Osborne

Peter Lurie, with the lights of Del Mar and the occasional train behind him, graciously served as Master of Ceremonies at our dinner.

Breeders' Cup Post Positions; ML, Jockeys, Trainers

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 00:43:53 GMT

Friday, Nov. 5

All are Grade 1 except the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint (Grade 2)

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, $1 million, 5 furlongs

(15-1) Twilight Jet – Leigh Roche – Michael O'Callaghan
(12-1) Kaufymaker – Jose Ortiz – Wesley Ward
(15-1) Go Bears Go – John Velazquez – David Loughnane
(20-1) Vertiginous – Javier Castellano – Brian Meehan
(12-1) Hierarchy – Oisin Murphy – Hugo Palmer
(4-1) Twilight Gleaming – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Wesley Ward
(6-1) Armor – Ryan Moore – Richard Hannon
(5-2) Averly Jane – Tyler Gaffalione – Wesley Ward
(4-1) One Timer – E. Baird – Larry Rivelli
(15-1) Time To Party – Flavien Prat – Peter Miller
(12-1) Derrynane – Joel Rosario – Christophe Clement
(20-1) Run Curtis Run – Luis Saez – Michael Maker

AE's

13. (30-1) Thunder Love -- TBD -- George Boughey

14. (30-1) Sumter -- TBD -- Richard Mandella

NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, $2 million, 1 1/16 miles

(20-1) Desert Dawn – Ricardo Gonzalez – Phil D'Amato
(5-2) Hidden Connection – Reylu Gutierrez – Bret Calhoun
(15-1) Sequist – Junior Alvarado – Dallas Stewart
(12-1) Tarabi – Javier Castellano – Cherie Devaux
(5-2) Juju's Map – Florent Geroux – Brad Cox
(4-5) Echo Zulu – Joel Rosario – Steve Asmussen

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, $1 million, 1 mile

(5-1) Pizza Bianca – Jose Ortiz – Christophe Clement
(12-1) Cairo Memories – Kent Desormeaux – Bob Hess
(12-1) Cachet – Luis Saez – George Boughey
(12-1) Turnerloose – Florent Geroux – Brad Cox
(8-1) Bubble Rock – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Brad Cox
(10-1) Hello You – John Velazquez – David Loughnane
(8-1) Consumer Spending – Flavien Prat – Chad Brown
(20-1) Sail By – Junior Alvarado – Leah Gyarmati
(6-1) Koala Princess – Joel Rosario – Arnaud Delacour
(30-1) Helens Well – Umberto Rispoli – Phil D'Amato
(10-1) Haughty – Tyler Gaffalione – Chad Brown
(8-1) Malavath – Ryan Moore – Francis-Henri Graffard
(6-1) Mise En Scene – Oisin Murphy – James Ferguson
(8-1) California Angel – Rafael Bejarano – George Leonard, III

TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, $2 million, 1 1/16 miles

(9-5) Jack Christopher – Jose Ortiz – Chad Brown
(15-1) Jasper Great – Yuichi Fukunaga – Hideyuki Mori
(20-1) Oviatt Class – Kent Desormeaux – Keith Desormeaux
(15-1) Pappacap – Joe Bravo – Mark Casse
(20-1) Double Thunder – Flavien Prat – Todd Pletcher
(30-1) American Sanctuary – Florent Geroux – Chris Davis
(30-1) Giant Game – Joe Talamo – Dale Romans
(10-1) Barossa – Juan Hernandez – Bob Baffert
(8-1) Pinehurst – John Velazquez – Bob Baffert
(5-1) Commandperformance – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Todd Pletcher
(30-1) Tough To Tame – Sophie Doyle – Chris Davis
(5-2) Corniche – Mike Smith – Bob Baffert

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, $1 million, 1 mile

(5-1) Modern Games – William Buick – Charlie Appleby
(6-1) Albahr – Frankie Dettori – Charlie Appleby
(8-1) Dakota Gold – Luis Saez – Danny Gargan
(8-1) Tiz the Bomb – Brian Hernandez, Jr. – Ken McPeek
(12-1) Slipstream – Joel Rosario – Christophe Clement
(8-1) Mackinnon – Juan Hernandez – Doug O'Neill
(20-1) Great Max – John Velazquez – Michael Bell
(12-1) Glounthaune – Ryan Moore – Aidan O'Brien
(20-1) Stolen Base – Umberto Rispoli
(6-1) Portfolio Company – Flavien Prat – Chad Brown
(15-1) Grafton Street – Tyler Gaffalione – Mark Casse
(30-1) Credibility – Mike Smith – Mark Casse
(15-1) Coinage – Florent Geroux – Mark Casse
(4-1) Dubawi Legend – James Doyle – Hugo Palmer

AE's

15. (20-1) Ready to Purrform -- TBD -- Brad Cox

16. 30-1) Detroit City -- TBD -- Jack Sisterson

Saturday, Nov. 6

All are Grade 1

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, $1 million, 7 furlongs

(20-1) Proud Emma – Flavien Prat – Peter Miller
(12-1) Estilo Talentoso – Jose Ortiz – Juan Arriagada
(12-1) Edgeway – Joel Rosario – John Sadler
(4-1) Ce Ce – Victor Espinoza – Michael McCarthy
(3-5) Gamine – John Velazquez – Bob Baffert
(5-2) Bella Sofia – Luis Saez – Rudy Rodriguez

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, $1 million, 5 furlongs

(6-1) Glass Slippers – Tom Eaves – Kevin Ryan
(5-1) Emaraaty Ana – Andrea Atzeni – Kevin Ryan
(7-2) Golden Pal – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Wesley Ward
(6-1) Lieutenant Dan – Geovanni Franco – Steve Miyadi
(12-1) Arrest Me Red – John Velazquez – Wesley Ward
(8-1) A Case Of You – Ronan Whelan – Adrian McGuiness
(30-1) Charmaine's Mia – Flavien Prat – Phil D'Amato
(20-1) Caravel – Jose Ortiz – Graham Motion
(6-1) Kimari – Joel Rosario – Wesley Ward
(5-1) Gear Jockey – Jose Lezcano – Rusty Arnold
(12-1) Fast Boat – Tyler Gaffalione – Joe Sharp
(12-1) Extravagant Kid – Ryan Moore – Brendan Walsh

AE's

13. (20-1) Bombard -- TBD -- Richard Mandella

14. (15-1) The Critical Way -- TBD -- Jose Delgado

15. (30-1) Chaos Theory -- TBD -- Robert Hess, Jr.

16. (20-1) Beer Can Man -- TBD -- Mark Glatt

17. (30-1) Commander -- TBD -- Peter Miller

18. (30-1) Hollywood Talent -- TBD -- Juan Vazquez

Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, $1 million, 1 mile

(7-2) Silver State – Ricardo Santana, Jr. – Steve Asmussen
(12-1) Pingxiang – Yuga Kawada – Hideyuki Mori
(4-1) Ginobili – Drayden Van Dyke – Richard Baltas
(30-1) Jasper Prince – Yuichi Fukunaga – Hideyuki Mori
(4-5) Life Is Good – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Todd Pletcher
(20-1) Restrainedvengence – Edwin Maldonado – Val Brinkerhoff
(12-1) Snapper Sinclair – Joel Rosario – Steve Asmussen
(10-1) Eight Rings – Juan Hernandez – Bob Baffert

Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (T), $2 million, 1 3/8 miles

(12-1) Going To Vegas – Umberto Rispoli – Richard Baltas
(15-1) Pocket Square – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Chad Brown
(12-1) Acanella – Colin Keane – Ger Lyons
(6-1) Rougir – Maxime Guyon – Cedric Rossi
(20-1) Queen Supreme – James Doyle – Andrew Balding
(4-1) Love – Ryan Moore – Aidan O'Brien
(7-2) War Like Goddess – Julien Leparoux – Bill Mott
(4-1) Loves Only You – Yuga Kawada – Yoshito Yahagi
(15-1) My Sister Nat – Jose Ortiz – Chad Brown
(20-1) Ocean Road – Oisin Murphy – Hugo Palmer
(30-1) Dogtag – Flavien Prat – Richard Mandella
(5-1) Audarya – William Buick – James Fanshawe

Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint, $2 million, 6 furlongs

(6-1) Following Sea – John Velazquez – Todd Pletcher
(6-5) Jackie's Warrior – Joel Rosario – Steve Asmussen
(12-1) C Z Rocket – Florent Geroux – Peter Miller
(20-1) Matera Sky – Yuga Kawada – Hideyuki Mori
(8-1) Aloha West – Jose Ortiz – Wayne Catalano
(10-1) Firenze Fire – Tyler Gaffalione – Kelly Breen
(20-1) Lexitonian – Jose Lezcano – Jack Sisterson
(6-1) Special Reserve – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Mike Maker
(4-1) Dr. Schivel – Flavien Prat – Mark Glatt

FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (T), $2 million, 1 mile

(12-1) Master Of The Seas – James Doyle – Charlie Appleby
(10-1) Smooth Like Strait – Umberto Rispoli – Michael McCarthy
(3-1) SPace Blues – William Buick – Charlie Appleby
(15-1) Raging Bull – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Chad Brown
(20-1) Vin De Garde – Yuichi Fukunaga – Hideaki Fujiwara
(5-1) Mo Forza – Flavien Prat – Peter Miller
(8-1) In Love – Alex Achard – Paulo Lobo
(15-1) Hit The Road – John Velazquez – Dan Blacker
(8-1) Mother Earth – Ryan Moore – Aidan O'Brien
(8-1) Blowout – Joel Rosario – Chad Brown
(10-1) Got Stormy – Tyler Gaffalione – Mark Casse
(12-1) Pearls Galore – Billy Lee – Paddy Twomey
(15-1) Casa Creed – Junior Alvarado – Bill Mott
(12-1) Ivar – Joe Talamo – Paulo Lobo

AE's

15. (15-1) Real Appeal -- TBD -- Mrs. J Harrington

16. (30-1) Quen Supreme -- TBD -- Andrew Balding

Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, $2 million, 1 1/8 miles

(8-1) Private Mission – Flavien Prat – Bob Baffert
(8-1) Royal Flag – Joel Rosario – Chad Brown
(4-1) Malathaat – John Velazquez – Todd Pletcher
(30-1) Blue Stripe – Frankie Dettori – Marcelo Polanco
(12-1) Clairiere – Ricardo Santana, Jr. – Steve Asmussen
(8-5) Letruska – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – Fausto Gutierrez
(30-1) Horologist – Junior Alvarado – Bill Mott
(4-1) Shedaresthedevil – Florent Geroux – Brad Cox
(15-1) As Time Goes By – Luis Saez – Bob Baffert
(30-1) Marche Lorraine – Oisin Murphy – Yoshito Yahagi
(15-1) Dubar Road – Jose Ortiz – Chad Brown

Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (T), $4 million, 1 1/2 miles

(15-1) Rockemperor – Javier Castellano – Chad Brown
(20-1) United – John Velazquez – Richard Mandella
(4-1) Domestic Spending – Flavien Prat – Chad Brown
(20-1) Astronaut – Victor Espinoza – John Shirreffs
(20-1) Tribhuvan – Jose Ortiz – Chad Brown
(20-1) Acclimate – Ricardo Gonzalez – Phil D'Amato
(8-1) Walton Street – James Doyle – Charlie Appleby
(20-1) Broome – Frankie Dettori – Aidan O'Brien
(12-1) Sisfahan – Cristian Demuro – Henk Grewe
(12-1) Yibir – William Buick – Charlie Appelby
(8-1) Gufo – Joel Rosario – Christophe Clement
(6-1) Teona – David Egan – Roger Varian
(9-5) Tarnawa – Colin Keane – Dermot Weld
(20-1) Japan – Ryan Moore – Aidan O'Brien

AE's

15. (15-1) Bolshoi Ballet -- TBD -- Aiden O'Brien

16. (20-1) Channel Maker -- TBD -- William Mott

17. (30-1) Mogul -- TBD -- Aiden O'Brien

18. (30-1) Friar's Road -- TBD -- Michael McCarthy

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, $6 million, 1 1/4 miles

(15-1) Tripoli – Irad Ortiz, Jr. – John Sadler
(20-1) Express Train – Victor Espinoza – John Shirreffs
(4-1) Hot Rod Charlie – Flavien Prat – Doug O'Neill
(3-1) Essential Quality – Luis Saez – Brad Cox
(5-2) Knicks Go – Joel Rosario – Brad Cox
(8-1) Art Collector – William Mott – Mike Smith
(30-1) Stilleto Boy – Kent Desormeaux – Ed Moger, Jr.
(4-1) Medina Spirit – John Velazquez – Bob Baffert
(8-1) Max Player -- Ricardo Santana, Jr. -- Steve Asmussen

Breeders' Cup Post Draw Details

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 20:59:40 GMT

The Rood & Riddle Breeders’ Cup Post-Position Draw for the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be shown live on Monday, Nov. 1 from Del Mar beginning at 2:30 p.m. PT / 5:30 p.m. ET.

All 14 races will be drawn and announced live on TVG, along with BreedersCup.com , the Breeders’ Cup mobile app , and Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube pages.

The Rood & Riddle Breeders’ Cup Post-Position Draw will be hosted by Britney Eurton and Nick Luck.

The 38th Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $31 million, will be held at Del Mar on Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov.6.

Breeders’ Cup World Championships races will be drawn in the following order:

Friday, Nov. 5 – “Future Stars Friday”

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2)

$2 million NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1)

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1)

$2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1)

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1)

Saturday, Nov. 6

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1)

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1)

$1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1)

$2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1)

$2 million Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1)

$2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF (G1)

$2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1)

$4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1)

$6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1)

The Official Breeders’ Cup mobile app can be downloaded on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store .

Breeders' Cup Pre-Entries Set

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 20:09:18 GMT

Pre-entries are set for the 14 Breeders' Cup races set for Nov. 5-6. Live links to the entries are on the jump page.

Breeders' Cup online

Breeders' Cup pdf

2021 Media Eclipse Awards Guidelines

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 22:21:12 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), in conjunction with Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB) today released the guidelines for the 2021 Media Eclipse Awards. The media awards are presented by the NTRA, DRF and NTWAB for outstanding achievement in media coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse trophies will be presented to the Award winners at the 51st annual Eclipse Awards, presented by DRF, the Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group.

All submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET, on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021.

Categories for the 2021 Media Eclipse Awards are:

    Writing - News/Enterprise
    Writing - Features/Commentary
    Photography
    Television - Live Racing Programming
    Television - Features
    Audio/Multimedia Internet

Beginning with the 1998 Awards, Eclipse Awards voting has been presented by NTRA, DRF and NTWAB. Previously, the Eclipse Awards were sponsored by Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (TRA) in conjunction with DRF and the National Turf Writers Association (NTWA). Prior to the start of the Eclipse Awards in 1971, the TRA and DRF separately honored racing’s annual champions. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 career starts.

2021 MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS RULES

The Eclipse Awards for Media are presented by NTRA, DRF and NTWAB. Rules governing the Media Eclipse Awards are established by representatives of the three presenting organizations.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARD CATEGORIES

Writing - News/Enterprise
Writing - Feature/Commentary
Photography
Television - Live Racing Programming
Television - Features
Audio/Multimedia Internet

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be RECEIVED by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 19, 2021. Entries received after that time will not be accepted.

Entries for the Writing, Photography and Audio Multi-Media and Internet awards will be accepted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Portal. Instructions are in this link .

Entries for the Television Awards will be accepted via regular mail or overnight courier service.

ENTRY FEE

None

RULES

Entries should display outstanding achievement in the coverage of North American Thoroughbred racing and must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 19, 2020 and November 19, 2021. All submissions are limited only to works pertaining to the Thoroughbred breed, and no other equine breed. Submissions on subjects, topics and individuals which took place exclusively outside of North America will not be accepted.

Print and Internet submissions (news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing and photography) must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website.

Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been broadcast on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) are not eligible in any category.

Submissions are limited to outlets that are managed by an independent editorial department.

LETTERS OF ENTRY

Entries must originate with the author (print submissions) or producer (audio/multi-media Internet and television submissions). All entries must include a cover letter, and be uploaded in the Submissions Portal from the author (for print submissions), photographer (for photography submissions) or producer (for audio/multi-media Internet and television), stating his/her wish to enter his/her materials; publication/broadcast information (outlined below); and contact information (name, address, telephone, fax, cell phone and e-mail, as applicable).

Please indicate the category of each submission in your cover letter. If you are submitting in two different categories please include two separate cover letters.

The cover letter must be written in a stand-alone Word Document uploaded in the Submissions Portal. Please include the date that the media organization published the article, in the cases of the writing and photography awards, or the air date of a television or multi-media/internet submission.

DO NOT include information in your cover letter extolling the virtues of your story and the “impact” on the public at large, or the time and effort devoted to writing or producing the entry. The judges will not see your letter, and it will have no bearing on the outcome of the competition.

Editors may submit print materials on behalf of authors, provided such submissions include the cover letter described above. All other third-party submissions will be rejected. In the writing categories, submissions by editors on behalf of multiple writers from a publication on a feature subject, special section or a compendium of stories on breaking news will be rejected.

Authors and producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

The presenting organizations reserve the right to determine the eligibility of all entries and to disqualify an entry at any time, including after determination of an award, at their sole discretion. The presenting organizations reserve the right not to bestow an award in a particular category, based on the quantity or (as determined by a panel of judges) the quality of submissions. Questions concerning eligibility should be directed to the address for entries, listed below.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns.

LIMITS ON ENTRIES

Two per entrant, per category (with an exception for a multi-part series in the writing categories). Entrants in the writing categories are limited to submissions by the individual author, or by the author’s editor, with permission from the author.

Upon submission you will receive an automatic reply from NTRA to notify you that your entry or entries have been received. The NTRA will contact you directly if there are any rules issues with your submission. It is the obligation of the individual to follow up if he or she did not receive an automatic reply in the writing, multi-media and photography categories.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS CATEGORIES

1) News/Enterprise and Feature/Commentary Writing

There are two categories of competition for Writing awards:

    News/Enterprise – Submission guidelines for works in this category are the following: timely, hard news articles and expository pieces involving concentrated background research, investigative reporting or news analysis.
    Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines for works in this category are: columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles.

Please note that competition in the Writing categories is limited to three (3) authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series.

-No Q&A submissions will be accepted in either category.

Multi-Part Series Rules

Within each category of writing, authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that:

a. Have been pre-arranged by the editors and stated in the published work that the articles constitute a specified series; with the same subject matter (e.g., racing surfaces, medication) examined or profiled in each article of the series. Articles submitted under the title “occasional series” will not be accepted. Collections of articles under the title “The Year in Horse Racing” will not be accepted.

Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter in another category, subject to the rules outlined above.

Submission in either the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio and Multi-Media Internet category.

Books – Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

Authors must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

I.   COVER LETTER

Please upload a cover letter in Submissions Portal stating the name, date and publication of your submission and the category you have selected. Please also send a web link of your article as proof that it was published during the time period of the competition.

II. SUBMISSIONS TO THE JUDGES

Authors must submit ONE copy of each submission in common Microsoft Word format. No Zip files will be accepted.

DO NOT PLACE A WEBLINK IN YOUR MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT TO THE JUDGES.

    Submissions must appear as the article was worded in the PUBLISHED form.
    At the top of your submission, you must include the date and time that the article was first published
    All Headlines, Sub-Headlines, Bylines and Hyperlinks MUST BE REMOVED from the submission.
    No publication names are permitted on the submission.
    You MUST REMOVE THE NAME OF YOUR PUBLICATION EACH TIME IT APPEARS IN YOUR SUBMISSION, and insert the words “name of publication removed”; e.g. “According to a recent study by the Anywhere USA Times…” must be changed to “According to a recent study by (Name of Publication Removed)…”
    Photos, graphs, charts, hyperlinks or other graphic elements appearing within the article(s) must be deleted.
    The author must indicate for which writing category the work is being submitted (e.g., “News Enterprise” or “Feature Commentary” in the cover letter).

Submissions Portal

A link to the Submissions Portal is here .

2) Photography

Photography entries are limited to images for events that took place in North America. Submission must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a Website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website. Submissions posted on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media outlet will not be accepted.

I. COVER LETTER

Please upload a cover letter through the Submissions Portal in an attachment stating the name, date and publication of your photography submission. Please also send a web link of your article as proof that it was published during the time period of the competition.

NOTE: The cover letter is to be sent as a single stand/alone attachment and not an open document in the email part of the submission.

II. SUBMISSION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Photographers must submit in jpeg format one image of each photo, with NO identifying marks (e.g., photographer’s name). The submission must be accompanied by a single “Web print” of the published photo showing date, publication title and photographer’s name. Note: No Zip Files will be accepted.

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Please note that cropping of the original photo by the editor in the picture’s final published form will be accepted. However, photographs which include color enhancement, “Photoshopping” or deliberate alteration of the image will not be allowed in the competition.

Submissions Portal

A link to the Submissions Portal is here .

3) Television – Live Racing Programming and Features

Television entries (features or live racing programming) from a recognized over the air, cable or satellite outlet are to be submitted in USB Flash Drive (Thumb Drive) format. The UBS Drive must be accompanied by a letter detailing the name of the entrant, the date each program aired and the name of the station or network on which it aired. Commercials must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. Please send just one copy of your submission. We will make duplicates for the judges.

Only television media outlets may submit entries in this category. Submissions from racetracks or racing organizations, or promotional projects from breeding farms, will not be accepted into the competition. (i.e. The Kentucky Derby broadcast must be submitted by NBC Sports)

There are two television categories:

Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be included.

Features entries may be submitted as either single, stand-alone pieces, a documentary, historical piece, news report or as part of a live-racing program. Entries in the Features category are limited to 120 minutes. Features may NOT be submitted for separate consideration in this category if the same program has been submitted for entry in the Live Racing category. “Medley” tapes containing more than two features, of any duration, will not be accepted.

All submissions in the Television categories are to be mailed to:

Jim Gluckson
Eclipse Awards
215 East 68th Street
Ste. 17G
New York, NY 10065

4) Audio/Multimedia Internet

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries is one category combining audio (radio, podcasts) with multi-media. It is not two separate categories. All entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization. Entries airing exclusively on YouTube will not be accepted.

All entries in this category must be limited to 60 minutes. Entries for live radio broadcasts may submit a compilation of the best work over the course of one program. ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal.

The Audio/Multimedia Internet category may consist of audio-only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. No more than two (2) individual radio or Internet-based audio broadcasts per person may be submitted. “Medley” tapes containing more than three radio shows or Webcasts, of any duration, will not be accepted.

The Multi-Media Internet entries must have one integrated theme and be presented in a Webcast centering on a news event, subject or feature. To be eligible, the Webcast must include at least two forms of media, one of which must be original audio. The complementary form(s) of media may be video, photographs, graphics and/or print (e.g., a story or stories). Please note that if the entry includes video, the video must be produced as original content.

The entry, in its entirety, must be retrievable from one Internet frame, with links to components of the package being considered part of the frame, provided they link back to pages within the originating Web site and not to other, external Websites. Entries that first appeared over the air or on cable television prior to appearing on the internet will not be accepted.

Submission in the Multimedia Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary categories.

Multimedia Internet submissions must be accompanied by a letter from the editor or equivalent senior official of the Website, attesting that the package is the work of the author(s) or organization that submitted it and that it appeared on the Website on the date(s) in question.

Authors/Producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published in their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

Audio/Multimedia Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

Submissions of Webcasts and Radio Programs must be accompanied by:

     A letter from the Web producer or equivalent senior official of the Website attesting that the work is that of the author who submitted it and including the date the program was Webcast and the name of Web site on which it aired.
    Program title and air date of the production or webcast
    The name of the network, radio station or web outlet

Submissions Portal

The Submissions Portal is here .

***

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than Monday, January 3, 2022.

NTRA Communications release

Breeders' Cup Pre-Entries Oct. 27

Sat, 23 Oct 2021 17:02:46 GMT

DEL MAR, Calif. (Oct. 22, 2021) ― Pre-entered fields for the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be announced live on TVG along with the Breeders’ Cup website, Official Mobile App, and Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 8:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. ET.

The live presentation will be hosted by TVG's and Breeders’ Cup Players’ Show's Christina Blacker and Mike Joyce, and reporter Joaquin Jaime.

The 38th Breeders’ Cup World Championships will consist of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $31 million to be held at Del Mar racetrack on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 5-6.

Breeders’ Cup Pre-Entry is the first stage of a two-stage entry payment process for all owners intending to start a horse in a Breeders’ Cup World Championships race. The first payment to secure entry is due on Monday, Oct. 25, when pre-entries close at noon PT. A second payment is due on Monday, Nov. 1, when final entries are taken. Post positions will also be drawn on Nov. 1.

Edited Breeders' Cup release

Purchase Tickets to the 2021 Annual Awards Dinner

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 20:59:09 GMT

Tickets are available at Eventbrite. The event will be on Nov. 3 during Breeder's Cup week at a great venue: The Brigantine Del Mar, very close to the track. The public may attend, but space is limited, so order now to avoid being shut out. To order, click the link on the right sidebar.

Shear, Smith, Shulman, Byk 2021 NTWAB Award Winners

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 21:37:00 GMT

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 15, 2021) – John Shear, who retired from his post as Santa Anita Park’s paddock guard this year at age 100, will be honored along with retired Del Mar publicist Dan Smith, Turf writer Lenny Shulman and radio personality Steve Byk during the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters’ 61st annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 3.

The NTWAB Awards Dinner is the organization’s only fundraiser and a portion of the proceeds of the event are used toward scholarships for prospective racing journalists and to support other Thoroughbred industry charities. The NTWAB Awards Dinner returns to its traditional date on the Breeders’ Cup Week calendar after a one-year hiatus and will be held at the iconic Brigantine Seafood and Oyster Bar in Del Mar, California.

Shear will be honored with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. During his time with Santa Anita Shear was entrusted with keeping horses and patrons safe, and famously risked his life in that endeavor 10 years ago at age 90 to put his 5-foot, 115-pound body between a loose horse and a child – resulting in multiple fractures. His value to racing was so much more, as one of the most recognizable employees who interfaced with fans on a daily basis, his warm smile and familiarity with regulars making him incredibly popular. He worked in that capacity for nearly 60 years, retiring this past summer.

Smith, who served more than 40 years as full-time director of media relations at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, will be honored with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. Smith was at the forefront of Del Mar’s innovations that not only attracted new fans, but also enhanced the experience of traditional customers, while always putting the racing product front and center. Prior to his career in media relations, Smith covered racing and other sports for the Los Angeles Times. Prior to his retirement in 2021, the Dan Smith Press Box was christened at Del Mar.

Shulman, the features editor at BloodHorse magazine for 20 years and the author of four books including “Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory,” will be honored with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. Shulman, a member of NTWAB, also wrote “Ride of Their Lives,” a look at the troubled lives of some jockeys, and two novels, “Long Way From Home” and “Points.” Shulman began his career as a sports reporter at the Oneida (New York) Daily Dispatch after graduating from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications.

Byk, the host of the popular “At the Races with Steve Byk” show on SiriusXM, will be honored with the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting. Also an NTWAB member, Byk's five-day-a-week news magazine has become a must-listen for many industry participants and fans. Byk began writing about racing in 2002, eventually developing DerbyTrail.com. He joined ‘At the Races and Beyond’ on Sirius in 2005 and took over the show in 2007.

Tickets for the NTWAB Awards Dinner, which can be purchased through EventBrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-national-turf-writers-broadcasters-awards-dinner-tickets-172321537357), are $80 for NTWAB members and Breeders’ Cup credentialed media and $100 for non-members and guests. Invitations will be mailed to NTWAB members, and non-members can request an invitation by contacting Jessie Oswald at jboswald68@gmail.com.

###

The National Turf Writers And Broadcasters, formerly known as the National Turf Writers Association, is more than 60 years old and promotes and encourages closer relationships and camaraderie among its members. It also seeks to improve working conditions, foster better understanding between its membership and the governing powers of Thoroughbred racing, and develop a deeper understanding of Thoroughbred racing and breeding. The NTWAB is 501c, not-for-profit organization. www.ntwab.org

Call for Breeders' Cup Writing Awards

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 22:01:15 GMT

Breeders' Cup welcomes your participation in The Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards honoring excellence in coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. There are two awards that will celebrate outstanding writing:.

The Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

The Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

These awards are based on coverage of the 2019 and the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Since there were no awards issued for 2019 works, we are combining writing submissions from the past two years into 2019-2020 awards.

To enter the competition for these awards, contestants may submit a maximum of two submissions per category: a choice from 2019 and a choice from 2020 in Outstanding News reporting, and a choice from 2019 and a choice from 2020 for Outstanding Feature writing. Please note that two submissions in one category from the same year will not be accepted.

Deadline for Entry is Thursday, October 7, 2021

Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

This competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine or an internet site. The submissions for the Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting are limited to a maximum of (2) submissions, one from each year. The submission must be a focused recap article of a 2019 or a 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships race. You may enter one article written and submitted for the corresponding day of Friday, Nov. 1 or Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, and one article written and submitted for the corresponding day of Friday, Nov. 6 or Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. You may also choose just to submit one article from either 2019 or 2020. Please include a timestamp web link to your articles. (It is understood that articles submitted under deadline circumstances may not have been posted by editors in a timely manner.)

Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

The competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine or an internet site. The submissions for the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing are limited to a maximum of two (2) submissions, one from each year. Each submission must be focused on some aspect of the 2019 or the 2020 Breeders’ Cup: an advance story on a race, an individual profile, column, or a business article. You may also choose just to submit one article from either 2019 or 2020. Please also include the publication date of your article.

The winners of these awards will be announced at the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters Dinner at The Brigantine Del Mar on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021.

Submission instructions are as follows:

Two steps: 1) Cover Letter and 2) Clean Documents for Judging

1) Write an email cover letter to jim@breederscup.com

a) Indicate the category for competition (News Reporting or Feature)

b) Name of publication

c) Headline of article

d) Include a weblink to the article in your cover letter. The link is not for judging purposes, just proof of published work. We need a clean Word document for judging.

2) Attach your Clean Documents of your submissions in Microsoft Word document or a similar format. For a News Reporting submission, please place a timestamp at the top of the article. For Feature Reporting submissions, please place the date of publication. However, do not place your byline or the name of your publication in any of your clean documents that will be judged.

Submission deadline is Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021.

Thanks very much, and Good Luck to all competitors.

NTWAB's Clancy Named For David F. Woods Memorial Award

Thu, 13 May 2021 17:17:50 GMT

Joe Clancy of ST Publishing Inc., a member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, is being recognized for outstanding journalism coverage of the 2020 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. Patrick Smith of Getty Images has also been named for his work.

Clancy was named recipient of the David F. Woods Memorial Award for "Force of the Filly" published in the November 2020 edition of Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred after Swiss Skydiver won against males. Clancy also won the Woods award in 2015 and 2017.

“I was kicking around the Pimlico barn area the day before the Preakness, taking notes, talking to people,” Clancy said. “The place felt empty, a little strange due to the Covid restrictions on attendance and media access. It was October, not May.

"And then I saw Kenny McPeek hosing Swiss Skydiver's legs outside the barn and thought of all the horses I hosed when I worked in my father's barn. I wandered over, said hello, fed the filly a mint or two and Kenny and I talked horses for a while. It was amazing. I remember walking away hoping she would win so I could write about it. She had to come through on the track, and did she ever. The battle with Authentic was just what the 2020 Preakness needed, and it was an honor to tell her story.”

The story is posted here .

Clancy is the owner, publisher, editor and a writer for ST Publishing Inc., parent company of thisishorseracing.com, and editor of Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, a monthly magazine published by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association. In 2014 he won an Eclipse Award for excellence in writing. Clancy lives in Fair Hill.

Smith, a staff photographer at Getty, was named recipient of the Jerry Frutkoff Photographer Award for his photo of Swiss Skydiver and Authentic battling in the stretch. The image was published by Getty on Oct. 3, 2020.

“I loved the facial expression of (Robby) Albarado as he went nose-to-nose with the filly to defeat the Kentucky Derby winner,” Smith said. “All the excitement we dream of when photographing racing was there.”

Smith acknowledged co-worker for Rob Carr for his support and vision, and his late grandfather Paul Szugaj for his love of Thoroughbred racing.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say anytime I’m against the rail photographing racing – those two are on my mind,” he said.

The award-winning photo may be viewed here .

Clancy and Smith will be recognized Friday at Pimlico.

Job Opportunities: Two Editor Positions

Sun, 09 May 2021 21:41:22 GMT

BloodHorse is looking for a Sales editor, a full-time position. Paulick Report is looking for a weekend editor, a part-time position. More about these opportunities are posted at our Members Marketplace page.

NTWAB Winter Newsletter

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 22:31:29 GMT

Complete Turnout for Eclipse Voting

Good day NTWAB members. Keeping with the transparent tradition of our organization, here is a spreadsheet that shows the first-place Eclipse Award votes for all our eligible Regular Writer and Regular Broadcaster members.

Of the 145 NTWAB members that received ballots, 145 were submitted. Great work by all, I can’t recall a 100 percent ballot return by any organization in the past! Overall, 224 of the 238 eligible voters from the three voting blocs submitted ballots (94.1 percent).

Voting for the Eclipse Awards remains a serious matter and a great privilege for our members.

On occasion our organization comes under scrutiny for our votes or voting practices, including questions about who is eligible, who should be eligible and how or why they get to cast ballots. This year proved no exception, with a few complaints via social media or to me directly or indirectly. I’ve addresses these concerns, often pointing to our bylaws and membership qualifications.

Another issue arose this year – and in past years – related to conflicts of interest. While it was not mentioned in voting instructions for the Eclipse Awards, members should recuse themselves from any category where they have a conflict of interest. This protects not only the voters’ individual integrity, but also the organization at large. Going forward it will be strongly suggested that any voters with a conflict of interest in any category to abstain from that category. The other voting groups (NTRA and Daily Racing Form) plan to do the same.

Membership Status/Review

Speaking of bylaws. We passed some changes to the bylaws in late 2020 related to membership status, reclassification and an annual review of membership status.

Over the last few months we’ve received a few notifications from members who felt they no longer met the criteria for Regular status (actively and professionally engaged … and “working” Turf writers or broadcasters) and asked to change to Associate status. Another example was a member no longer working in the media and taking themselves out of the organization voluntarily.

These cases were accepted and appreciated. If you feel your membership status might need to be changed, please contact me or NTWAB Secretary Jessie Oswald.

Per the bylaw changes last year “the Board of Directors shall review membership as needed, including at least an annual review beginning in January, to ensure members on a case-by-case basis still qualify on the basis under which they were initially admitted.”

A review is currently underway and the NTWAB Board could be following up to check on your membership status. After the review is complete the NTWAB Board could recommend a change without your request. If you agree with the proposed change you’ll have 30 days to accept and the reclassification will take place immediately. If you do not agree you’ll have 30 days to respond in writing to the NTWAB Secretary. The NTWAB Board will meet to act on the recommended change. Any reclassification over the objection shall require a vote of at least 60 percent of the members of the NTWAB Board.

Triple Crown Media Access

With a little more than 10 weeks until the Kentucky Derby and I reached out to the communications teams for the Triple Crown host tracks this week to see if any plans were in the works for media access in 2021.

We navigated the Belmont, Derby and Preakness, and then the Breeders’ Cup, last year and will formulate a plan for the NTWAB if we’re still seeing restrictions at the host sites. Thankfully NYRA never closed completely to media – frontside or backside – in 2020 and we can hopefully work with them again for the Belmont Stakes and beyond. Updates to come as they roll in.

The tentative plan is for the Derby Week meeting to return to Churchill Downs – Wednesday, April 28 in the Media Center. Additional details to come on the Derby meeting, which will include elections for three of the six director positions (2-year terms).

That’s all for now. I hope 2021 is off to a safe and healthy start. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, ideas, suggestions or complaints. Take care.

Tom Law
NTWAB President
February 18, 2021

2020 Eclipse Award Winners

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 04:08:03 GMT

The 2020 Eclipse Awards winners were announced during a virtual ceremony presented by Spendthrift Farm on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Winners are shown in bold, followed by the other finalists.

In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, members of the media were honored for outstanding coverage in six categories, shown here . Thomas Goldsmith received the Eclipse Award as the 2020 Horseplayer of the Year.

Eclipse Awards voting was conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), and Daily Racing Form (DRF). The Eclipse Awards ceremony was produced by NTRA.

Horse of the Year: Authentic, Improbable, Monomoy Girl

Two-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality , Fire At Will, Jackie’s Warrior

Two-Year-Old Filly: Vequist , Aunt Pearl (IRE), Dayoutoftheoffice

Three-Year-Old Male: Authentic, Nadal, Tiz the Law

Three-Year-Old Filly: Swiss Skydiver , Gamine, Shedaresthedevil

Older Dirt Male: Improbable , Maximum Security, Vekoma

Older Dirt Female: Monomoy Girl , Midnight Bisou, Serengeti Empress

Male Sprinter: Whitmore , Vekoma, Volatile

Female Sprinter: Gamine , Glass Slippers (GB), Serengeti Empress

Male Turf Horse: Channel Maker , Order of Australia (IRE), Zulu Alpha

Female Turf Horse: Rushing Fall , Audarya (FR), Tarnawa (IRE)

Steeplechase Horse: Moscato (GB), Rashaan (IRE), Snap Decision

Owner: Godolphin LLC ; Klaravich Stables Inc.; Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, and Starlight Racing

Breeder: WinStar Farm LLC, Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC, Calumet Farm

Trainer: Brad Cox , Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert

Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr ., Joel Rosario, John Velazquez

Apprentice Jockey: Alexander Crispin , Luis Cardenas, Yarmarie Correa

The Eclipse Awards were sponsored by Spendthrift Farm, Keeneland, Racetrack Television Network, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup, FanDuel Group, The Stronach Group, TVG, Dean Dorton, Stonestreet Farm, Jackson Family Wines, Florida HBPA, Runhappy, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Hallway Feeds and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies

NYRA Seeking TV Production Staff

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 22:18:14 GMT

NYRA is looking for TV production staff for its live television shows that will air in 2021, and the sooner the better. NYRA says it will teach and can be flexible.

For more information about the position, please click here.

Interested persons should contact Jody Pavtrovsky at 914-414-7094.

NTWAB Member Natalie Voss Leads Media Eclipse Award Winners With Two

Wed, 06 Jan 2021 22:22:15 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today announced the winners of the 2020 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories. This year’s awards are highlighted by NTWAB member Natalie Voss becoming the first individual to win two writing award categories in the same year since the late Bill Nack in 1991.

The 2020 Media Eclipse Award winners are as follows:

Feature/Commentary Writing – Natalie Voss, Paulick Report --"'An Angel On His Shoulder’: This Thoroughbred’s Fate Was Written In Ink,” May 13, 2020.

News/Enterprise Writing – Natalie Voss, Paulick Report – Multi-part Series: “A Decade In, How Are We Doing With Thoroughbred Aftercare?” Dec. 2, 2019; “Emptying The Ocean With A Teaspoon: The Challenges Of Aftercare,” Dec. 3, 2019; and “Aftercare Should Not Be An Afterthought: Solutions For The Future,” Dec. 4, 2019.

Television – Live Racing Programming – NBC Sports -- “The Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Nov. 7, 2020; Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, producers.

Television – Features – NBC Sports -- “Riders Up: The World’s First Sports Bubble,” Oct. 2, 2020 on NBCSN; Produced by the Hennegan Brothers.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Thoroughbred Daily New s -- “To Hell and Back: Belmont Marks A Deserved Triumph for New York City,” Joe Bianca, writer and narrator, Patty Wolfe, producer.

Photography – Alex Evers, Paulick Report -- “A Derby Without Fans,” Sept. 21, 2020.

Entries were accepted for 2020 Media Eclipse Awards consideration for works which appeared from Nov. 17, 2019 to Nov. 20, 2020.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Natalie Voss

Voss, from Georgetown, Kentucky, has now won three Eclipse Awards. In addition to the two honors this year, Voss won her first Media Eclipse Award in 2016 for News/Enterprise writing for her article on the lurking dangers of concussions for jockeys, which was also published in the Paulick Report.

“I never could have imagined this happening in my wildest dreams,” said Voss. “It’s a tremendous honor to just win one award, but to win two in one year is unfathomable.

“I’m so pleased to see aftercare stories win in both categories this year. I really believe there are just as many compelling stories in that world as there are on the racetrack, and that they are just as much a part of the Thoroughbred industry.”

In “Angel on His Shoulder,” Voss describes the journey and fate of a claiming horse named Inked, and how he touched the lives of his original owner Kirsten Fada, his breeder, Susan Young, and horse transporter Hannah Meier over a three-year period. Each of these women, with no connection to each other at first, helped assure that Inked would have a safe home after the track. Fada eventually adopted him for a second career after an improbable reunion at the Second Stride OTTB program at Moserwood Farm in Kentucky.

Voss capsulizes the anxieties of those following horses who have moved on from their care.

Unless you have an inroad with the horse's connections, you don't know whether he suffered an injury or is enjoying a well-deserved vacation in a grassy field; whether he has moved on to a second career, or if he's at the end of a long trailer ride in a forgotten pen somewhere. It feels wrong to assume the worst, but irresponsible not to consider it. Where the heart is concerned, the brain can run wild with worst-case scenarios you may be powerless to prevent.

For two years, Fada and Young, a thousand miles apart, were each intently tracking Inked’s career. In October 2019, Young found Inked entered in a race at Grants Pass, Oregon and promptly drove four hours from her home to meet the trainer and let him know that she wanted to buy him. Young wanted to send him to his birthplace in Kentucky for a rest before moving him on to an accredited aftercare organization. A short time later, Meier, a part owner of Circle J Transportation, was contracted to pick up a horse at the base of trainer Gilbert Ecoffey in South Dakota. Upon her arrival, she noticed a stocky chestnut in the field that looked awfully familiar. Meier immediately recognized Inked, who had been one of the horses she had worked with under the care of Ecoffey at Grants Pass.

Meier drove Inked to Phoenix Hill Farm in Paris, Kentucky. Meier was hoping that Phoenix Hill owner Kim Dionne would one day call her to take Inked as her own, but she could not work out the logistics due to Covid-19 restrictions. Meier learned a few weeks later that Inked had been picked up and sent to Moserwood, where Fada would re-enter the picture and be reunited with Inked. Young was “floored” to get an email that her gelding had been rehomed in 24 hours. Fada posted a note about her reunion on Facebook and was subsequently connected to Meier. “Soon the three women were sharing memories and photos of their favorite Thoroughbred.”

“When you love a horse that’s no longer yours, there is an incredible anxiety if you don’t have a good way to find out where it is,” said Voss. “When you love racing, there will be one or two horses that will become special to you whether they are in your barn or not. Horses get lost in the ether and you may never see them again. I was struck by the improbability of it all. This is not an accomplished racehorse; he was not easily trackable like a well-known stakes horse might have been, and the stars really had to align so that Inked came back to Kirsten.”

The winning entry can be viewed here.

Honorable mention in the Feature/Commentary category went to 2008 Eclipse Award winner Vinnie Perrone for “The Autumn of King Leatherbury,” which was published in racingbiz.com on Nov. 17, 2020.

Judges in the Feature/Commentary category were NTWAB member Dan Liebman, former editor of The BloodHorse and The State-Journal in Frankfort, Kentucky; Bill Kolberg, former assistant director of publicity at Santa Anita and Del Mar and published author on Thoroughbred racing; and NTWAB member Lynne Snierson, national award-winning turf writer for daily publications in Boston, Miami and St. Louis, and veteran racetrack publicist.

News/Enterprise – Natalie Voss

In her three-part series, Voss explores the achievements and struggles of the Thoroughbred aftercare movement that has reached prominence in the past decade. What began as one article on the phenomenon expanded into a series through the encouragement of publisher Ray Paulick and former Editor-in-Chief Scott Jagow.

“I had some sense before I began the research process that the volume of horses needing aftercare was greater than the current infrastructure could handle,” said Voss, who earned a degree in Equine Science and Management from the University of Kentucky and also worked at the Secretariat Center at the Kentucky Horse Park before launching a career in journalism. “But the disparity between the number of horses in need of a second career and the capacity of the various accredited organizations was greater than I’d imagined, and really shows that more needs to be done.”

In part one of the series, “A Decade In, How Are We Doing With Thoroughbred Aftercare?,” Voss traces the evolution of aftercare from increased awareness of the problem through the explosion of social media, to initial “check off” fundraising efforts establish by The Jockey Club and Thoroughbred Charities of America, to the great leap forward to the creation of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, which established high standards for accreditation and has overseen the distribution of $17.2 million to accredited organizations. The creation of second career incentive programs like Thoroughbred Makeover and The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program were also key.

Part two of the series, “Emptying The Ocean With A Teaspoon: The Challenges Of Aftercare,” raises questions about the cost of care for the high number of horses retired each year and the fate of horses that are never raced, and how retirement organizations can handle that load. It also raised questions about the slaughter pipeline and how the economics of that industry impact OTTBs.

Part three of the series “Aftercare Should Not Be An Afterthought: Solutions For The Future,” focused on the reliance on funding, continuing encouragement of horsemen to avoid “one final start” before retirement, and understanding that horses that retire healthy stand a far better chance of a second home that does who are not; and improved communication between racetracks and aftercare organizations on limiting the slaughter pipeline.

The winning submission can be viewed as follows: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Honorable Mention in the News/Enterprise category went to Richard Gross for “Authentic Proves He’s Just That,” a race recap of Kentucky Derby which appeared on the Horse Network website on Sept. 6, 2020.

Judges in the New Enterprise category were NTWAB member Bob Kieckhefer, racing writer for United Press International; Rob Longley, sports columnist, who first covered the Triple Crown in both Canada and the U.S. in 1996 and is currently baseball columnist for the Toronto Sun; and NTWAB member David Papadopoulos, a senior editor at Bloomberg News.

Television - Live Racing Programming - NBC Sports

Incorporating a vast array of technological enhancements over a three-hour broadcast from bucolic Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, NBC Sports has won the Live Racing Television Programming Eclipse Award for its Breeders’ Cup World Championships coverage on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020 on NBC.

Held under restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, NBC Sports produced its telecast of the two-day, 37th World Championships following all of NBCUniversal’s health and safety guidelines and protocols.

This was the first horse racing event of 2020 that NBC Sports had its full announce team, as well as much of its production team, on-site. The Saturday Breeders’ Cup broadcast, which included five live races, and culminated with Kentucky Derby winner Authentic capturing the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), delivered viewers unique perspectives throughout the day. Among the many production and technical elements were access to more than 80 cameras — nearly twice as many cameras deployed from the 2019 Breeders’ Cup — including a dedicated camera on each individual Breeders’ Cup horse, starting in the paddock and carrying through to the gate break. For the first time, NBC used multiple live jockey cams during the Breeders’ Cup races; and increased the number of jockey and trainer microphones.

As an added element between the races, NBC joined fan parties of viewers enjoying the broadcast from around the world.

NBC Sports’ coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships was produced by Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, and directed by Kaare Numme, in conjunction with Jim Carr and Carr-Hughes Productions. The coordinating producer of NBC’s horse racing coverage is Rob Hyland.

“It was gratifying to have most of our team back at the track for the first time in 2020 to culminate an unprecedented year in sports, and to be recognized for one of the most innovative horse racing productions we’ve ever done, in collaboration with Breeders’ Cup and Keeneland,” said Schanzer. “Under the most challenging conditions, teamwork made this presentation a great success.”

The NBC Sports talent on the broadcast consisted of Ahmed Fareed; Jerry Bailey; Matt Bernier; Eddie Olczyk; and NTWAB members Randy Moss, Donna Brothers, Britney Eurton, Nick Luck, Laffit Pincay III, Kenny Rice and racecaller Larry Collmus.

NBC Sports also earned an honorable mention in the Live Racing Programming category for its broadcast of the 146th Kentucky Derby, which aired on Sept. 5, 2020. Hyland was coordinating producer.

Judges in the Live Television Programming category were: Charlsie Cantey, exercise rider, trainer and former racing commentator for CBS, ABC, NBC and ESPN; NTWAB member Dick Jerardi, former writer and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News; and NTWAB member Dave Johnson, track announcer, television analyst and race caller for ABC Sports, and now co-host of Down The Stretch on SiriusXM.

Television Feature – NBC Sports

“Riders Up: The World’s First Sports Bubble,” which aired on NBCSN on Oct. 2, 2020, and directed and produced by the Hennegan Brothers of John and Brad Hennegan, documents the successful collaboration of the management of Santa Anita Park and the track’s world renowned jockey colony to create a safe and healthy environment for a six-week race meeting in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Following approval from the Los Angeles County Health Department and through rigorous testing procedures of isolating the jockeys and essential workers into a “sports bubble,” Santa Anita Park resumed racing on May 15, 2020 after it was suspended on March 27.

Over three weekends in the spring of 2020, the Hennegan Brothers interviewed members of the Santa Anita executive team on its strategy and tactics during the race meeting, and filmed the daily lives of the jockeys riding during the day at of the world’s most picturesque racetracks. “Riders Up” displayed jockeys living in Hollywood cast trailers in the track’s parking lot, and enjoying special evenings of karaoke, poker, movies, and even a 50th birthday party for rider Aaron Gryder.

In addition to Gryder, interviews with Triple Crown wining jockeys Mike Smith, Victor Espinoza, among others revealed their concerns of the new experience, but also brought to light a special camaraderie for the riders, establishing closer relationships inside the closed quarters.

“We were very proud to tell this story of management and the jockeys coming together during this once in a lifetime occurrence,” said John Hennegan. “The seriousness of the safety measures employed by Santa Anita was eye-opening. We were under the same protocols as the jockeys and took every precaution to document this important time in history. Playing a small part in telling a transparent story was extremely gratifying, and was saying to the rest of the world ‘we can do this.’”

The program reveals that during the time of the revised spring meeting at Santa Anita, not one jockey or essential personnel tested positive for Covid-19. A total of 1800 jobs were saved. In July 2020, the NBA, NHL and MLS returned utilizing sports bubbles.

The Hennegan Brothers produced the Eclipse Award-winning documentaries in 2008 “The First Saturday in May,” which aired on HRTV, and in 2015 for “Ironman Perry Ouzts,” which aired on AT&T U-Verse Sports. This is NBC Sports’ sixth Eclipse Award in the Feature-Television category since 1999.

Judges in the Television Features category were Liz Bronstein, television show Runner and executive producer, and creator the Animal Planet 2008-9 series “Jockeys”; NTWAB member Lenny Shulman, Emmy Award-winning writer/producer who also served as BloodHorse Features editor; and Chris Svendsen, producer-director for CBS Sports.

Audio/Multimedia Internet – Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN)

In “To Hell and Back: Belmont Marks A Deserved Triumph for New York City,” writer and narrator Joe Bianca and producer Patty Wolfe collaborated on a Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN) multimedia presentation of Bianca’s tribute to the Belmont Stakes, a New York sports institution at Belmont Park for more than 100 years and its importance during a year in which the city was ravaged by the Coronavirus pandemic.

This is the first Eclipse Award for Bianca, from Brooklyn, New York, and the second Eclipse Award for Wolfe, from Orlando, Florida. Wolfe shared the honor in 2018 with Christie DeBernardis for the TDN Multimedia piece on Off the Track Thoroughbred (OTTB) programs.

“Winning an Eclipse Award is an honor like no other in racing and I’m immensely grateful to have been selected this year,” said Bianca, associate editor of TDN. “I want to thank our producer Patty Wolfe and her incredible team of talented editors for illustrating my words so beautifully. Also thank you to our publisher Sue Finley for her steadfast support for my work as we branch out into different types of media at TDN. It has obviously been a very difficult and tragic year, but I’m so proud and thankful to have moved people with one of the inspirational success stories of 2020 in an ode to my beloved hometown."

“This video is a reminder of the things we always had but almost lost,” said Wolfe. “Other professional sports were not competing at that time, and New York had just been through a nightmare with the pandemic. NYRA’s running of the Belmont Stakes in June was momentous. Talking directly into his computer, Joe’s authenticity was compelling as he put the magnitude of the moment into words.”

The video was posted on June 19, 2020, one day before the Belmont Stakes, which was run this year without fans in attendance. Bianca’s narration and text recalls the rich history of Thoroughbred racing in New York and Belmont Park, which first hosted the Belmont Stakes at its current site on the Queens/Long Island border in 1905. With Wolfe weaving together archival racing footage with images of New York City strained by crises over many decades, and now impacted more than ever the current pandemic, Bianca’s emotional words reveal the city’s grit and resilience.

“We’ve proven it time and time again. We bounced back from 9/11 with solidarity and generosity and went about our lives. When outsiders predicted chaos, we took care of our city during the 2003 blackout and again through Hurricane Sandy. Crime plummeted exactly when the city was at its most vulnerable. Yes, there’s bluntness and some rudeness and if you’re a tourist you might’ve been bumped out of the way once or twice by a muttering New Yorker. But there’s also compassion, understanding and empathy. You can’t survive in a city of 8,000,000 without all of those attributes.

Because of that, we get a summer. We get to live our lives with reasonable precautions for the next few months. And amid a sports desert, racing has been an oasis. So it’s fitting that on the first day of that summer, we get: the Belmont Stakes. The first major sports attraction in New York since the pandemic descended upon us.”

The winning entry can be viewed here.

Honorable mention in the Audio/Multimedia Internet category went to ESPN.com for its multimedia presentation of “This House is Condemned” for ESPN Investigates Bloodlines, reported and hosted by 2010 Feature/Commentary writing Eclipse-Award winner Wright Thompson and executive producer Eric Neel, which was posted on Sept. 2, 2020; and to 2019 Eclipse Award Multimedia winner Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) for 2020 HRRN Fantasy Derby, which aired on HRRN on May 2, 2020.

Judges in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category were Glenn Crouter, former lead television anchor for Woodbine Live Network and sports and lifestyle announcer for Newstalk 1010 in Toronto; Bob Curran, longtime Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Jockey Club and graduate of the St. Bonaventure University journalism program; and NTWAB member Julie Sarno, freelance writer, former editorial staff member of The BloodHorse, staff member at The Meadowlands, staff member and Department Head at Del Mar.

Photography – Alex Evers

Evers, from Hermosa Beach, California, has won his first Eclipse Award for his photograph of the 15-horse-field in the 146th Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs rounding the first turn before a nearly empty racetrack. Due to COVID-19 restrictions instituted by Churchill Downs just weeks before the event -- for the first time -- America’s most historic race was held with no fans in attendance.

A photographer with Eclipse Sportswire since 2010 and other international outlets, Evers’ photo was taken shortly after 7 p.m. ET with a remote Canon 5D Mark IV camera mounted on 13-foot light stand. The image displays a completely empty box area in the foreground facing the Derby field passing by in fading sunset, leaving behind the homestretch of the expansive pavilions and the signature Twin Spires in gathering shadows.

“That was a story that I wanted to tell,” Evers said. “It was a unique day. There was an eerie feeling of emptiness at the track, and I wanted to juxtapose that against this massive group of horses. The elevation of the shot with the ladder was the key. Pulling back wide and showing the rows of empty seats in front of the track as the horses went by.”

Having photographed a dozen Kentucky Derbies since 2006, Evers prepared for the event about one month before by creating “story boards” of shots he wants to use with remote cameras set up at various points at Churchill Downs. Virtually all of those cameras were placed at a low vantage point for racing shots, but the elevated shot along the first turn was the only one used for scenic purposes.

At about 10 p.m. that evening Evers viewed his photo for the first time. “I wasn’t really pleased with my racing shots, but this one on the first turn really stood out.”

Evers describes receiving his first Eclipse Award as overwhelming.

“It’s been a lifelong dream to be recognized for a photograph. It‘s so special to share it with my family. I wish my grandfather were here because he took me to Hollywood Park and we sat in the Cinema Terrace. I used to dress up in jockey silks and go to the track and bother (Hall of Fame jockey and Eclipse Award winner) Chris McCarron.”

Evers added, “I sometimes feel like an ambassador of the sport, trying to show its beauty of those inside and outside racing.”

Evers credits the late Michael Marten, who won the 1995 and 1999 Eclipse Awards for Photography, as a mentor and inspiration.

The winning photograph can be viewed here.

The 2020 Eclipse Awards ceremony will be a virtual event

It will be televised live on TVG and streamed on other outlets on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

In addition to Spendthrift Farm, Eclipse Awards sponsors include Keeneland, Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup, FanDuel, The Stronach Group, TVG, Dean Dorton, Jackson Family Wines, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, and Hallway Feeds.

Edited release

Leggett, "Peb" Named To National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 22:25:00 GMT

The late writer William "Bill" Leggett and cartoonist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq, both Eclipse Award winners with ties to NTWAB, have been selected to the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

Davis Elected TPA President

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 19:41:00 GMT

Wendy Davis from the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona has been elected president of the Turf Publicists of America (TPA) for 2021 and 2022 She succeeds Keeneland's Amy Gregory in the top spot.

Najja Thompson from the New York Thoroughbred Breeders has been re-elected as a vice president, and because of a tie in the voting, both Claire Crawford from the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Kevin Kerstein from Churchill Downs Racetrack have been elected vice presidents for the first time. Each will serve two-year terms in 2021 and 2022.

Davis, Thompson, Crawford and Kerstein join the leadership vice presidents Tom LaMarra, Erin Shea and Amy Zimmerman, along with secretary-treasurer Dave Zenner, each of whom was elected to a two-year term in late 2019.

LaMarra serves as the Communications Director for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Managing Editor of the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association website and Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships. Shea is the Marketing and Communications Manager for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Zimmerman is Senior Vice President and Executive Producer for Santa Anita. Zenner is a freelance publicist and racing official.

The new slate of officers was installed immediately.

The TPA, founded in 1951, is comprised of approximately 130 Thoroughbred racing publicists and marketing executives at racetracks throughout North America with the shared goal of promoting the sport of Thoroughbred racing. Each year at the Global Symposium on Racing, the TPA organizes the Mark Kaufman Workshop on a topic relevant to publicists and marketers, awards the Big Sport of Turfdom to recognize an individual or individuals who enhanced the sport of Thoroughbred racing through their cooperation with the media and racetrack personnel.

Edited release

50th Annual Eclipse Awards Go Virtual, Spendthrift Hosts

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 23:35:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters will convene the 50th annual Eclipse Awards in a virtual ceremony on Jan. 28, with portions hosted from historic Spendthrift Farm in Lexington.

President's Breeders' Cup Newsletter

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 15:07:00 GMT

President Tom Law recaps NTWAB's 2020 Breeders' Cup meeting, including discussion of members' pool reporting efforts, announcement of new members, a gift to a worthy cause, Eclipse Award voting, next year's annual awards dinner and membership review.

Good day, and belated Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you all.

Thanks to those who turned out, technical difficulties and all, for the NTWAB meeting Wednesday, Nov. 4, prior to the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.

The meeting was our organization’s second via conference call in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, following the traditional Derby Week meeting held this year in September. We tackled a number of agenda items during the meeting, including discussion of the pool reporting process and access for the NTWAB teams at the Derby, Preakness and Breeders’ Cup, the 2020 and 2021 Annual Awards/Dinner and start of the next membership review. Please see the minutes from the meeting, shown below, for more details.

Please welcome new members (in alphabetical order) Nathan Campbell (Gaming USA/horseracing.net – Associate), Paul Halloran (ST Publishing/The Saratoga Special – Regular Writer), Mark Midland (Horse Racing Nation – Associate), Ken Rudolph (TVG – Regular Broadcaster), Brad Stephens (Horse Racing Nation – Regular Writer) and Milt Toby (BloodHorse – Associate) into the NTWAB.

We also announced during Breeders' Cup week that even though we decided to cancel the 2020 Annual Awards Dinner, the NTWAB would continue tradition and make a significant one-time donation to an industry affiliated or related organization/cause. The NTWAB donated $5,000 to the Lexington, Ky.-based Legacy Equine Academy, Inc. A press release announcing the donation went out the Wednesday prior to the Breeders' Cup.

The Eclipse Awards voting process will begin soon. NTWAB Secretary Jessie Oswald will provide the NTRA with our updated membership roster this week. All Regular members in good standing (dues paid for 2020) will receive an Eclipse Award ballot. If you haven’t paid your dues yet you should have received multiple notifications by now. Please make sure your dues are paid; otherwise you risk being dropped from the roster and will need to re-apply for membership.

Part of the Eclipse Awards process also involves my and Greg Hall’s participation on the Eclipse Awards Steering Committee, which does a number of things including suggestions, nominations and selections of Special Eclipse Award and Eclipse Award of Merit winners.

While there is no hard-fast rule regarding those two honors, the Special Award typically goes to an organization for achievements or noteworthy accomplishments in a given year, or short period of time, while the Eclipse Award of Merit is often a career achievement/longtime excellence acknowledgement. Please bear in mind these awards are for the greater North American racing industry.

The NTWAB board is in the midst of the suggestion and discussion phase for the Special/Merit Awards, and I’d like to hear from you if there are any individuals and/or organizations you feel deserve consideration. Please send along any suggestions, along with some reasons why, to tom@thisishorseracing.com.

The Special Award hasn’t been presented since 2014 with recipient Old Friends Farm, which followed 2013 recipient Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Longtime Del Mar executive Joe Harper received the 2018 Eclipse Award of Merit following other recent winners Andy Beyer and Steven Crist (2016), Leonard Lavin (2015) and Tom Durkin (2014).

The NTRA has a complete list of past Eclipse Award winners here .

Thanks in advance and best wishes for a safe and healthy holiday season.

Tom Law
NTWAB President
November 30, 2020

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NTWAB Meeting Minutes
Breeders’ Cup Week 2020
Wednesday, Nov. 4 – 12:00 p.m. ET
Conducted by conference call

Call to Order: Meeting called to orde r at 12:15 p.m.

Roll call of members present , including officers: In attendance: Tom Law, Greg Hall, Jessie Oswald, Dick Downey, Richard Gross, Paul Rolfes, Ed McNamarra, Caton Bredar, Bob Ehalt, Beth Harris, Alex Orr, Mike Farrell, Marty McGee, Jay Privman, Alicia Hughes, Jennie Rees, Jay Hovdey, Ron Flatter, Tim Wilkin, Julie June Stewart, Byron King, Loren Hebel-Osborne, Natalie Voss, Nicole Russo.

Update on Breeders’ Cup pool reporting , media access, etc.: Tom Law provided an update on the Breeders’ Cup Media Pool reporting - Content is uploaded in DropBox daily and includes audio, video and written notes. Access link to daily DropBox folder was emailed to NTWAB members and other members of the media by Secretary. Pool reporters are Tim Wilkin, Jennie Rees, Alicia Hughes, Nicole Russo and Frank Angst. Would like to send pool reporters thank you gift from NTWAB.

New Member Applications: r eview and discussion of new member applications advanced by board to full membership vote, see chart below. Discussion of full versus associate membership to be granted to Mark Midland with majority of members in attendance voting to offer him Associate membership.

2020 Annual Awards: Given that we will not make any charitable donations at our Annual Awards Dinner in honor of recipients, NTWAB board suggested at Derby meeting a significant one-time donation to industry affiliated or related organization/cause. Press release went out 11/4 announcing $5,000 donation to the Lexington, Ky.-based Legacy Equine Academy Inc.

NTWAB Annual Dinner: Plan for 2021 in Del Mar underway by Loren Hebel-Osborne with intent to hold dinner at the Brigantine.

Membership Review: Tom Law will recruit volunteers to help with membership review in lieu of bylaw changes – membership review. Tom is working on it and hopes to have it done by end of year, prior to Eclipse voting.

Other Business: None

Adjournment at 1:02 p.m.

New Members, Sponsors, Letters Received, Affiliation, Contact Info, Status
Mark Midland Ron Flatter/Tom Pedulla Flatter/Pedulla Horse Racing Nation Associate Writer
Brad Stephens Ron Flatter/Tom Pedulla Flatter/Pedulla Horse Racing Nation Full Writer
Nathan Campbell Natalie Voss/Donna Brothers Voss/Brothers Gaming USA (horseracing.net/us) Associate Writer
Paul Halloran Tom Law/Joe Clancy Law/Clancy ST Publishing, Saratoga Special Full Writer
Milton Toby Frank Angst/Natalie Voss Angst/Voss BloodHorse Associate Writer
Ken Rudolph Jay Hovdey/Caton Bredar Hovdey/Bredar TVG Full Broadcaster

Deadline Is On

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 21:18:00 GMT

Media Eclipse Awards Entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20, 2020. Entries received after that time will not be accepted. Categories are Writing - News/Enterprise; Writing - Feature/Commentary; Photography; Television - Live Racing Programming; Television - Features; Audio/Multi-Media Internet. Please see the story posted on Nov. 4 for details.

NTWAB Pledges $5,000 To Legacy Equine Academy

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 20:55:00 GMT

The National Turf Writers And Broadcasters today pledged $5,000 to the Lexington, Ky.-based Legacy Equine Academy Inc., a unique program giving African American and racially diverse Middle and High School students unique opportunities to build life skills while learning horsemanship.

Through this program, students get hands-on exposure to many facets of farms and the horse racing industry.

The donation comes after NTWAB’s decision to cancel what would have been the 61st annual Awards Dinner held in advance of the upcoming Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course.

NTWAB annually makes donations of a similar cumulative amount to charities in the names of its award winners. It is encouraging other industry organizations and stakeholders to support the Legacy Equine Academy, which has already partnered with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Dean’s office, Kentucky Community and Technical College, Midway College, Fayette County Public Schools, and many other equine related enthusiasts in the corporate community.

“The NTWAB officers and board voted unanimously in the spring and gained the support of its general membership at our meeting prior to the Kentucky Derby to make a significant, one-time donation to a group that benefits both the industry and the community,” said Tom Law, NTWAB President and Managing Editor of ST Publishing Inc. “We hope this donation helps and can open doors to a segment of the community that is not only underrepresented in the racing industry but also in possession of great potential to improve the game on many levels. We could not be more proud to support an organization like the Legacy Equine Academy.”

Through its relationship with Fayette County Public Schools, the Legacy Equine Academy recruits students who are then tagged as a “Legacy Leaders” at the Middle School level. Academy members then identify the targeted students interested in the equine industry and work to ensure their candidacy for Locust Trace multi-level curriculum during their High School years, creating a pipeline toward developing future farm and racing industry professionals.

“We are so appreciative of the NTWAB for its support and advocacy of our mission,” said Ron Mack, founder and director of the Legacy Equine Academy. “We look to continue to create a pathway and a pipeline for young people into the equine industry.”

NTWAB, which consists of more than 180 professional racing journalists, plans to resume celebrating the industry and its participants at its 61st Awards Dinner prior to the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

2020 Media Eclipse Awards Guidelines

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 20:54:00 GMT

2020 Media Eclipse Awards Guidelines

Posted Oct. 15, 2020

The 2020 Media Eclipse Awards are presented by the NTRA, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) for outstanding achievement in media coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse trophies will be presented to the Award winners of the 50th annual Eclipse Awards, presented by Daily Racing Form, the Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group.

The following is a verbatim transcript of guidelines.

All submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m. (ET), Friday, November 20, 2020.

Categories for the 2020 Media Eclipse Awards are:

· Writing - News/Enterprise

· Writing - Features/Commentary

· Photography

· Television - Live Racing Programming

· Television - Features

· Audio/Multi-Media Internet

Beginning with the 1998 Awards, Eclipse Awards voting has been presented by the NTRA, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters. Previously, the Eclipse Awards were sponsored by Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (TRA) in conjunction with Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association. Prior to the start of the Eclipse Awards in 1971, the TRA and Daily Racing Form separately honored racing’s annual champions. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 career starts.

***

2020 MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS RULES

The Eclipse Awards for Media are presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters. Rules governing the Media Eclipse Awards are established by representatives of the three presenting organizations.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARD CATEGORIES

Writing - News/Enterprise

Writing - Feature/Commentary

Photography

Television - Live Racing Programming

Television - Features

Audio/Multi-Media Internet

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be RECEIVED by 5:00 p.m. (ET), Friday, November 20, 2020. Entries received after that time will not be accepted.

Entries for the Writing, Photography and Audio Multi-Media and Internet awards will be accepted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Portal. Instructions are in the link below:

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

Entries for the Television Awards will be accepted via regular mail or overnight courier service.

ENTRY FEE

None

RULES

Entries should display outstanding achievement in the coverage of North American Thoroughbred racing and must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 17, 2019 and November 19, 2020. All submissions are limited only to works pertaining to the Thoroughbred breed , and no other equine breed. Submissions on subjects, topics and individuals which took place exclusively outside of North America will not be accepted.

Print and Internet submissions (news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing and photography) must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website.

Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been broadcast on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) are not eligible in any category.

Submissions are limited to outlets that are managed by an independent editorial department.

LETTERS OF ENTRY

Entries must originate with the author (print submissions) or producer (audio/multi-media Internet and television submissions). All entries must include a cover letter, and uploaded in the Submissions Portal from the author (for print submissions), photographer (for photography submissions) or producer (for audio/multi-media Internet and television), stating his/her wish to enter his/her materials; publication/broadcast information (outlined below); and contact information (name, address, telephone, fax, cell phone and e-mail, as applicable).

Please indicate the category of each submission in your cover letter. If you are submitting in two different categories please include two separate cover letters.

The cover letter must be written in a stand-alone Word Document uploaded in the Submissions Portal. Please include the date that the media organization published the article, in the cases of the writing and photography awards, or the air date of a television or multi-media/internet submission.

Please DO NOT include information in your cover letter extolling the virtues of your story and the “impact” on the public at large, or the time and effort devoted to producing the entry. The judges will not see your letter, and it will have no bearing on the outcome of the competition.

Editors may submit print materials on behalf of authors, provided such submissions include the cover letter described above. All other third-party submissions will be rejected. In the writing categories, submissions by editors on behalf of multiple writers from a publication on a feature subject, special section or a compendium of stories on breaking news will be rejected.

The presenting organizations reserve the right to determine the eligibility of all entries, and to disqualify an entry at any time, including after determination of an award, at their sole discretion. The presenting organizations reserve the right not to bestow an award in a particular category, based on the quantity or (as determined by a panel of judges) the quality of submissions. Questions concerning eligibility should be directed to the address for entries, listed below.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns.

LIMITS ON ENTRIES

Upon submission you will receive an automatic reply from NTRA to notify you that your entry or entries have been received. The NTRA will contact you directly if there are any rules issues with your submission. It is the obligation of the individual to follow up if he or she did not receive an automatic reply in the writing, multi-media and photography categories.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS CATEGORIES

1) News/Enterprise and Feature/Commentary Writing

There are two categories of competition for Writing awards:

2) Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines for works in this category are: columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles.

Please note that competition in the Writing categories is limited to three (3) authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series.

-No Q&A submissions will be accepted in either category.

Multi-Part Series Rules

Within each category of writing, authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that:

Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter in another category, subject to the rules outlined above.

Submission in either the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio and Multi-Media Internet category.

Books – Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

I. COVER LETTER

Please upload a cover letter in Submissions Portal stating the name, date and publication of your submission and the category you have selected. Please also send a web link of your article as proof that it was published during the time period of the competition.

II. SUBMISSIONS TO THE JUDGES

· Authors must submit ONE copy of each submission in common Microsoft Word format. No Zip files will be accepted.

DO NOT PLACE A WEBLINK IN YOUR SUBMISSION MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT TO THE JUDGES. This will get you immediately disqualified.

· Submissions must appear as the article was worded in the PUBLISHED form.

· At the top of your submission, you must include the date and time that the article was first published

c.) All Headlines, Sub-Headlines, Bylines and Hyperlinks MUST BE REMOVED from the submission.

d.) No publication names are permitted on the submission.

e.) You MUST REMOVE THE NAME OF YOUR PUBLICATION EACH TIME IT APPEARS IN YOUR SUBMISSION, and insert the words “name of publication removed”; e.g. “According to a recent study by the Anywhere USA Times…” must be changed to “According to a recent study by (Name of Publication Removed)…”

f.) Photos, graphs, charts, hyperlinks or other graphic elements appearing within the article(s) must be deleted.

g.) The author must indicate for which writing category the work is being submitted (e.g., “News Enterprise” or “Feature Commentary” in the cover letter).

Submissions Portal Link

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

2) Photography

Photography entries are limited to images for events that took place in North America. Submission must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a Website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website. Submissions posted on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media outlet will not be accepted.

I. COVER LETTER

Please upload a cover letter through the Submissions Portal in an attachment stating the name, date and publication of your photography submission. Please also send a web link of your article as proof that it was published during the time period of the competition.

NOTE: The cover letter is to be sent as a single stand/alone attachment and not an open document in the email part of the submission.

II. SUBMISSION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Please note that cropping of the original photo by the editor in the picture’s final published form will be accepted. However, photographs which include color enhancement, “Photo shopping” or deliberate alteration of the image will not be allowed in the competition.

Submission Portal

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

3) Television – Live Racing Programming and Features

Television entries (features or live racing programming) from a recognized over the air, cable or satellite outlet are to be submitted in USB Flash Drive (Thumb Drive) format. The UBS Drive must be accompanied by a letter detailing the name of the entrant, the date each program aired and the name of the station or network on which it aired. Commercials must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. Please send just one copy of your submission. We will make duplicates for the judges.

There are two television categories:

1. Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be included.

2. Features entries may be submitted as either single, stand-alone pieces, a documentary, historical piece, news report or as part of a live-racing program. Entries in the Features category are limited to 120 minutes. Features may NOT be submitted for separate consideration in this category if the same program

has been submitted for entry in the Live Racing category. “Medley” tapes containing more than two features, of any duration, will not be accepted.

All submissions in the Television categories are to be mailed to:

Jim Gluckson
Eclipse Awards
215 East 68th Street
Ste. 17G
New York, NY 10065

646-335-6835

4) Audio/Multi-Media Internet

Audio/Multi-Media Internet entries must have aired on a commercial or public radio station or been on the Internet at a site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization. Entries airing exclusively on YouTube will not be accepted.

https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

The Audio/Multi-Media Internet category may consist of audio only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. No more than two (2) individual radio or Internet-based audio broadcasts may be submitted. “Medley” tapes containing more than three radio shows or Webcasts, of any duration, will not be accepted.

The Multi-Media Internet entries must have one integrated theme and be presented in a Webcast centering on a news event, subject or feature. To be eligible, the Webcast must include at least two forms of media, one of which must be original audio. The complementary form(s) of media may be video, photographs, graphics and/or print (e.g., a story or stories). Please note that if the entry includes video, the video must be produced as original content.

Submission in the Multi-Media Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News Commentary or Feature/Enterprise categories.

Multi-Media Internet submissions must be accompanied by a letter from the editor or equivalent senior official of the Website, attesting that the package is the work of the author(s) or organization that submitted it and that it appeared on the Website on the date(s) in question.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

Submissions of Webcasts and Radio Programs must be accompanied by:

2) Program title and air date of the production or webcast

3) The name of the network, radio station or web outlet

***

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than Monday, January 4, 2021.

Message from President Law; Derby Meeting Minutes

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 20:54:00 GMT

Message from President Tom Law

Good day. Please see below Minutes from the Kentucky Derby Week meeting of the NTWAB and a note below from Dave Joseph of the Maryland Jockey Club regarding coverage of the Preakness Stakes Oct. 3.

The reconfigured 2020 Triple Crown continued earlier this month with the Kentucky Derby and many members of the NTWAB were on hand for what will hopefully be a historic and unique event.

A hearty thanks to the NTWAB’s pool reporting team of Greg Hall, Jennie Rees, Alicia Hughes, Byron King and Nicole Russo for their work on the ground in the weeks and days leading up to the race. I knew they would do an awesome job, and they exceeded those expectations by a wide margin.

The content provided – written, video and audio – helped media outlets from coast-to-coast and around the world cover the race in a proper and complete way. Our crew needs to be commended for their work, so feel free to shoot them a note of thanks or if you see them down the road make sure to express those feelings.

The NTWAB will again provide content to members and non-member media outlets from a pool reporting team we are continuing to fill out. Additional information, including how to access the content via Dropbox, will be sent soon.

Have a great week,

Tom Law
NTWAB President

From the Maryland Jockey Club’s Dave Joseph

The Maryland Jockey Club will require anyone traveling from outside the state of Maryland to have a negative COVID result in hand. The test must be taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival. The paperwork will be checked before you enter the facility. The health and safety of those attending is our priority. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me.

David Joseph
VP Communications/Media Relations
Maryland Jockey Club
954.658.7156

National Turf Writers And Broadcasters 2020 Derby Meeting Minutes by Jessie Oswald

Meeting called to order at 12:00 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2020 via conference call.

Roll call of members present, including officers: In attendance: Tom Law, Greg Hall, Jessie Oswald, Dick Downey, Vance Hanson, Bob Kieckhefer, Beth Harris, Julie Sarno, Scott Hazelton, Nicole Russo, Natalie Voss, Liane Crossley, Alex Orr, Byron King, Jay Privman, Caton Bredar, Loren Hebel-Osborne, Frank Angst, Marty McGee, Paul Rolfes, Alicia Hughes, Jay Hovdey, Jennie Rees.

Update on Kentucky Derby pool reporting, media access, etc.: Greg Hall provided an update on the Derby Media Pool reporting - Content is uploaded in DropBox daily and includes audio, video and written notes. Access link to daily DropBox folder is emailed daily to NTWAB members and other members of the media by Secretary. Question re crediting when using content – probably do not need to credit content obtained through media pool, consider it in the public domain. Pool reporters are Greg Hall, Jennie Rees, Alicia Hughes, Nicole Russo and Byron King.

Membership report: Jessie Oswald provided update on membership status, noting membership around 190 members, with bulk of members current on payment of annual dues, and announced results of officer/director elections and proposed bylaw change.

Election of Officers/Directors – conducted through Survey Monkey and open for voting between August 17 and August 31. 92 total voters

OFFICERS (all ran unopposed): President – Tom Law, Vice President – Greg Hall, Secretary – Jessie Oswald, Treasurer – Dick Downey
DIRECTORS: Frank Angst, Nicole Russo and Tim Wilkin (EJ Clark not elected)

Bylaw Change –Suggested changes to clean up policies on member status, treasurer roles, etc. Conducted through Survey Monkey and open for voting between August 17 and August 31. 92 total voters.

Result = Bylaw Amendment Passed 85-5

Treasurer’s Report – Dick Downey – (as of 08/20/2020) - net asset value increased by $18,167, or 19.2%, Vanguard Accounts - $112,631.31; Checking account - $11,090.22; Charitable account - $11,275.25, all dinner ads have been paid.

NTWAB Annual Dinner – presented by Loren Hebel - Osborne

2020 Annual Awards – not having due to COVID-19. Since we would typically give out $1,000 award to our award winners and Master of Ceremonies, would like to make a one-time significant donation to an organization in need.

Opened the floor to ideas: the Legacy Group of Lexington was part of nomination/idea list sent to membership prior to meeting which included UK’s Gluck Center, Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, and Legacy Equine Group. Jennie Rees 2nd the Legacy Equine Academy; Alicia noted all nominated charities are very worthy, but many already have support. Legacy Equine Academy is grassroots effort where dollars will go directly to help educate African American students and students of color about the Equine industry and also help them develop the passion and skills needed to potentially find career opportunities in the industry. Caton Bredar agreed, and noted it is a timely donation and support what a lot of membership has been saying about a greater workforce that is committed to industry.

2021 Annual Awards – Loren asked for input from group regarding Breeders’ Cup 2021 at Del Mar and repeating the Annual Awards dinner at the Brigantine. Julie Sarno 2nd it and offered assistance from her husband with sound system. Additional support noted from other unnamed members.

Other Business:

Early conversations with Breeders’ Cup and it will likely be a very similar procedure as to BC

New member applications - Hold-off on new member applications until Breeders’ Cup meeting

No new business

A nnouncement of dates/location of next meeting – Monday, November 2, 2020 via teleconference

Adjournment at 12:35 p.m.

Following the Kentucky Derby meeting held on Aug. 31, and with the Preakness coming up soon, President Tom Law brings us up to date. Minutes from the Kentucky Derby meeting are reported as well.

Summer Newsletter from President Law

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 13:56:00 GMT

Good day fellow NTWAB members. I hope this note finds you well, healthy, safe and wading through a summer like no other. NTWAB officers and board met last week to discuss several things in advance of next month’s Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup down the road.

• The NTWAB’s Kentucky Derby meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, August 31 via Zoom (or another similar method). This is the official notice of the meeting, which will include elections for the four NTWAB Officer positions (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) and three expiring NTWAB Director positions (Nicole Russo, Frank Angst and Jay Privman). Please send along any suggestions for Officer and/or Director positions to NTWAB Secretary Jessie Oswald (jboswald68@gmail.com) before Monday, August 10. Expect another email in mid-August that will include an election ballot and suggested bylaw changes to be voted on. Suggested changes will be sent in the next day or two. Please review in advance of the start of the voting period, which will be Aug.17-31. Per the NTWAB bylaws we are able to conduct voting via email.

• We regret to announce that NTWAB will not give out awards or conduct the Annual Awards Dinner in 2020. Plans are in the works however for the NTWAB to provide and announce a significant donation to a local, regional or national charity in the spirit of the Awards Dinner. If you have a charity in mind, please send that along to Jessie and/or NTWAB President Tom Law (tom@thisishorseracing.com). We hope to return in 2021.

• Kentucky Derby: I’ve been involved in discussions with Churchill Downs regarding coverage of this year’s Kentucky Derby. Things are looking like a significantly reduced number of credentials granted to local and national media outlets and, like NYRA did for the Belmont Stakes and Saratoga, issues on an invitation-only basis. Media credentials will not allow for barn area access, but Churchill Downs will issue that access to pool reporters determined by the NTWAB. We’ve started the process in determining who the pool reporters might be and what they’d be doing on a daily basis leading up to and including the Oaks and Derby. The NTWAB is also working with Churchill to encourage them to conduct daily press briefings with key race participants either in person at a safe social distance, via Zoom or by teleconference. We’re also working with them to determine the best way to handle post-race press conferences with winners and other participants.

• Given the short turnaround between the NTWAB Derby and Breeders’ Cup meetings, we will postpone evaluation of new member applications until the latter.

• Tom Law and Greg Hall, the NTWAB’s representatives on the Eclipse Award Steering Committee, agreed with the other members of that group to mail the physical championship trophy to the connections of Maximum Security. Given the ongoing legal issues with the horse’s former trainer, the Steering Committee left open the option to revisit the situation later, i.e., if Maximum Security were to be disqualified from any of his victories in 2019.

Thank you for your time and consideration of these matters. Be well and stay safe.

Tom Law
NTWAB President
August 3, 2020

NTWAB officers and board met last week to discuss several things in advance of next month's Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup down the road.

Byk Given Bill Handleman Memorial Award for Outstanding Haskell Coverage

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 19:46:00 GMT

Steve Byk, an NTWAB member whose daily “ At The Races With Steve Byk” radio show on Sirius XM Satellite is the sport’s longest running Thoroughbred news magazine program, has been named the winner of the 2020 Bill Handleman Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of last year’s TVG.Com Haskell Invitational, Monmouth Park announced today.

Inaugurated in 2012, the Handleman Award honors outstanding media coverage of the Grade 1 Haskell, Monmouth Park’s premier race. It is presented annually prior to the Haskell.

“Steve’s dedication to the sport, his passion for it and his ability to popularize Thoroughbred racing on a national platform were reflected in his broadcasts of the 2019 Haskell,” said John. F. Heims, Monmouth Park’s Director of Racing and Racing Secretary. “Racing fans have learned that he is a ‘must-listen’ for any big race on the calendar.”

The award honors the late Bill Handleman, one of New Jersey’s top sportswriters for nearly three decades for the Asbury Park Press. Handleman, who made Monmouth Park his home away from home and was a passionate chronicler of the sport, died in June 2010 at the age of 62.

NTWAB members have won a good share of the Handleman Awards. The first recipient of the Handleman Award was Tom Luicci of The Star-Ledger , followed by Steve Edelson of The Asbury Park Press in 2013, NTWAB member Dave Johnson of Sirius XM in 2014, NTWAB member Ed McNamara of Newsday in 2015, NTWAB member Bob Ehalt of ESPN.com and Bloodhorse in 2016, Tom Cassidy of TVG.com in 2017, Jim Dunleavy of Daily Racing Form in 2018 and NTWAB member Mike Farrell of The Associated Press last year.

I n 2003, Byk also launched the still-active DerbyTrial.com, which features his writing, editorials and race previews. He has been a contributor to Bloodhorse since 2004 and began hosting “At The Races With Steve Byk” on Sirius Satellite Radio in 2007.

NTWAB Addresses Continuing Denial of Media Access to Tracks in Kentucky

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 15:26:00 GMT

Media have not been allowed access to race tracks in Kentucky since March. On June 22, NTWAB President Tom Law sent a letter to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear requesting the loosening of restrictions to the state's Healthy at Work Requirements for Horse Racing that were issued in early May in advance of the start of the Churchill spring-summer meeting. Last Saturday, the State of New York, where covid-19 has done much more damage than in Kentucky, and NYRA allowed a limited number of media to personally cover the Belmont Stakes card in a safe and professional manner. President Law has requested similar treatment in Kentucky.

President Law's letter to Gov. Beshear follows.

__________________________

June 22, 2020

Governor Andy Beshear
700 Capital Avenue, Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601

Governor Beshear,

Good afternoon and greetings from Saratoga Springs. I’m writing on behalf of our organization of more than 150 print, online and broadcast professional journalists who cover Thoroughbred horse racing in your state and across the country.

We formally request that you reconsider the stipulation in the Healthy at Work Requirements for Horse Racing issued in May that prohibit fans and outside media from racetracks in Kentucky. The stipulation significantly impacts how members of the media do their job covering Kentucky’s signature industry.

The news media have been determined to be essential workers in many states, including Kentucky where they have covered your daily press briefings during the Covid-19 health crisis.

The journalists from Kentucky and other states need proper access to continue to do their jobs on site at Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Ellis Park, Kentucky Downs and other racetracks. The precedent has been set already; in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo cleared the New York Racing Association to allow the media to cover last weekend’s Belmont Stakes.

Belmont Park, located not far from New York City and the hardest hit area in the country, allowed a small group of 15 reporters and 15 photographers inside the facility to cover the day’s races.

I was fortunate to be one of the 15 print/online reporters invited to attend and can attest to the importance of media being on hand to document one of the sport’s signature events. I made the 3 1/2-hour trip from my home in upstate New York to Long Island to cover the race, followed specified guidelines, received a temperature check at the stable gate and was granted access to portions of the grandstand and clubhouse and the barn area to properly do my job.

The racetrack handled the media in a safe and professional manner, limiting access to certain areas while allowing it in others. Everyone from reporters to trainers to jockeys practiced social distancing, wore masks and followed other safety protocols. The day went as smooth as expected thanks to these guidelines.

Churchill Downs will soon finish its historic spring-summer meeting and this weekend’s Stephen Foster Day program is annually one of the highlights of the racing year in Kentucky. The media should be granted access and by the terms set by your office and Churchill Downs. As a former 15-year resident of the great Commonwealth of Kentucky I can attest to the importance of these events on the multi-billion dollar Thoroughbred industry and to the men and women who cover it professionally for news outlets on a daily basis.

We appreciate your time and consideration of this important matter. I can be reached at (859) 396-9407 or via email at tom@thisishorseracing.com to discuss further.

Thank you,

Tom Law
NTWAB President

( Introduction by Dick Downey)

Media have not been allowed access to race tracks in Kentucky since March. On June 22, NTWAB President Tom Law sent a letter to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear requesting the loosening of restrictions.

National Museum of Racing Resumes Construction on Hall of Fame Education Experience Project

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 21:03:00 GMT

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame recently resumed construction on its new Hall of Fame Education Experience after a two-month delay.

Work was shut down after the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent “New York State on PAUSE” executive order.

The Museum, which was already closed for the renovations since January, was originally scheduled to open to the public on July 16, coinciding with opening day at Saratoga Race Course. A new opening date for the Museum will be announced later this summer.

“

We’re excited that we are able to move forward with the Hall of Fame Education Experience,” said Cate Johnson, the Museum’s director. “This is an important project for the Museum and the sport of Thoroughbred racing, and we look forward to sharing it with everyone as soon as possible. The work is going well, and we are adhering to all state regulations and best practices related to health and safety.”

The Hall of Fame Education Experience will feature a reimagined and dynamic new Hall of Fame, including a state-of-the-art signature film and cutting-edge interactive Hall of Fame digital plaques. New digital inductee plaques will include an in-depth multi-media look at the lives and careers of each human and equine member of the Hall of Fame. The project also includes a complete renovation of the adjoining Race Day Gallery and other updates throughout the Museum.

The new Hall of Fame is designed to inspire existing and new fans with an understanding of the deep level of mastery of craft required of Thoroughbreds, jockeys, trainers, owners, and breeders to reach the highest levels of the sport, as well as establish a new standard for dramatic and immersive interactive experiences throughout the Museum.

To date, the Museum has raised more than $13 million toward the Hall of Fame Education Experience, which was announced in August 2018. The project’s campaign goal is $20 million. For more information or to donate to the Hall of Fame Education Experience by phone, please contact project manager Cathy Marino at (518) 584-0400 ext. 112, or you can donate by check to:

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
Attn: Hall of Fame Education Experience
191 Union Avenue
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

For a closer look at the Museum’s vision for the new Hall of Fame Experience, please visit the Hall of Fame website and click on “More Information” to play an informational video on the landing page.

F or more information about the Museum, including special events and program offerings, please call (518) 584-0400 or visit our website at www.racingmuseum.org.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame recently resumed construction on its new Hall of Fame Education Experience after a two-month delay after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic.

NYRA Opens Door For Media, Announces Belmont Park Protocols

Fri, 29 May 2020 16:14:00 GMT

Here are the rules for media access to Belmont Park for the foreseeable future. NOTE: Belmont Stakes credentials are closed. The Belmont Stakes is set for June 20.

Beginning on June 1, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will require reporters and photographers in possession of a valid yearly media credential, working on assignment, to request permission from the NYRA Press Office to obtain access to the Belmont Park backstretch and press box.

Daily credentials for reporters and photographers working on assignment will also be available by request on a limited basis and subject to advance approval by the NYRA Press Office.

Media who are approved by the NYRA Press Office must arrive via Gate 5, where they will be subject to a health screening process that includes a temperature check, as part of COVID-19 precautionary measures implemented at Belmont Park.

Face masks and maintaining social distancing are mandatory on the Belmont premises at all times.

Access to the press box on live race days will be extremely limited and is subject to NYRA Press Office approval. Interview opportunities with winning connections on race days will be made available on a limited basis.

Access to the frontside for photographers during live race days will be limited and subject to NYRA Press Office approval.

Media are not permitted to enter individual barns on the Belmont backstretch and must pre-arrange morning interview times with horsemen.

With prior approval, and adhering to social distancing measures, photographers will be permitted to photograph morning training on the training track and main track.

Credentials for the 2020 Belmont Stakes are now closed.

To request media access on a specific day, contact the NYRA Press Office at:

Pat McKenna - pmckenna@nyrainc.com
Keith McCalmont - kmccalmont@nyrainc.com

A pplying for or requesting press credentials does not guarantee, imply or conclude that any individual or organization will receive press credentials from NYRA. Additionally, applicants who apply for, and are granted press credentials agree to adhere to all policies set forth by NYRA.

Here are the rules for media access to Belmont Park for the foreseeable future. NOTE: Belmont Stakes credentials are closed. The Belmont Stakes is set for June 20.

2020 Hall of Fame Ceremony Canceled

Thu, 21 May 2020 16:27:00 GMT

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame announced today it will cancel the 2020 Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the Museum Ball as a result of the ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are incredibly disappointed we won’t be able to have these time-honored special events this summer, but the health concerns we are facing right now take precedence,” said John Hendrickson, president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. “The Hall of Fame ceremony is an experience we want to be able to share with the fans. With racing at Saratoga this summer likely to take place without spectators, we believe it is in the best interests of everyone involved and for the integrity of the event to postpone the ceremony for a year.”

The Hall of Fame ceremony was scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7. This year’s induction class — trainer Mark Casse, jockey Darrel McHargue, horses Wise Dan and Tom Bowling, and Pillars of the Turf Alice Headley Chandler, Keene Daingerfield, Jr., and George D. Widener, Jr. — will be inducted in the traditional manner alongside the class of 2021 next August.

“The 2020 inductees will be honored together with the class of 2021 next summer in what will be a truly special ceremony,” Hendrickson said. “Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is the most prestigious honor in the sport of thoroughbred racing and we will make sure this year’s class is properly recognized for the incredible mark they have made on the game.”

The 44th Annual Museum Ball, which was scheduled for Aug. 14, is traditionally one of the highlights of the Saratoga summer social season. That event will also return to the calendar in 2021.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame remains closed to the public. The Museum is currently under construction, as work has resumed this week on the new Hall of Fame Education Experience. More information on the reopening of the Museum will be forthcoming.

“We look forward to completing our new Hall of Fame Education Experience as soon as we are given the green light to move forward by the state,” Hendrickson said. “The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will be back better than ever. We can’t wait to share with everyone all the work we have done to make our institution something everyone in the sport can be proud of. We look forward to welcoming everyone as soon as it is appropriate and safe to do so.”

The Museum will also unveil a new website this summer. The current site at HYPERLINK "http://www.racingmuseum.org" www.racingmuseum.org is under development in partnership with The Jockey Club, but visitors are still able to access essential information there as well as through the Museum’s social media channels, which can be linked to from the main site.

F or more information about the Museum, including special events and program offerings, please call (518) 584-0400 or visit the website at www.racingmuseum.org.

NMRAHOF release

Spring Newsletter from President Tom Law

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 15:13:00 GMT

The 44th Annual Museum Ball, which was scheduled for Aug. 14, is traditionally one of the highlights of the Saratoga summer social season. That event will also return to the calendar in 2021.

F or more information about the Museum, including special events and program offerings, please call (518) 584-0400 or visit the website at www.racingmuseum.org.

NMRAHOF release

Greetings fellow Turf writers. I hope this note finds everyone doing well, staying healthy, practicing social distancing and following the guidelines from state and federal officials as we wade through the coronavirus crisis affecting all corners of the country. I'm writing today to update you on a few things of importance, some related to the health crisis and some not.

NTWAB Member Tom Wolski, A Canadian Favorite, Passes

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 21:52:00 GMT

(Reprinted from Standardbred Canada)

Posted Feb. 10, 2020

Originally Published Jan. 20, 2020 at standardbredcanada.ca

Tom Wolski, one of the most recognizable and popular personalities known to the horse racing industry in British Columbia, passed away on Monday, January 20 in a Naples, Florida hospital.

Wolski, an honoured member of the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of Fame, was visiting family in Florida when he suffered a massive heart attack and underwent major bypass surgery. He was in a medically-induced coma this past weekend and was listed in critical condition. The family advises he will be cremated and laid to rest with his mother in Florida.

Tommy, as he was known to his legion of friends and fans, finished his career as a jockey with more than 500 wins at various tracks throughout North America and was a main attraction at Hastings Racecourse during the 1970s and 1980s. When he hung up his tack for a final time, he became well-known in the Vancouver media for more than 30 years as a horse racing columnist in The Province newspaper and a radio show host on CJOR, along with his weekly television show on Shaw and CityTV, The Sport of Kings .

“Tommy was an absolutely unrelenting positive force for racing,” said David Milburn, president of the Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association of B.C. (HBPA-BC). “He got along well with everyone and had nothing negative to say, always looking for the best in everything and everyone.”

Former BC Attorney General Wally Oppal, a friend of 30 years, said: “Tommy didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He was a guy everybody instantly loved because of his effervescent personality. We spent a lot of time together at Puccini’s Italian Restaurant on Main Street back in the day when it was a meeting place for media and sports personalities. Everyone gravitated to him.” Puccini’s, now part of Vancouver history, was owned by the Teti brothers, John and Ronnie, who became life-long friends of Wolski.

When he was inducted into the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2014, Wolski told Daily Racing Form correspondent Randy Goulding: “I’ve always wanted to bring the people in the backstretch closer to racing fans. It’s a different world back there and people find it fascinating.”

It was that same fascination that drew Wolski to the sport when he saw his first race at the age of 10 at Suffolk Downs in his native Boston, Mass. Four years later, he was a hotwalker, then groom and eventually began galloping horses for trainer O.L. Foster. After leaving home and having dropped out of school, he was literally sleeping in the barns.

“Mr. Foster asked me my shoe size, looked me up and down and said, ‘yep, I’ll put you to work’ and gave me my first job. I rode my first race at Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island and lost in a photo finish.”

In later years, Wolski related the racing business was different when he was a teenager and apprentice jockeys could have their contracts sold to another trainer.

Sold, or in Wolski’s case, have his name thrown into a poker pot to make up for a trainer’s shortage of betting funds. “That’s how I wound up in Rhode Island,” Wolski revealed years later. “My trainer lost me in a poker game.”

Wolski wrote his ‘Hoss Talk’ column in The Province for more than 30 years and enjoyed hosting his television show from 2002 through 2010. “He was small in stature but had a huge influence on people,” said his producer at the time, Howard Jones. “Once you met Tom Wolski, you never forgot him.”

He will long be remembered and revered by his racing family, with plans underway for a deserving celebration of life once the 2020 Thoroughbred season gets underway in April at Hastings Racecourse.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Tom Wolski.

Link to original article: https://standardbredcanada.ca/notices/1-20-20/tom-wolski-passes.html

Tom Wolski, one of the most recognizable and popular personalities known to the horse racing industry in British Columbia, passed away on Monday, January 20 in a Naples, Florida hospital.

Horse of the Year Goes to Bricks and Mortar

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 04:04:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced this evening that, as expected, Bricks and Morta was voted the 2019 Horse of the Year at the 49th Annual Runhappy Eclipse Awards ceremony at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Eclipse Awards, honoring excellence in North American Thoroughbred racing, presented by The Stronach Group, Daily Racing Form and the Breeders’ Cup, are voted on by the NTRA, DRF and NTWAB.

Owned by Klaravich Stables Inc. and William Lawrence, and trained by Chad Brown, Bricks and Mortar received 204 out of a possible 241 first-place votes for Horse of the Year. Bill and Corrine Heiligbrodt’s Mitole, who was voted Champion Male Sprinter, received 19 first-place votes to finish second. Gary and Mary West’s homebred Maximum Security, who was voted Champion Three-Year-Old Male, finished third in the Horse of the Year balloting with 14 first-place votes. Midnight Bisou, the Champion Older Dirt Female, Vino Rosso, the Champion Older Dirt Male, and Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach, each received one first-place vote. There was one voter abstention.

Bricks and Mortar won five Grade 1 races in 2019. The son of Giant’s Causeway kicked off his 5-year-old season with a victory in the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational last January. From there, Bricks and Mortar proceeded to dominate the grass male ranks in methodical fashion by posting five more graded stakes triumphs - including Grade 1 wins in the Turf Classic Stakes, Manhattan Stakes, and Arlington Million - before capping his career with a victory in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf.

"Horse racing has a way of getting into your blood...I love so much of this sport," said Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables. "I never thought we'd ever have a chance to win this award. We are so grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime honor."

In addition to taking the ultimate year-end honor, Bricks and Mortar was a unanimous pick for Champion Turf Male, earning all 241 first-place votes.

All of Bricks and Mortar’s connections won individual Eclipse Award honors. Brown won his fourth consecutive Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer while Klaravich Stables and Lawrence captured the Outstanding Owner title. Irad Ortiz Jr., who piloted Bricks and Mortar in all of his starts last year, won his second straight Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. George Strawbridge, Jr., who bred Bricks and Mortar, won his first Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder.

Maximum Security had a roller-coaster of a 3-year-old campaign that ultimately concluded on a definitive peak. In his first try against graded company, the Jason Servis-trained colt led every point of call to take the Grade 1 Xpressbet Florida Derby by 3 ½ lengths on March 30. He would go on to hit the wire first in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve but, after nearly 22 minutes of deliberation by the stewards, he was disqualified to 17th and his roses were handed off to initial runner-up Country House due to interference.

Despite the heartache of that infamous result, Maximum Security’s quality would prove indisputable during the second half of the year. The son of New Year’s Day went on to post victories in the Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Invitational, Grade 3 Bold Ruler, and Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap with the last two triumphs coming against elder rivals.

Mitole took the raw talent he had teased of previously to another level in 2019. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Mitole registered six victories and four Grade 1 wins during a campaign that was capped by a sublime triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

LNJ Foxwoods’ Covfefe won two Eclipse Awards Thursday evening, capturing both the Champion Three-Year-Old Filly title and Champion Female Sprinter. A bay daughter of Into Mischief trained by Brad Cox, Covfefe won five of six starts in 2019, finishing off the year by taking the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

Another filly who recorded an outstanding season was Bloom Racing, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing’s Midnight Bisou, who won seven consecutive races during her 4-year-old campaign last year - including three grade 1 tests - en route to Champion Older Dirt Female honors.

The Champion Older Dirt Male, Vino Rosso won both the Gold Cup at Santa Anita and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic to secure his divisional crown for Repole Stables and St. Elias Stable and trainer Todd Pletcher.

Cox had a second Eclipse Award winner on the evening when British Idiom, owned by Michael Dubb, the Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables and Bethlehem Stables, won the Champion Two-Year-Old Filly title. British Idiom won all three of her starts last year, including the Darley Alcibiades and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The Champion Two-Year-Old Male of 2019 is Exline-Border Racing LLC, David Bernsen, Susanna Wilson and Dan Hudock’s Storm the Court, trained by Peter Eurton, who won the TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) and Daily Racing Form. Of the 254 eligible voters representing the NTRA, NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 241 (94.88%) took part in this year’s voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

The complete list of 2019 Eclipse Awards winners with vote totals appears below:

(Horse ages in parenthesis where applicable; Country codes indicate a foreign breeding designation)

· Runhappy Horse of the Year: Bricks and Mortar (5)
· Two-Year-Old Male: Storm the Court
· Two-Year-Old Filly: British Idiom
· Three-Year-Old Male: Maximum Security
· Three-Year-Old Filly: Covfefe
· Older Dirt Male: Vino Rosso (4)
· Older Dirt Female: Midnight Bisou (4)
· Male Sprinter: Mitole (4)
· Female Sprinter: Covfefe (3)
· Male Turf Horse: Bricks and Mortar (5)
· Female Turf Horse: Uni (GB) (5)
· Steeplechase Horse: Winston C (IRE) (5)
· Owner: Klaravich Stables Inc., and William H. Lawrence
· Breeder: George Strawbridge, Jr.
· Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
· Apprentice Jockey: Kazushi Kimura
· Trainer: Chad Brown

Voting Overview

In voting that concluded January 2, 2020 Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system. This voting established the top three finalists in each division, whose names were released on Jan. 4, 2020.

The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.

Voter participation rate: 241/254= 94.88%

Name, First-Place Votes

Runhappy Horse of the Year
Bricks and Mortar; 204; Mitole, 19; Maximum Security, 14; Midnight Bisou, 1; Omaha Beach, 1; Vino Rosso, 1. Voter Abstention, 1.

Two-Year-Old Male
Storm the Court, 147; Structor, 51; Maxfield, 12; Independence Hall, 8; Tiz the Law, 6; Four Wheel Drive, 4; Dennis’ Moment, 3; Anneau d’Or, 2; Eight Rings, 2; Thousand Words, 2; Basin, 1; Nucky, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Two-Year-Old Filly
British Idiom, 222; Bast, 12; Sharing, 6; Alms, 1.

Three-Year-Old Male
Maximum Security, 217; Omaha Beach, 16; Code of Honor, 8.

Three-Year-Old Filly
Covfefe, 189; Guarana, 19; Serengeti Empress, 11; Iridessa (IRE), 9; Concrete Rose, 6; Dunbar Road, 6; Cambier Parc, 1.

Older Dirt Male
Vino Rosso, 129; Mitole, 108; McKinzie, 3; Voter Abstention, 1.

Older Dirt Female
Midnight Bisou, 210; Blue Prize (ARG), 31.

Male Sprinter
Mitole, 236; Maximum Security, 5.

Female Sprinter
Covfefe, 235; Belvoir Bay (GB), 4, Mia Mischief, 1; Serengeti Empress, 1.

Male Turf Horse
Bricks and Mortar, 241.

Female Turf Horse
Uni (GB), 126; Sistercharlie (IRE), 61; Got Stormy, 33; Iridessa, (IRE) 15; Concrete Rose, 3; Vasilika, 2; Cambier Parc, 1.

Steeplechase Horse
Winston C (IRE), 158; Brain Power (IRE), 44; Scorpiancer (IRE), 3; Voter Abstentions, 36.

Owner
Klaravich Stables, Inc. and William H. Lawrence, 184; Gary Barber, 18; Peter Brant, 11; Calumet Farm, 6; William and Corrine Heiligbrodt, 3; Gary and Mary West, 3; Joseph Besecker, 2; End Zone Athletics, Inc., 2; Hronis Racing, 2; Madaket Stables LLC, 2; LNJ Foxwoods, 1. Voter Abstentions, 7.

Breeder
George Strawbridge, Jr., 122; Calumet Farm, 94; Godolphin, 8; Edward A. Cox, Jr., 2; Gary and Mary West, 2; WinStar Farm, 2; William S. Farish, 1; Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 1; Stonestreet Thoroughbreds, 1; Voter Abstentions, 8.

Trainer

Chad Brown, 204; Steve Asmussen, 19; Brad Cox, 5; Jason Servis, 5; Karl Broberg, 2; Mark Casse, 1; Voter Abstentions, 5.

Jockey
Irad Ortiz, Jr., 205; Javier Castellano, 21; Flavien Prat, 5; Joel Rosario, 3; Mike Smith, 3; Jose Ortiz, 1. Voter Abstentions, 3.

Apprentice Jockey
Kazushi Kimura, 74; Julio Correa, 60; Angel I. Diaz, 53; Cristian A. Torres, 19; Jorge I. Velez, 3; Reylu Gutierrez 1; Keimar Trotman, 1; Voter Abstentions, 30.

Media Eclipse Awards

Media Eclipse Awards also are given in the categories of photography, audio and multi-media Internet, news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, national television–feature, and national television–live racing programming to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. The 2019 Media Eclipse Awards winners, determined by a judges’ panel for each category and previously announced, are:

Television – Live Racing Programming – TVG, “TVG Pacific Classic,” Aug. 17, 2019

Television – Features – FOX Sports 2, “When Rachel Raised the Rafters,” Aug. 30, 2019

Feature/Commentary Writing – Joe Nevills, Paulick Report, “Biting The Dust: A Long Goodbye to Mount Pleasant Meadows,” July 22, 2019

News/Enterprise Writing – Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, “Anniversary of Deadly San Luis Rey Fire Strains Still,” Dec. 8, 2018

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN), “2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Nov. 2, 2019

Photography – Jim Leuenberger, DRF.com, “2019 Kentucky Derby,” May 4, 2019

I n addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Scott Coles received the Eclipse Award as the 2019 Horseplayer of the Year.

Edited NTRA release

Eclipse Award Horse of the Year Finalists: Bricks and Mortar, Maximum Security, Mitole

Sat, 04 Jan 2020 16:43:00 GMT

The 2019 Horse of the Year finalists are Bricks and Mortar, Maximum Security, and Mitole. They lead all categories for the 2019 Eclipse Awards named today by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB).

Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced at the 49th annual Eclipse Awards dinner and ceremony, presented by DRF, Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group on Thursday evening, Jan. 23, at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Of the 254 eligible voters representing the NTRA, the NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 241 (94.88%) took part in this year’s voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

The 2019 Eclipse Award finalists, in alphabetical order, are:

Horse of the Year: Bricks and Mortar, Maximum Security, Mitole

Two-Year-Old Male: Maxfield, Storm the Court, Structor

Two-Year-Old Filly: Bast, British Idiom, Sharing

Three-Year-Old Male: Code of Honor, Maximum Security, Omaha Beach

Three-Year-Old Filly: Covfefe, Guarana, Serengeti Empress

Older Dirt Male: McKinzie, Mitole, Vino Rosso

Older Dirt Female: Blue Prize (ARG), Elate, Midnight Bisou

Male Sprinter: Imperial Hint, Mitole, World of Trouble

Female Sprinter: Belvoir Bay (GB), Come Dancing, Covfefe

Male Turf Horse: Bricks and Mortar, Mo Forza, World of Trouble

Female Turf Horse: Got Stormy, Sistercharlie (IRE), Uni (GB)

Steeplechase Horse: Brain Power (IRE), Scorpiancer (IRE), Winston C (IRE)

Owner: Gary Barber, Peter Brant, Klaravich Stables, Inc. and
William H. Lawrence

Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin, George Strawbridge Jr.

Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Chad Brown, Brad Cox

Jockey: Javier Castellano, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Jose Ortiz

Apprentice Jockey: Julio Correa, Angel Diaz, Kazushi Kimura

In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Scott Coles will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2019 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by NTWAB, NTRA and DRF. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by NTRA and presented by the Breeders’ Cup, DRF and The Stronach Group.

Eclipse Awards tickets are available for $425 each, or $4,000 for a table of 10. Additional details can be found on the NTRA website at NTRA.com/eclipse-awards/ or by contacting Casey Hamilton at chamilton@ntra.com.

The black-tie optional Eclipse Awards is part of a full week of events that will culminate with the fourth running of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup, on Jan. 25. Separate tickets to the Pegasus World Cup are available on the Gulfstream Park website at pegasusworldcup.com.

T ickets to the Eclipse Awards also include an invitation to a party on Friday night, Jan. 24, in the Gulfstream Park walking ring on the eve of the Pegasus.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

Edited NTRA release

Six Named Winners of 2019 Media Eclipse Awards

Fri, 27 Dec 2019 19:13:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF), and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today named winners of the 2019 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories. They are:

Television – Live Racing Programming – TVG, “TVG Pacific Classic,” Aug. 17, 2019.

Television – Features – FOX Sports 2, “When Rachel Raised the Rafters,” Aug. 30, 2019.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Joe Nevills, Paulick Report “Biting The Dust: A Long Goodbye to Mount Pleasant Meadows,” July 22, 2019.

News/Enterprise Writing – Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune “Anniversary of Deadly San Luis Rey Fire Strains Still,” Dec. 8, 2018.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) “2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Nov. 2, 2019.

Photography – Jim Leuenberger, DRF.com; “2019 Kentucky Derby,” May 4, 2019.

Winning works were televised or published from Nov. 16, 2018 to Nov. 15, 2019.

Each of the Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented trophies at 49th Annual Eclipse Awards on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Television – Live Racing Programming – TVG

TVG has won its first Live Racing Programming Eclipse Award for its coverage of Pacific Classic Day on August 17, 2019 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which culminated with a runaway victory by Hronis Racing’s Higher Power in its signature race, the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic. In addition to conducting interviews with key participants in the lead up to the Pacific Classic, TVG accented its coverage by introducing its wide array of broadcast talent as being “Born into the Sport,” highlighting how these individuals came into racing careers through the tutelage and influence of immediate families and relatives.

“On behalf of everyone at TVG, we’re very excited and appreciative of this recognition, which we know puts us in great company with the other media Eclipse Award winners,” said Kip Levin of FanDuel, TVG. “Kevin Grigsby and his team — both the on air talent and everyone behind the camera and behind the scenes — work hard every day to promote horse racing and to present the very best in the sport and the TVG Pacific Classic show was a prime example of how we strive to provide racing fans premier coverage and to support our track and horsemen partners.

“I can’t think of a better way to cap our 20th anniversary celebration."

Kevin Grigsby was Executive Producer of the TVG Pacific Classic telecast. The Pacific Classic team of talent featured Todd Schrupp and NTWAB member Matt Carothers, who have been with TVG since its inception 20 years ago. Schrupp and Carothers were joined by Mike Joyce and NTWAB members Simon Bray, Britney Eurton, Christina Blacker, Scott Hazelton and Gabby Gaudet.

TVG utilized 29 cameras as a part of more than eight hours of live coverage of racing on Pacific Classic day.

Honorable Mention in the Television – Live Racing Programming category went to Fox Sports for its broadcast of the “Runhappy Travers on FOX” which aired on the FOX Broadcast Channel on Aug. 24, 2019; Michael Mulvihill, the Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy and Analytics for FOX Sports.

Judges in the Live Television Programming category were: NTWAB member Dave Johnson, track announcer, television analyst and race caller for ABC Sports, and now co-host of DOWN THE STRETCH on SiriusXM; Toni Slotkin, Sports Emmy Producer, MLB Network and president TES Productions, and Chris Svendsen, producer-director for CBS Sports.

Television Feature – FOX Sports

“When Rachel Raised the Rafters” was televised on FS2 during the Fox Sports telecast of the Aug. 30, 2019 Woodward Stakes from Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The feature, which was produced by Ernie Munick and narrated by Maggie Wolfendale, celebrated the 10th anniversary of Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick’s brilliant Rachel Alexandra capping her historic 2009 Horse of the Year season by besting older males to become the first filly to capture the Woodward.

The segment was highlighted by interviews with the Rachel Alexandra’s connections: co-owner Barbara Banke, trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Calvin Borel. Longtime NYRA track announcer and Eclipse Award of Merit winner Tom Durkin put a capstone on the afternoon when he felt the enormous roar of the crowd and said “Rachel Alexandra raises the rafters here at the Spa!”

“Rachel Alexandra’s brilliance and courage in the 2009 Woodward made for one of the great days in the history of Saratoga Race Course,” said Michael Mulvihill, the Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy and Analytics for FOX Sports. “Rachel authored her own breathtaking story with a performance that electrified the crowd and captured the imagination of the sport.

“It was a privilege to be able to recount that drama in a way that resonated with fans across the country on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Rachel raising the rafters at the Spa. All of us at FOX Sports offer our thanks and congratulations to producer Ernie Munick, to the entire Saratoga Live crew, and most of all to the unforgettable Rachel Alexandra the great.”

Honorable Mention in the Television Feature category went to NBC Sports for “The 2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships – Bob Baffert and McKinzie,” which aired on Nov. 2, 2019; Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer.

Judges in the Television Features category were Liz Bronstein, television Show Runner and Executive Producer, and creator the Animal Planet 2008-09 series “Jockeys”; John Hennegan, two-time Eclipse Award-winning writer/producer/director and partner in Hennegan Brothers Productions, which he runs with his brother Brad; and NTWAB member Dick Jerardi, former writer and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Joe Nevills

This is the first Eclipse Award for NTWAB member Joe Nevills, of Georgetown, Kentucky, who has been the bloodstock editor of the Paulick Report since 2018, and prior to that was a reporter for Daily Racing Form and the Thoroughbred Times. Nevills’ wife, Natalie Voss, won an Eclipse Award for News/Enterprise writing in 2016.

“It’s just one of those things you dream of doing, like hitting a Grand Slam to win Game 7 of the World Series,” Nevills said about winning an Eclipse Award. “This is something I’ve always wanted to accomplish and never expected, but this one was very personal for me. I had been working on this story for five years, since the track closed."

In “Biting The Dust: A Long Goodbye to Mount Pleasant Meadows,” Nevills tells the story of the demise of a small mixed-breed track in central Michigan through the eyes of trainer Nate Funnell, jockey Lee Gates, track announcer and marketing director Scott Csernyik, and through his own personal recollections of a place where he learned and enjoyed horse racing beginning with his family at age four. He had revisited the closed grounds several times since it was shuttered, and he was able to finally complete his story this year.

“I wanted to write a John Mellencamp song about horse racing, without the music: Give a spotlight to blue-collar horse people on the small circuit that made me,” Nevills said. “I like to write things that I'd have liked to read when I was young, looking through magazines for whatever I could find about my home circuit. The entire Michigan racing community has had my back since I started writing about the sport. They've been instrumental in teaching me about the industry, even today.”

Opened in 1985, Mount Pleasant Meadows in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, experienced just a few good years of racing, damaged by an ever-growing list of internal and political obstacles, before closing in 2013. And yet, in describing the run-down conditions of the track he revisited several times, Nevills revealed the strength and joy of those who worked there.

“Even at its loudest, Mount Pleasant was a good place for people who liked to hear what was going on: the sound of jockeys smooching and barking to urge their mounts, then explaining themselves to the trainers afterward; the gate crew pleading with the starter to keep his thumb off the button; and the occasional trash talk between people on horseback.

This was especially true around the paddock, where horsemen and revelers shot the breeze between races over a flimsy chain-link fence. The sternly-worded sign warning folks with racing licenses against chatter with the outside world, hung by the state's racing commission, might as well have been written in Cantonese.”

Nevills is a native of Edmore, Michigan, attended Montabella High School, and graduated from Central Michigan University.

Judges in the Feature Commentary category were Tom LaMarra, Director of Communications for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and Managing Editor of THAracing.com; Myra Lewyn, turf writer, editor, and publicist with four decades devoted to the coverage of Thoroughbred racing and Dan Liebman, former editor of The Blood-Horse as well The State-Journal in Frankfort, Kentucky.

News/Enterprise Writing – Bryce Miller

This is the first Eclipse Award for Bryce Miller, who has been a columnist in the sports department for the San Diego Union-Tribune since 2015. Prior to that, Miller was a columnist and sports editor of the Des Moines Register. He earned an Honorable Mention in the Feature/Commentary category in last year’s Eclipse Awards.

“It’s an incredible honor to win an Eclipse Award,” said Miller. “To those who write consistently in the industry, it’s an indication that your work has reach and your work mattered, and it’s pretty humbling.”

“Anniversary of Deadly San Luis Rey Fire Strains Still,” was both an examination of the rebuilding and improvements to San Luis Rey Downs and an update on the individuals whose lives were permanently altered one year after the Lilac fire devastated the Thoroughbred training facility in Bonsal, California in December 2017.

Miller received an official tour of the grounds last December, reporting on changes to the facility, which included the removal of 350 palm trees and the installation of two 95-foot wide pavilions with high-tech roofing material which can self-extinguish flames or embers; installation of a two-mile sprinkler system and a new employee app for phones to receive alerts about nearby emergency response calls, among others changes.

“We (at the Union-Tribune) had covered the fires extensively in 2017 and on a regular, often weekly basis in 2018,” said Miller. “It was a logical wrap up and the finish line of a big project.”

The area, jarringly out of place from all the rebuild and rebirth, resembles a scene from battled-scarred Sarajevo — an eerie graveyard of twisted metal and jagged concrete footings once anchoring barns that wilted under flames exceeding 3,200 Fahrenheit…The year became a test, at moments sullen, at moments affirming, of the resilience of an entire industry. People from all corners — paycheck-to-paycheck backstretch workers, millionaire owners and complete strangers — discovered how much heart and sweat it would take to dust off ashes and sculpt brighter days.

The hardest and most rewarding parts for Miller was meeting Pierre Bellocq and his wife, trainer Martine Bellocq, who suffered severe burns over most of her body, and received multiple skin grafts over the past year; and with Cassandra Branick, an exercise rider and barn manager for trainer Ed Freeman, who repeatedly kept going back in to save horses. “She was a general in the middle of the battlefield,” said Miller.

Honorable Mention in the News/Enterprise category went to NTWAB member Frank Angst for “Country House Getaway,” which appeared in the BloodHorse on May 11, 2019, and to Vinnie Perrone for “Starting Over,” which was published in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred on Oct. 1, 2019.

Judges in the New Enterprise category were: Reid Cherner, former writer and editor for USA Today; Robert Yates, who covered racing for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Gary Yunt, former copy editor for the Denver Post and Notes Team Captain for the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Horse Racing Radio Network

This is the second Eclipse Award for HRRN, based in Lexington, Kentucky, which previously won the Audio/Multimedia and Internet Eclipse Award in 2010 for its coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. NTWAB member Mike Penna is president of HRRN and a regular host.

Providing its North American audience with nearly 10 hours of live radio coverage of the 36th Breeders’ Cup from Santa Anita Park, Nov. 1-2, on Sirius 219/XM, HRRN deployed its talent and production team to cover all aspects of the event with pre-race analysis from key participants and special background features with jockeys trainer and owners participating in each Breeders’ Cup race.

“It really is surreal,” said Penna. “When I first started the network nearly 15 years ago, I just wanted to create something that would benefit our sport. I never imagined we would be putting together live programs on such a large scale, so to have our work recognized with an award of this stature is extremely humbling.

“Our broadcasts are storyline driven and, because we are on radio, we have to find ways to paint the pictures we see through our words and try to find the stories that are most interesting and intriguing to our audience in the buildup to each race, then follow up with news and interviews afterward,” Penna continued. “The goal is always to make listeners feel as if they are sitting there with us. It was a lot of work but we had a great team to accomplish our goals. We thank the people at Santa Anita and the Breeders’ Cup, along with our sponsors and all the horsemen who were so cooperative with us.”

The broadcast was anchored by Penna along with analysts Kurt Becker, Bobby Neuman and Dan Mason. Ashley Mailloux provided paddock commentary and interviews. Lee Dellapina and Shawn Seay produced the broadcast, with production assistance contributed by Justin Taylor, Keith O’Brien, NTWAB member Jude Feld, Michelle Penna, Megan Devine and Howard Deneroff. Race calls courtesy of Santa Anita Park track announcer Frank Mirahmadi.

Honorable mention in the Audio/Multimedia and Internet category went to Kelsey Riley and Thoroughbred Daily News for “At 27 Serena’s Song Still Hits All the Right Notes,” which appeared in TDN Look on July 27, 2019.

Judges in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category were Glenn Crouter, former lead television anchor for Woodbine Live horse racing network, and correspondent/announcer for Newstalk 1010 in Toronto; Bob Curran, longtime Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Jockey Club and graduate of the St. Bonaventure University journalism program; and NTWAB member Julie Sarno, freelance writer, former editorial staff member of the Blood-Horse, staff member and department head The Meadowlands and Del Mar.

Photography – Jim Leuenberger

Leuenberger, 73, from Shawano, Wisconsin, has won his first Eclipse Award, for his photograph of the critical moment of the 145th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, when race leader Maximum Security veered into the path of War of Will over a sloppy track as a pack of eight horses were passing thought the final turn. The image captures War of Will turned toward the grandstand in behind Maximum Security as mud is flying in the background in the crowded field.

Maximum Security crossed the wire first in the Derby but, after two jockeys’ objections and a lengthy review by the stewards, was disqualified from first and placed 17th, thus creating the first disqualification of a winner due to a claim of foul in the first leg of the American Triple Crown.

Following the race, Leuenberger went back to the track’s media center where his photographs were downloaded by Daily Racing Form’s Emily Shields.

“I’m going off to get a bite to eat, soaking wet, and Emily is hollering at me to come over back to her computer, and I’m thinking ‘what did I do wrong?’, said Leuenberger. “I hurried back and I saw a bunch of other photographers gathering around her screen and she was excited to show me that my photo captured the incident.”

Barbara Livingston, Daily Racing Form Chief Photographer and four-time Eclipse Award Photography winner, later encouraged Leuenberger to enter his photograph in the Media Eclipse Award competition.

“Barbara told me that this incident in the Derby had the most impact of any race of the year, and that my photo showed what happened in a race where a winning horse had never been disqualified.”

Leuenberger, who took the winning photograph with a Canon 5D Mark III camera with a 100-400 telephoto lens, exclaimed “Amazement,” as the word to describe winning the Eclipse Award, adding, “It’s a great Christmas present.”

Leuenberger, who grew in northeast Iowa and graduated from Iowa State Bachelor of Science in Dairy Science with a minor in Ag Journalism and Master of Science in Ag Journalism with a minor in Animal Science. He worked in public relations for more than 30 years in the agricultural livestock industry.

Leuenberger also took photographs of Green Bay Packers NFL games and other local Wisconsin sports teams for Wolf River Media. He began attending the Kentucky Derby since 1995, and first covered his first Derby for Daily Racing Form in 2018.

The winning photograph, which appeared on the Daily Racing Form website drf.com on May 4, 2019, may be viewed here .

Judges in the category were Mark Abraham of United Press International and current deputy director of the US Senate Press Photographer’s Gallery; Rob Carr, staff sports photographer with Getty Images, and NTWAB member Mike Kane, veteran Thoroughbred journalist and photographer and former communications officer at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

About the Awards Ceremony

The “black-tie optional” Eclipse Awards is part of a full week of events that will culminate with the fourth running of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup, on Jan. 25. Separate tickets to the Pegasus World Cup are available on the Gulfstream Park website at pegasusworldcup.com.

Tickets to the Eclipse Awards also include an invitation to a spectacular Friday night, Jan. 24, party in the Gulfstream Park walking ring on the eve of the Pegasus.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the NTWAB, NTRA and DRF. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by NTRA and presented by the Breeders’ Cup, DRF and The Stronach Group.

T he Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

Release edited by Dick Downey for NTWAB

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today winners of the 2019 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories. Several NTWAB members are among the winners.

Holiday Newsletter from Our President

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 18:52:00 GMT

Greetings fellow Turf Writers and Broadcasters. I want to wish everyone a belated Happy Thanksgiving and early best wishes for the upcoming holiday season. It’s hard to believe the Breeders’ Cup, our Annual Awards Dinner and semi-annual meeting are now more than a month away. I apologize for the delay getting out this communication.

The Minutes from the Oct. 31 meeting at Clocker’s Corner at Santa Anita Park are set out below, and within you’ll find information on the club’s finances, membership, Breeders’ Cup logistical problems and other business. Please take a moment to review the Minutes and feel free to pass along any questions.

We discussed some of the issues with the Auxiliary Media Center at the meeting and some (not all) of those concerns were addressed with the publicity teams from Santa Anita and the Breeders’ Cup. If you attended the Breeders’ Cup and encountered any issues related to access, credentials, parking, work spaces, etc., please pass those along to me at tom@thisishorseracing.com.

I’ve been compiling a lot of these complains, questions and concerns over the course of the year, which certainly has proven to be unlike any in recent years or ever. Some of you have already sent along some comments and I encourage you to keep them coming if you have them.

Now a few highlights:

• Huge thanks go out to Loren Hebel-Osborne for again leading the effort for our annual Awards Dinner at The Derby the Wednesday prior to the Breeders’ Cup. She handles everything with the utmost professionalism and we couldn’t do it without her. Other thanks go to Byron King, who did a great job selling the ads for this year’s Awards Dinner program.

• Welcome back to Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman to the NTWAB Board. Jay, our organization’s president from 2000-2001 and also a past officer, fills the remaining year on Tom Pedulla’s two-year term. Tom resigned in the late summer and the NTWAB thanks him for all his past service.

• Speaking of Byron King of BloodHorse, his name was added to our membership roster along with Christie DeBernardis of Thoroughbred Daily News to bring our group to 187 members.

• The next NTWAB meeting will be conducted prior to the Kentucky Derby, and since it’s an even-numbered year it also serves as the election of our four officers and half of the organization’s six directors.

That about covers most of it. Some additional information is below that you’ll find important heading into the New Year. Take care.

ECLIPSE AWARDS

Voting for the Eclipse Awards begins soon, and members in good standing (i.e. you’ve paid your dues) will receive an electronic ballot Dec. 12. Voting will again be conducted online, and we encourage you to wait until all of the year’s Grade 1 stakes are run before voting. After this weekend, the three remaining Grade 1 stakes will be the Malibu, La Brea and American Oaks at Santa Anita Dec. 26.

Voting will be conducted until 2 p.m. Jan. 2, 2020 and finalists will be announced Saturday, Jan. 4 via a live stream from Gulfstream Park. The Eclipse

Awards will be given out Jan. 23 at Gulfstream.

Finally, the NTWAB officers and directors were polled for suggestions for any individuals or organizations they consider worth of an Eclipse Award of Merit and/or a Special Eclipse Award. Feel free to send along any suggestions you have as well, to NTWAB President Tom Law at tom@thisishorseracing.com.

MINUTES OF NTWAB GENERAL MEETING
Oct. 31, 2019
Clocker’s Corner at Santa Anita Park

⦁ Roll call/quorum – Tom Law (President), Natalie Voss (Director), Marty McGee (Director), Jay Privman (Director), Frank Angst (Director), Alicia Hughes (Past President), Jennie Rees (Past President), Ron Flatter, Bob Kieckhefer, Tim Wilkin, Byron King, Evan Hammonds, Mike Farrell, Julie June Stewart, Beth Harris, Lenny Shulman, Ed McNamara, Lisa Groothedde, Rudi Groothedde. 11:30 a.m. PDT.

⦁ Minutes – No action taken on May 2019 Meeting Minutes

⦁ Treasurer’s Report – Tom Law (from Dick Downey) – Checking account balance $9,945.13; Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares balance $84,729.78; Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund balance $13,081,92. Investment balance $97,811.70 through Oct. 29, 2019. Fund has done well since the 2018 Breeders’ Cup. Year over year the net asset value of the fund increased by $11,697, or 13.58%. During the same period the S&P 500 increased by 13.19%. Dick reports: “Everything is good. We have quite a few receivables owing from Byron's excellent ad sales. We owe very little for the annual dinner, having already paid the guaranteed $15,000 to The Derby, 50% of the cost of production of the dinner program already paid to the printer and the designer, and the award trays paid in full. Commissions for the dinner program ad sales are unpaid.

⦁ Membership applications for the general membership – Board recommended applications from Byron King (BloodHorse, endorsed by Marty McGee & Dick Downey) and Christie DeBernardis (Thoroughbred Daily News, endorsed by Jessica Martini & Tom Law), passed by membership. Applications not recommended by the board but discussed at meeting – Chris Robbins (ThoroCap) and Dr. Greg Beroza (WRHU Radio Hofstra Univ./Horse Nation). Total membership of 187 through Oct. 31.

⦁ Breeders’ Cup logistics – The location, access points to and lack of security of Auxiliary Media Center was discussed. Location this year at end of grandstand, far from the winner’s circle, paddock, making it difficult for writers (and the BC Notes Team) to get back and forth in timely manner. Tom will discuss with Jim Gluckson, requesting additional security, the possibility of making the whole room for media only (patrons are allowed in portions of the area not cordoned off) and other concerns.

⦁ Awards dinner update and details – Loren/Tom: The dinner at The Derby went well, award winners and presenters seemed pleased; food and service all top notch and another great job by Awards Dinner Chairwoman Loren Hebel-Osborne. The 60-page program included profiles of award winners. Program included 39 ads, majority sold by Byron King, for total of $22,900. 2020 Awards Dinner locations discussed/proposed by members, including The Kentucky Castle, Castle & Key Distillery, Marriott Griffin Gate (2015 site), Jeff Ruby’s, The Apiary and Eppings on Eastside.

⦁ Membership Review update – Tom (from Greg Hall/Jessie Oswald): Questionnaire sent to members needing to clarify status, most returned information and any changes to status were made. Additional work needs to be done, especially on those members who did not return email seeking clarification.

⦁ Board Vacancy update – Tom: Jay Privman named to fill vacant spot on board left by Tom Pedulla’s resignation in late August. Jay will fill out term that expires at May 2020 meeting.

⦁ Other business – Natalie Voss and Tom Law, after discussing the organization’s account balances, asked about re-formation of charitable committee to explore what to do, if anything, with the money. Initial committee volunteers include Natalie, Tom, Julie June Stewart and Greg Hall.

⦁ Adjournment – 12:01 p.m.

Minutes recorded by NTWAB President Tom Law

Greetings fellow Turf Writers and Broadcasters. I want to wish everyone a belated Happy Thanksgiving and early best wishes for the upcoming holiday season. It's hard to believe the Breeders' Cup, our Annual Awards Dinner and semi-annual meeting are now more than a month away.

Photo Essay: Our 60th Annual Awards Dinner

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 23:55:00 GMT

On Oct. 30, NTWAB celebrated its 60th Annual Awards Dinner at The World Famous Derby Restaurant in Arcadia, CA. The Derby, once co-owned by George "The Iceman" Woolf, is brimming with Thoroughbred racing history and did a great job hosting our cocktail hour, dinner and awards program.

Photos by Skip Dickstein

NTWAB President Tom Law (right) and Andy Belfiore (left) of the New York THA present the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing to the family of the late Rick Violette, Chris Violette and sister Patti Taylor.

Caton Bredar accepts the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting.

Tim Wilkin won the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. He was introduced by Jack Knowlton (L) of Sackatoga Stable fame.

Joy Scott (with silver tray) was honored with the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity. Julie Krone (L) introduced her. Standing next to Joy is her son, Jesse Sanchez.

After a recent back surgery, D. Wayne Lukas, winner of the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing, couldn't attend. We agreed on a presentation at the 2020 dinner in Lexington and look forward to seeing him.

Jim Gluckson and John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times, who won the Bill Leggett Breeders’ Cup Writing Award.

Jim Gluckson and Jay Privman. Privman was presented with the Joe Hirsch Breeders’ Cup Writing Award.

Scott Hazelton honored us with his excellent service as emcee of our 60th Annual Awards Dinner.

Last but not least, Loren Hebel-Osborne, who's shown here with old friend Marty McGee, organized another great Awards Dinner!

Guidelines for 2019 Media Eclipse Awards

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 16:07:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), in conjunction with Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced guidelines for the 2019 Media Eclipse Awards.

The media awards are presented by NTRA, DRF and NTWAB for outstanding achievement in media coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse trophies will be presented to the Award winners at the 49th annual Eclipse Awards, presented by Daily Racing Form, the Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group, on Thursday, January 23, 2020, at Gulfstream Park Racetrack and Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Categories for the 2019 Media Eclipse Awards are:
· Writing - News/Enterprise
· Writing - Features/Commentary
· Photography
· Television - Live Racing Programming
· Television - Features
· Audio/Multi-Media Internet

HOW IT STARTED

Beginning with the 1998 Awards, Eclipse Awards voting has been presented by the NTRA, DRF and NTWAB. Previously, the Eclipse Awards were sponsored by Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (TRA) in conjunction with DRF and the National Turf Writers Association (now NTWAB). Prior to the start of the Eclipse Awards in 1971, the TRA and Daily Racing Form separately honored racing’s annual champions. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18

DEADLINE and METHOD FOR SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be RECEIVED by 5:00 p.m. (ET), Monday, November 18, 2019. Entries received after that time will not be accepted.

Entries for the Writing, Photography and Audio Multi-Media and Internet awards will be accepted through the Eclipse Awards Submissions Portal. Instructions are in this link: https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

Entries for the Television Awards will be accepted via regular mail or overnight courier service.

ENTRY FEE

None

RULES

Entries should display outstanding achievement in the coverage of North American Thoroughbred racing and must have been primarily published or aired for the first time between November 16, 2018 and November 15, 2019. All submissions are limited only to works pertaining to the Thoroughbred breed, and no other equine breed. Submissions on subjects, topics and individuals which took place exclusively outside of North America will not be accepted.

Television entries must have aired on a commercial, subscription or public television station.

Fiction or entries that constitute a commercial application (e.g., advertisements, publicity or promotions) are not eligible in any category.

Entries are limited to independent media entities. Submissions from racetracks or industry-supported racing organizations in any of the categories are not permitted.

LETTERS OF ENTRY

Entries must originate with the author (print submissions) or producer (audio/multi-media Internet and television submissions). All entries must include a cover letter, and uploaded in the Submissions Portal from the author (for print submissions), photographer (for photography submissions) or producer (for audio/multi-media Internet and television), stating his/her wish to enter his/her materials; publication/broadcast information (outlined below); and contact information (name, address, telephone, fax, cell phone and e-mail, as applicable).

Please indicate the category of each submission in your cover letter. If you are submitting in two different categories please include two separate cover letters.

Editors may submit print materials on behalf of authors, provided such submissions include the cover letter described above. All other third-party submissions will be rejected. In the writing categories, submissions by editors on behalf of multiple writers from a publication on a feature subject, special section or a compendium of stories on breaking news will be rejected.

Authors and producers must identify in their cover letters any sections of their submissions that have been previously published their current form i.e. tracts of copy taken verbatim from articles or videos containing the exact same language or narration, that is being repurposed for the current entry. This information will be relayed to the judges.

By submitting an entry for consideration, the entrant represents and warrants that submission is a factual and accurate depiction of the subject it concerns.

LIMITS ON ENTRIES

Two per entrant, per category (with an exception for a multi-part series as noted below). Entrants in the writing categories are limited to submissions by the individual author, or by the author’s editor, with permission from the author.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS CATEGORIES DETAILS

1) There are two categories of competition for Writing awards.

Writing: News/Enterprise – Submission guidelines for works in this category are the following: timely, hard news articles and expository pieces involving concentrated background research, investigative reporting or news analysis. Limited to three authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series. No Q&A submissions.

Writing: Feature/Commentary – Submission guidelines for works in this category are: columns, opinion pieces, essays, viewpoints, and biographical profiles. Limited to three authors in the byline for single articles or for articles submitted as a multi-part series. No Q&A submissions.

Within each category of writing, authors may submit a multi-part series of related articles that have been pre-arranged by the editors and stated in the published work that the articles constitute a specified series; with the same subject matter (e.g., racing surfaces, medication) examined or profiled in each article of the series. Articles submitted under the title “occasional series” will not be accepted. Collections of articles under the title “The Year in Horse Racing” will not be accepted.

Authors submitting a multi-part series may not submit an additional piece in the same category. They may, however, enter in another category, subject to the rules outlined above.

Submission in either the News/Enterprise or Feature/Commentary category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the Audio and Multi-Media Internet category.

Excerpts from published books, whether complete narratives or in anthology form, will not be accepted.

Cover Letter and Submission

Authors must submit ONE copy of each submission in common Microsoft Word format. No Zip files will be accepted.

DO NOT PLACE A WEBLINK IN YOUR SUBMISSION MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT TO THE JUDGES. This will get you immediately disqualified.

·Submissions must appear as the article was worded in the PUBLISHED form.

At the top of your submission, you must include the date and time that the article was first published

All Headlines, Sub-Headlines, Bylines and Hyperlinks MUST BE REMOVED from the submission.

No publication names are permitted on the submission.

You MUST REMOVE THE NAME OF YOUR PUBLICATON EACH TIME IT APPEARS IN YOUR SUBMISSION, and insert the words “name of publication removed”; e.g. “According to a recent study by the Anywhere USA Times…” must be changed to “According to a recent study by (Name of Publication Removed)…”

Photos, graphs, charts, hyperlinks or other graphic elements appearing within the article(s) must be deleted.

The author must indicate for which writing category the work is being submitted (e.g., “News Enterprise” or “Feature Commentary” in the cover letter).

Submissions Portal Link: https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

2) Photography

Photography entries are limited to images for events that took place in North America. Submission must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a Website that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication, recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The BloodHorse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC) or on an independent, non-industry supported website. Submissions posted on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media outlet will not be accepted.

Cover Letter and Submission

NOTE: The cover letter is to be sent as a single stand/alone attachment and not an open document in the email part of the submission.
Photographers must submit in jpeg format one image of each photo, with NO identifying marks (e.g., photographer’s name). The submission must be accompanied by a single “Web print” of the published photo showing date, publication title and photographer’s name. Note: No Zip Files will be accepted.

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, creativity, composition, and magnitude of the moment.

Submission Portal: https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

3) There are two television categories.

Live Racing Programming entries must be from a live racing program of Thoroughbred horse racing. Programs with the subject matter primarily devoted to morning workouts will not be included.

Submission

All submissions shall be mailed to:

Jim Gluckson
Eclipse Awards
215 East 68th Street
Ste. 17G
New York, NY 10065

Call 646-335-6835 with questions.

4) Audio/Multi-Media Internet

All entries in this category must be limited to 60 minutes. Entries for live radio broadcasts may submit a compilation of the best work over the course of one program.

The Audio/Multi-Media Internet category may consist of audio only (e.g., a radio or Internet-based broadcast) OR a multi-media, Internet-based submission, whose components include audio. No more than two individual radio or Internet-based audio broadcasts may be submitted. “Medley” tapes containing more than two radio shows or Webcasts, of any duration, will not be accepted.

Commercial breaks for radio entries must be deleted or the entry will be disqualified. However, an opening “billboard” with sponsor mentions will be permitted.

Submission in the Multi-Media Internet category excludes the candidate from submitting the same written piece in the News Commentary or Feature/Enterprise categories.

Submissions

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS WEB LINKS and uploaded to the Submissions Portal: https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-award-media-submission-portal/

Audio/Multi-Media Internet entries must be submitted as a single URL Web address.
Submissions of Webcasts and Radio Programs must be accompanied by (1) a letter from the Web producer or equivalent senior official of the Website attesting that the work is that of the author who submitted it and including the date the program was Webcast and the name of Web site on which it aired; (2) program title and air date of the production or webcast; and (3) The name of the network, radio station or web outlet.

NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the NTRA no later than Thursday, January 2, 2020. Winners will be honored at the Eclipse Awards dinner and ceremony to be held Thursday evening, January 23, 2020 at Gulfstream Park Racetrack and Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Edited release

Message from the President

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 00:51:00 GMT

I hope you are doing well this fall and looking forward to the Breeders’ Cup. Speaking of the Breeders’ Cup, we are counting down to a few key events for the NTWAB.

First up is our 60th annual Awards Dinner the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 30 at The Derby in Arcadia, California. All members were mailed invitations. We’ve received quite a bit of interest for the event – as always – and we’re headed toward a sellout so make sure you get your RSVP in as soon as possible.

The NTWAB officers and board are excited to honor our five award winners, and we’ve lined up a great roster of speakers to introduce them from the podium. The Breeders’ Cup will also present the 2018 writing awards at our dinner, leading off the program.

Speaking of selling, special thanks to member-to-be Byron King for his hard work on selling ads for the dinner program. According to NTWAB Treasurer Dick Downey, Byron and others who sold ads helped push our aggregate sales total to the highest level since 2015. As Dick said, “an MVP rookie-year performance.”

We’ll talk about those numbers and more during our semi-annual Membership Meeting Thursday, Oct. 31 at Santa Anita Park. I’m still working on details for the meeting – location and exact time – but a safe estimate will be late morning or close to lunchtime and somewhere near the press area at the track.

Membership applications are reviewed at the meeting, so please send along any letters of endorsement to NTWAB Secretary Jessie Oswald at jboswald68@gmail.com. Membership information is available on the bylaws page here at ntwab.org.

One final note is below, regarding workspaces and professional conduct. Looking forward to seeing you soon. All the best.

Professional Work Spaces

It’s a good time to remind everyone about decorum in the press box and media center. Please remember that these areas are work spaces, and everyone should keep conversations to a bare minimum and/or take them to another location. Please also be mindful of loud phone calls.

T he NTWAB continues to work with our sister organization, Turf Publicists of America, on some ongoing issues that include non-working members of the media and/or guests with access to the press box or media centers.

I hope you are doing well this fall and looking forward to the Breeders' Cup. Speaking of the Breeders' Cup, we are counting down to a few key events for the NTWAB.

Joy Scott Earns Mooney Award for Courage

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 12:14:00 GMT

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters will present lifelong horsewoman Joy Scott, who battled back from multiple serious injuries during her career as a jockey, with the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity.

Scott launched her career as a jockey in 1981 and won 537 races riding in Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Arabian and Mixed Breed events. She suffered severe injuries to her right leg in a five-horse accident at Los Alamitos in 2001 but returned to the saddle to ride races 14 months later.

“I’m a winner again,” said Scott, who continues to battle back from injuries suffered in a morning-training accident in March 2013 at Santa Anita Park. “What an honor; I’m thrilled and overwhelmed.”

Scott joins three prior Mooney winners: the award’s namesake who died after a long battle with cancer in 2017; retired jockey and owner Rene Douglas; and last year’s winner horsewoman Martine Bellocq.

“She is the walking (miraculously) embodiment of what the Mooney Award has come to represent,” Eclipse Award-winning Turf writer Jay Hovdey said in his endorsement of Scott this spring. “Her desire to remain a viable part of the sport kept her competing until it was no longer possible, and her nightmare struggles with recovery from serious injury is, sadly, more typical of others in her situation than we would like to believe.

“Yet she has soldiered on, raised a fine son as a single parent, and presents herself to the racing family with a positive outlook that is almost incomprehensible to those of us who have never faced such adversity.”

Scott will be honored along with the NTWAB’s other four award winners at the organization’s 60th annual Awards Dinner at The Derby in Arcadia, California, Wednesday, October 30. The NTWAB will honor the late Rick Violette (Joe Palmer Award), Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas (Mr. Fitz Award), Caton Bredar (Jim McKay Award) and Tim Wilkin (Walter Haight Award), along with other writing award winners announced that evening.

The NTWAB Awards Dinner is traditionally held during Breeders’ Cup Week and is the organization’s only fundraiser. A portion of the proceeds from the event are used toward scholarships for prospective Thoroughbred racing journalists and to support Thoroughbred industry charities.

ickets are available for the event either by contacting Jessie Oswald at jboswald68@gmail.com, NTWAB at ntwab2016@gmail.com.

Violette, Lukas, Wilkin, Bredar 2019 NTWAB Award Winners

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 00:08:00 GMT

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 4, 2018) The late trainer Rick Violette, a fierce advocate for horsemen throughout the country, will be honored posthumously along with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, Tim Wilkin and Caton Bredar during the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters 60th annual Awards Dinner on Oct. 30.

The awards dinner, held during Breeders Cup week, will be at The Derby World Famous Restaurant in Arcadia, California.

Violette, the trainer of 2018 Whitney winner Diversify and dozens of other graded stakes winners, will be honored with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing.

The longtime head of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Violette left a lasting legacy when he passed away last fall at age of 65. An accomplished show rider before taking out his Thoroughbred training license in the late 1970s, Violette also trained Grade 1 winners Dream Rush and Man From Wicklow and standouts Citadeed, Free Of Love, March Magic, Read The Footnotes, Samraat and Upstart. Violette served on the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and helped found NYTHA’s TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program and TAKE THE LEAD Thoroughbred Retirement Program.

Lukas, one of racing’s most recognized names and faces, will receive the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing.

Lukas dominated the sport in the 1980s and 1990s and continues to maintain a successful racing stable at the age of 83. A five-time Eclipse Award winner as outstanding trainer and winner of the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2013, Lukas has won 14 Triple Crown races, 20 Breeders’ Cup races, more than 4,800 races and purses in excess of $281.2 million. Lukas also helped launch the careers of successful trainers Todd Pletcher, Kiaran McLaughlin, Dallas Stewart, Mark Hennig, George Weaver, Mike Maker, Randy Bradshaw and Bobby Barnett.

Wilkin, the longtime racing voice of the Albany Times Union, will be honored with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing.

Wilkin juggles his in-depth racing coverage – particularly of the Saratoga meeting – along with his college basketball and other sports beats at the Times Union. Wilkin can dig into intricate industry issues with the same aptitude he brings to emotional features. That ability has been recognized in the form of multiple honors from the Associated Press Sports Editors annual writing contest, with Wilkin earning top honors for beat writing in the 30,000-75,000 circulation category in 2014 and 2015.

Bredar, a decorated journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in print, radio and television, will receive the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting.

The granddaughter of Hall of Fame jockey Ted Atkinson, Bredar started in publicity at Arlington Park and was part of the original team to launch TVG. She’s worked behind the scenes and in front of the camera for ABC, ESPN, CBS, FOX, HRTV and various local and cable outlets. Bredar has covered racing extensively throughout the U.S. as well as Barbados, Panama, France and Dubai, and she’s anchored programs from WAVE 3 in Louisville during the NBC affiliate’s coverage of the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby.

T he NTWAB Awards Dinner, traditionally held during Breeders’ Cup week, is the organization’s only fundraiser, and a portion of the proceeds from the event are used toward scholarships for prospective Thoroughbred racing journalists and to support Thoroughbred industry charities.

Invitations will be mailed to NTWAB members, and non-members can request a written invitation by contacting Jessie Oswald at jboswald68@gmail.com.

The late trainer Rick Violette, a fierce advocate for horsemen throughout the country, will be honored posthumously along with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, Tim Wilkin and Caton Bredar during the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters 60th annual Awards Dinner on Oct. 30.

2018 Breeders' Cup Writing Awards: Call for Entries

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 15:16:00 GMT

The Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards welcomes your participation to honor excellence in coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. There are two awards that will celebrate outstanding writing of the 2018 Championships.

-The Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

-The Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

These awards are based on coverage of last year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The entry deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.

To enter the competition for these awards, contestants may enter one submission per category. The winners of these awards will be announced at the

National Turf Writers And Broadcasters Dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019 in California.

Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting

The submissions for the Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding News Reporting must be a focused recap article of a 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships race written and submitted for the corresponding day of Friday, Nov. 2 or Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018. Please include a timestamp web link to your article. (It is understood that articles submitted under deadline circumstances may not have been posted by editors in a timely manner.) The competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine or an internet site.

Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing

The submissions for the Bill Leggett Award for Outstanding Feature Writing - either in the actual publications or posted on the Internet - must be focused on some aspect of the 2018 Breeders’ Cup: an advance story on a race, an individual profile, column, or a business article. Please also include the publication date of your article. The competition is open to those affiliated with a newspaper, magazine or an internet site.

Submission instructions are as follows:

Two steps: 1) Cover Letter, and 2) Clean Document for Judging

Write an email cover letter to jim@breederscup.com with your attached clean document article stating the:

a) Category for competition (News Reporting or Feature)
b) Name of publication
c) Headline of Article
d) Timestamp Publication for News Reporting category and date of publication for Feature category.
e) Include a weblink to the article. This in not for judging purposes, just proof of published work.

Please attach your entry to be judged via email in a Word document or a similar format to jim@breederscup.com. This clean document must NOT contain your name or your publication.

A gain, entries are due by Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.

The Breeders' Cup Writing Awards welcomes your participation to honor excellence in coverage of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. There are two awards that will celebrate outstanding writing of the 2018 Championships.

Broadcasting Legend Whitaker Dies at 95

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 23:37:00 GMT

Jack Whitaker, who in 2013 won NTWAB's inaugural Jim McKay Award for excellence in broadcasting, died of natural causes on August 18. He was 95.

NTWAB Announces 2019 Awards Nominations

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 14:23:00 GMT

National Turf Writers and Broadcasters is pleased to announce the finalists for its 60th Annual Awards to be presented at the NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner at Santa Anita on Oct. 30.

Bob Fortus Passes at 69 in Louisiana

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 13:03:00 GMT

Bob Fortus, an unassuming, professional journalist and consummate expert on the sport of Thoroughbred racing, died on July 16 in Baton Rouge, La. at age 69. He was a longtime member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

Volponi, White Land Joe Hirsch Writing Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 28 May 2019 20:15:00 GMT

Paul Volponi of BloodHorse and Jon White of XBTV, members of NTWAB, earned top honors in the New York Racing Association's 10th annual Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Contest, recognizing the best in media coverage of the 2018 Belmont Stakes won by Justify.

NTWAB Member Byk Named Old Hilltop Award Winner

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 21:16:00 GMT

Writer and broadcaster Steve Byk, host of 'At the Races with Steve Byk' on SiriusXM, will receive the Old Hilltop Award on May 16 at the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course.

Alibi Breakfast: David F. Woods Award to NTWAB Member Ehalt

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 11:11:00 GMT

Bob Ehalt, a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, will receive the David F. Woods Award for excellence in journalism at the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course on May 16, two days before the Preakness Stakes.

In Memory of Steve Davidowitz

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 11:03:00 GMT

Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Award Entries Open

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 11:34:00 GMT

Entries for the Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Award, which recognizes outstanding print and internet coverage of the Belmont Stakes, are being accepted.

Maryland Jockey Club Opens Entries for Writing Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:08:00 GMT

NTWAB Winter Newsletter

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 13:59:00 GMT

Good evening fellow members of the NTWAB. I hope this note finds you all well and with 2019 off to a great start. Just a couple items of business. . . .

Justify Named Horse of the Year at Eclipse Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 04:17:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced this evening that Justify, who became horse racing's 13th Triple Crown winner, was voted the 2018 Horse of the Year, at the 48th Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fl. All winners, human and equine, and vote counts are included in the story.

Layden, Balan, NBC Sports Lead 2018 Media Eclipse Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 17:29:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced the winners of the 2018 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories. Many of the winners are members of NTWAB.

Eclipse Awards: Don't Forget to Vote

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 18:31:00 GMT

The deadline to vote is Wedneday, Jan. 2, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Eligible voters are with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers And Broadcasters, and Daily Racing Form.

NTWAB Member Hammond Added to Hirsch Media Roll of Honor

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 16:16:00 GMT

NTWAB member Tom Hammond has been selected to the National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

Photo Highlights of NTWAB's 59th Annual Awards Dinner

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 18:46:00 GMT

Photos by Paul Rolfes

President Tom Law welcomes a capacity crowd to the venue at 4th Street Live!.

Tom Leach, voice of the Kentucky Wildcats and the event's emcee.

Bob Baffert shares a laugh at the Jockeys' Guild table during cocktail hour.

Jim Gluckson accepts the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing, presented by Tom Pedulla.
President Law and our event planner, Loren Hebel-Osborne, look on.

Donna Barton Brothers won the Jim McKay Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. Tom Hammond presents.

The irrepressible Marty McGee speaks after being presented with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing.

Triple Crown winning jockey Mike Smith, aka Big Money Mike, accepts the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing.

Martine Bellocq was injured saving horses from fire at San Luis Rey, putting them first.
Accordingly, she received the Bill Mooney Award for courage in the face of adversity.
Remi Bellocq accepts on her behalf from Natalie Voss.

Mark Midland speaks after accepting the Ron Rippey Award for Handicapping Media.

Midland to Receive Rippey Award at NTWAB Dinner

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:08:00 GMT

Bellocq Earns Bill Mooney Award for Courage from NTWAB

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 13:32:00 GMT

Martine Bellocq is a lifelong horsewoman who rushed into a burning barn trying to save her horses in a wildfire that decimated much of the San Luis Rey Downs training center last December.

Tickets Available for Annual Awards Dinner

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 15:32:00 GMT

The 59th Annual Awards Dinner of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters is set at the vibrant Whiskey Dry in Louisville on Oct. 31. Here's how to get tickets.

Entries Being Taken for Ron Rippey Handicapping Media Award

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 15:46:00 GMT

The fifth annual Ron Rippey Handicapping Media Award is open for entries. Brisnet.com will present the winner on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at the NTWAB annual awards dinner at Whiskey Dry in Louisville during Breeders' Cup week.

Shirley Day Smith, 99, Was Six-Decade NYRA Press Aide

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 17:27:00 GMT

Shirley Day Smith, recipient of the 2001 Joe Palmer award from the National Turf Writers Association, died on Sept. 20 at age 99 after a brief illness. She is said to have helped more people than anyone in the history of horse racing.

Smith, Brothers, Gluckson, McGee 2018 NTWAB Award Winners

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:38:00 GMT

T he awards dinner, held during Breeders Cup week, will be at Whiskey Dry by Edward Lee on Fourth Street Live in Louisville, Kentucky.

Smith, the winner of more than 5,400 races and a member of the Hall of Fame since 2003, will receive the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing.

Smith is the all-time leading rider in Breeders’ Cup history with 26 wins and nearly $36 million in mount earnings. At age 53, he rode Justify to a sweep of the 2018 Triple Crown, representing the sport of racing in idyllic fashion; throughout the high-profile series; his interactions with both his fellow racetrackers and the public at large were exemplary.

A native of New Mexico, Smith has become very well acquainted with horsemen and fans throughout North America by way of his extensive travels, having started his career in the Midwest, New York and Florida prior to making Southern California his primary base since 2000. Smith’s $314 million in career purse earnings ranks second all-time, just one of many indicators of his phenomenal success and positive influence in the game.

Barton Brothers, one of the leading female jockeys of all time when she retired in 1998, will receive the Jim McKay Award for excellence in broadcasting. The daughter of trailblazing jockey Patti Barton and one of the leading female riders of all time, Donna Barton Brothers began carving out another standout career when she first delved into television coverage of racing in 1999. Since 2000, Brothers has covered racing and other horse sports for NBC and NBCSN and, during that time, NBC has been honored with 13 Eclipse Awards for live television coverage.

Gluckson, a longtime publicist and head of media relations for Breeders’ Cup Ltd., will receive the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing.

Gluckson works with members of the press to cover the annual world championships. He also is involved with the Eclipse Awards as a member of the

Steering Committee and helps coordinate coverage of the annual awards dinner. A graduate of Skidmore College, Gluckson also worked in various capacities with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Through his longtime association with SFX sports agency, Gluckson was presented with the Red Smith “Good Guy” award by the New York Turf Writers Association at its 2005 awards dinner in Saratoga Springs.

Marty McGee, who has been with Daily Racing Form since 1992, will receive the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing.

McGee has covered Thoroughbred racing for over three decades. He joined the Form after working at the Baltimore Sun for seven years. McGee currently covers the year-round Kentucky racing circuit as well as winter racing at Gulfstream Park. He has attended every Kentucky Derby since 1974. He won an Eclipse Award for feature/commentary in 2013 for his story about the Desormeaux brothers before Keith became a prominent player on the national stage.

The NTWAB Awards Dinner, which is traditionally held during Breeders’ Cup week, is the organization’s only fundraiser, and a portion of the proceeds from the event are used toward scholarships for prospective Thoroughbred racing journalists and to support Thoroughbred industry charities.

Invitations will be mailed to members, and non-members can request an invitation by contacting Loren Hebel-Osborne at lorenpr@aol.com .

By Tom Law for NTWAB

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who rode Triple Crown winner Justify, will be honored along with Donna Barton Brothers, Jim Gluckson and Marty McGee during the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters 59th annual Awards Dinner in Louisville on Oct. 31. The dinner is open by invitation to members and guests of NTWAB as well as non-members.

John Asher, Ambassador for the Industry, Dies at 62

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 00:17:00 GMT

John Asher, the popular head of racing communications at Churchill Downs and the friend of many a turf writer and broadcaster, died suddenly at age 62. He was on vacation in Orlando, Florida.

Nominations for NTWAB Annual Awards Announced

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 00:16:00 GMT

National Turf Writers and Broadcasters released nominations for its annual awards, and a vote by membership will determine the outcome. The Annual Awards Dinner will be held in Louisville on Oct. 31, 2018.

Frakes, Steffanus, Rokos Win Media Eclipse Awards for Journalism Work

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 00:14:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced the Media Eclipse Award winners in the Feature Commentary and News Enterprise Writing categories and the Photography category: Jason Frakes and Denise Steffanus and Nancy Rokos. Frakes and Steffanus are both NTWAB members.

NTWAB Spring Newsletter

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 13:25:00 GMT

Fellow Turf writers, I hope this note finds you all well and recovering from the excitement and grind of this year's Triple Crown season.

NTWAB Members Ehalt, Law Win Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 19:12:00 GMT

Tom Law of ST Publishing and Bob Ehalt, writing for Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, both members of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, earned top honors in the New York Racing Association's ninth annual Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Contest.

Nack, Graves Left Lasting Marks on Racing Coverage

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 25 May 2018 19:16:00 GMT

The world of turf writing has lost two important members of its community this year, Bill Nack and Matt Graves. We pause in the midst of coverage of the Triple Crown races and reflect on their lives.

Law Presented David F. Woods Memorial Award

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 17 May 2018 16:11:00 GMT

Tom Law, the recently-elected president of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, was presented the David F. Woods Memorial Award for excellence in journalism today at the annual Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course.

Big Media Parking Changes for 2018 Kentucky Derby Week

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:37:00 GMT

With extensive ongoing parking renovations at Churchill Downs, media parking will be affected before and during Kentucky Derby week. Kevin Kerstein made himself available to NTWAB President Alicia Hughes and board member Nicole Russo to discuss the matter, and here's a rundown.

Kentucky Derby Media Guide Available

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:37:00 GMT

NTWAB has compiled a Kentucky Derby Media Guide. Members are encouraged to print it before arriving in Louisville to cover the Kentucky Derby. Please click the headline to gain access.

Gun Runner Named 2017 Horse of the Year

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 14:46:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters announced this evening that Gun Runner, a winner of four Grade 1 races culminating with the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic, was voted the 2017 Horse of the Year at the 47th Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

NTRA Work on Tax Regulation Reform Spurs Special Eclipse Award

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 21:00:00 GMT

For its efforts to benefit horseplayers and thus the Thoroughbred industry as a whole by lobbying for changes to tax withholding rules allowing bettors to keep more of their winnings, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) will receive a Special Eclipse Award at the 47th annual Eclipse Awards on Thursday, Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park. The Eclipse Awards will air live on TVG at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

Special Eclipse Award to San Luis Rey, Camarero Responders

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 20:54:00 GMT

In recognition of countless acts of heroism, bravery, and benevolence in the face of tragedy, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced that a Special Eclipse Award will be awarded to all responders who assisted in mitigating the year's worst racehorse-related disasters - the wildfire that claimed 46 Thoroughbreds at Southern California's San Luis Rey Training Center in December and a hurricane that left more than 800 Thoroughbreds stranded with limited food and clean water at Puerto Rico's Hipódromo Camarero in September.

Media Eclipse Award Steering Committee Rules Award Stands

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 00:55:00 GMT

On Jan. 7, the Eclipse Awards Steering Committee issued a statement in the wake of some questions that were raised following an announcement last week that a Media Eclipse Award would go to Daily Racing Form in the the Audio Multi-Media and Internet Category. Here is the statement in its entirety.

47th Annual Eclipse Award Finalists Named

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 05 Jan 2018 23:07:00 GMT

The finalists for the 47th Annual Eclipse Awards were announced today, including Horse of the Year contenders Arrogate, Gun Runner and World Approval. Winners in all categories will be announced at the Eclipse Awards Dinner on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park. Awards are voted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB).

NTWAB Members Headline NBC Sports, Daily Racing Form Winners of Media Eclipse Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 05 Jan 2018 23:06:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced Media Eclipse Award winners in three categories, including one produced, narrated and written by NTWAB member Tom Hammond. Other NBC Sports figures recognized in the awards are also NTWAB members: Jerry Bailey, Donna Brothers, Larry Collmus, and Randy Moss.

Stronach Named for Eclipse Award of Merit

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 05 Jan 2018 17:28:00 GMT

Long a success in racing, breeding, racetrack ownership and support of retired racehorse programs, Frank Stronach was named today by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) to receive the Eclipse Award of Merit for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in service to the Thoroughbred industry.

NTWAB Charitable Donations 2017

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sun, 19 Nov 2017 19:37:00 GMT

Part of NTWAB's mission is to donate annually to worthy organizations. Here's a rundown of this year's recipients.

Congrats Again to our NTWAB Award recipients

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 15:45:00 GMT

Celebrating the NTWAB 58th Annual Awards Dinner with photos by Julie June Stewart Venue: The Brigantine; Date and Occasion: Nov. 2, 2017, Breeders' Cup at Del Mar; Event Organizer: Loren Hebel-Osborne

Photos from Our Big Night

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 01:51:00 GMT

Randy Moss (r), recipient of the Jim McKay Award, with presenter Jay Privman.

Victoria Keith is the longtime assistant to Rick Porter, winner of the Mr. Fitz Award. Former NTWAB President Tom Pedulla made the presentation. Porter was unable to attend due to circumstances beyond his control.

NTWAB board member Marty McGee (r), cracks up Matt Hegarty, winner of the Walter Haight Award.

On behalf of the Winners Foundation, Executive Director Darin Scharer accepts the Joe Palmer Award from NTWAB board member Frank Angst (r).

NTWAB President Alicia Hughes presided over the big event.

The Brigantine was an accomodating and picturesque venue for the awards dinner.

Julie June likes this photo "in blue" of a table at "The Brig."

Randy Moss had an impressive contingent of supporters at the event.

2017 Media Eclipse Awards Guidelines

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 05:19:00 GMT

Rick Porter, Randy Moss, Matt Hegarty and the Winners Foundation are great examples of outstanding people, and they are very deserving of the awards presented to them at our 58th Annual Dinner on Nov. 2 at The Brigantine.

Online Auction Is Ongoing

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 05:08:00 GMT

Our Online Action [ https://www.32auctions.com/ntwab2017 ] is live through Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Don't miss out on bidding for Song Bird's silks, Gun Runner's halter and more.

Rippey Award Goes to Racing Dudes’ Spector

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 15:59:00 GMT

Michael Spector, a freelance writer who grew up going to race tracks with his father, is the winner of the fourth annual Ron Rippey Award for Handicapping Media for his "2017 Kentucky Derby Pace Thesis" that appeared on RacingDudes.com ahead of this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands.

2016 Breeders' Cup Writing Awards Open

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 21:56:00 GMT

The Breeders' Cup Writing Awards honor excellence in coverage of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, and entries are being taken now.

Rippey Handicapping Award Accepting Entries

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 21:24:00 GMT

The fourth annual Ron Rippey Handicapping Media Award is open for entries. Brisnet.com will present the winner on Thursday, Nov. 2, at the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters dinner at The Brigantine overlooking Del Mar.

NTWAB Names Annual Awards Recipients

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 12:26:00 GMT

Randy Moss, Rick Porter, Matt Hegarty and the Winners Foundation will be honored by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters at the association's 58th annual Awards Dinner on Nov. 2 at the Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar in Del Mar, Caliifornia.

NTWAB Awards Nominations Released

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 14:56:00 GMT

National Turf Writers and Broadcasters has released candidates for its four major awards to be presented during the 2017 Breeders' Cup week. Recipients of the annual awards will be announced following polling of eligible NTWAB members.

McNamara, Privman Win Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Contest

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 25 May 2017 21:41:00 GMT

Jay Privman of The Daily Racing Form and Ed McNamara of Newsday, both members of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, earned top honors in the New York Racing Association's eighth annual Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Contest.

David F. Woods Memorial Award to Joe Clancy

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 20:13:00 GMT

Eclipse-award winning writer and NTWAB member Joe Clancy will be awarded the David F. Woods Memorial Award for excellence in journalism on Thursday, May 18 at the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course.

Privman Honored for Outstanding Racing Industry Coverage

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:54:00 GMT

NTWAB member Jay Privman was named to receive the Charles W. Engelhard Award for outstanding coverage of the Thoroughbred industry at an annual awards luncheon Thursday in Lexington.

Proposed NTWAB Bylaw Amendments

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 17:56:00 GMT

Bylaw amendments will be presented for a vote at the NTWAB Spring Meeting. Please click through to the story for details.

NTWAB Member Smith Wins Media Sovereign Award

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 14:24:00 GMT

The Jockey Club of Canada on the evening of April 13 announced that Beverley Smith won the 2016 Media Sovereign Award. She was one of two NTWAB members nominated in the Writing Category.

Spring 2017 NTWAB Newsletter

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 12:40:00 GMT

I hope this finds all of you well as we ready ourselves for the whirlwind that is Triple Crown season. This is a a brief on some major events that transpired in recent months, and we'll delve into some current NTWAB matters as well.

Zayat Scholarships Update

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 19:51:00 GMT

Today, the Zayat family met with 10 recipients of the Zayat Scholarship at New York University. @jazz3162 [ https://twitter.com/jazz3162 ] @JustinZayat [ https://twitter.com/JustinZayat ] @NTWAB [ https://twitter.com/NTWAB ] @NYU_LS [ https://twitter.com/NYU_LS ] pic.twitter.com/SJOz6qIQSa [ https://t.co/SJOz6qIQSa ] -- Zayat Stables (@ZayatStables) April 6, 2017 [ https://twitter.com/ZayatStables/status/850067280222408705 ]

Taylor Counters Martin Remarks

Fri, 24 Mar 2017 14:00:00 GMT

In the wake of Perry Martin's demeaning comments on Jan. 21 about the turf media while accepting Horse of the Year honors on behalf of connections of California Chrome, Frank Taylor of Taylor Made Farm reached out to NTWAB to express his appreciation for the working press.

Martin is co-breeder of the 6-year-old Thoroughbred and is part of California Chrome LLC along with Taylor Made. As he accepted California Chrome's second career Eclipse Award Saturday night, Martin launched into a monologue portraying reporters in a negative light. While Martin may have believed he was engaged in a stand-up comedy routine, at one time referring to his dry sense of humor, the remarks were insulting and the audience was not amused. Twitter lit up.

Jeannine Edwards, who served as host of the awards show, pleaded for mercy while Martin was talking.

Before Martin took the stage, it appeared the event would wrap up as scheduled; however, as Martin's seemingly endless comments went on and on, the telecast went into overtime. With the audience and the show's producers losing their patience, the house band played Martin off the stage.

After Martin stepped aside, Taylor quickly walked to the lecturn and delivered a succinct and appreciative speech fitting to the occasion, bringing the evening to a close on a positive note.

On Jan. 23, Taylor reached out to Alicia Wincze Hughes, NTWAB president, expressing to the organization and racing media in general that Martin's comments in no way represent the opinion of Taylor Made.

"I don't want it to be any reflection of what the Taylors think about what you guys have done," Taylor said in a written statement. "You all have been absolutely fantastic writing about Chrome, and I want to pass on our appreciation to all the turf writers for what they have done for us and try and kill some of this negativity."

Hughes responded on Twitter, "Frank Taylor and his family are all class. When he called to apologize for what went down, I told him that HE had nothing to apologize for."

So far, no further word from Martin.

California Chrome is set to make the final start of his career on Jan. 28 in the $12 million Pegasus Stakes at Gulfstream Park, the site of the Eclipse Awards show.

Save This Date!

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 00:24:00 GMT

The NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner will be held at the iconic Brigantine near Del Mar on Thursday, Nov. 2. The event is one day later in Breeders' Cup week this year to accommodate all you turf writers and broadcasters who ship in to California from afar. More....

Penna, Feld Lead HRRN to Sovereign Award Nomination

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 13:50:00 GMT

The radio team of Horse Racing Radio Network, led on air by Mike Penna and Jude Feld, was named a Sovereign Award finalist by The Jockey Club of Canada, located in Toronto, for the 2016 Media categories on March 7. Penna and Feld are both members of NTWAB.

NTWAB Members Smith, Nevills Named Sovereign Awards Finalists

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 22:01:00 GMT

The Jockey Club of Canada, located in Toronto, on March 7 announced the finalists for the 2016 Media Sovereign Award categories. Among the three media divisions, two NTWAB members were named in the Writing Category.

The Celebration of Bill's Life

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:43:00 GMT

Dr. Tom Tobin has announced "The Celebration of Bill's Life" in memory of Bill Mooney scheduled for 5:30-8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 18th at The Thoroughbred Club of America, 3555 Rice Road in Lexington. Colleagues are encouraged to share their memories of Bill at the event.

'A Moment of Noise' - Obituary of Bill Mooney

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 23:32:00 GMT

William P. (Bill) Mooney, the award-winning turf writer who ranked among Thoroughbred racing's premier historians of any generation, died peacefully at his Lexington home Jan. 28 after a devastating two-year battle with renal cell carcinoma. He was 69.

Eclipse Awards for Writing Go to Scheinman, Voss

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:59:00 GMT

John Scheinman is the winner of the 2016 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the Feature/Commentary category, and Natalie Voss won the 2016 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the News/Enterprise category.

Daily Racing Form Takes Multi-Media Eclipse Award

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 22:21:00 GMT

Daily Racing Form has won the 2016 Media Eclipse Award in the Audio/Multi-Media and Internet category for "Time Bandits," which profiled the remarkable longevity of Hall of Fame Jockeys Alex Solis, Mike Smith and Gary Stevens.

NBC Sports, ESPN Win Eclipse Awards for Television

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 21:49:00 GMT

NBC Sports has won the Media Eclipse Award for Television - Live Racing Programming, and ESPN has won the Media Eclipse Award for Television - Feature Programming.

Kentucky Senate, City of Lexington Honor Mooney

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 01:24:00 GMT

Bill Mooney, the award-winning turf writer who ranks among Thoroughbred racing's premier historians of any generation, has been recognized by Lexington Mayor Jim Gray and the Kentucky Senate for his contributions to the horse industry and courage in the face of a two-year battle with cancer.

Dear Bill

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 18:56:00 GMT

We present a series of tributes to our colleague Bill Mooney, a truly inspirational figure in our ranks, from friends and fellow members of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

NTWAB Annual Dinner Photos

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 12:48:00 GMT

Dave Johnson, winner of the Jim McKay Award.

Rene Douglas, winner of the Bill Mooney AwardRene Douglas, winner of the Bill Mooney AwardRene Douglas, winner of the Bill Mooney Award

Hank Wesch, winner of the Walter Haight Award

Dave Johnson, winner of the Jim McKay Award, with presenter Mike Farrell

Presenter Kevin Modesti with Walter Haight Award-winner Hank Wesch

Presenter Claire Novak with Rene Douglas, recipient of the Bill Mooney Award

Ray Harris, agent for Mr. Fitz Award winner Russell Baze, accepts on Baze's behalf from presenter Jay Privman

Courtesy of the Turf Publicists of America: Dave Johnson, Bill Mooney and Hank Wesch. By Loren Hebel-Osborne: Dave Johnson with Mike Farrell, Hank Wesch with Kevin Modesti, Rene Douglas with Claire Novak, Russel Baze agent Ray Harris with Jay Privman

Hill Earns Rippey Award for Profile of Derby Bettor 'Dink'

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 20:33:00 GMT

David Hill took his talents to Nevada for this year's Kentucky Derby. His "How a Las Vegas Sports Betting Legend Spends Horse Racing's Biggest Weekend" profile of professional gambler Alan "Dink" Denkenson won the third annual Ron Rippey Award for Handicapping Media. Two entries, both written by Ed McNamara, received honorable mentions.

2016 Guidelines for Media Eclipse Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 21:34:00 GMT

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, in conjunction with Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters released the guidelines for the 2016 Media Eclipse Awards on Oct. 10.

Just A Click Away

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 22:56:00 GMT

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Awards Dinner, our annual gala, features cocktail hour, the best silent auction in the sport, dinner and stars of the Thoroughbred industry. All at beautiful Altadena Town and Country Club, just minutes from Santa Anita. Click here [ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ntwab-57th-annual-awards-dinner-2016-tickets-27711280185?ref=enivtefor001&invite=MTA4NzUwNDMvZGlja2Rvd25leUB0d2MuY29tLzA%3D&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inviteformalv2&ref=enivtefor001&utm_term=attend ] for tickets to the 57th Annual Awards Dinner via online access or here [ http://www.ntwab.org/sm_files/NTWAB_2016_Annual_Dinner_RSVP.pdf ] to send your order by mail.

NTWAB Announces Annual Awards Winners

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 14:17:00 GMT

Longtime broadcaster Dave Johnson and Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze are among the Thoroughbred industry standouts who will be honored by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters at the association's 57th annual Awards Dinner on Nov. 2 at Altadena Town & County Club in Altadena, California. Scott Hazelton of TVG will emcee the dinner.

Breeders' Cup Opens Writing Awards

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 21:26:00 GMT

The Breeders' Cup will present two Writing Awards to honor excellence in coverage of the 2015 Breeders' Cup World Championships.

DRF Initiates Hong Kong Coverage

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 12:41:00 GMT

On August 30, Daily Racing Form and Hong Kong Jockey Club jointly announced a strategic media partnership to disseminate HKJC racing information to the North American racing market.

Zayat Pledge Update

thos@oneelevendigital.com (Thomas Conner) — Mon, 16 May 2016 22:12:00 GMT

Statement from Alicia Wincze Hughes: As president of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, it has come to my attention that an industry publication is taking information from our membership newsletter out of context.

News

Open Letter to FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment from NTWAB

Earlier today, the board of directors of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters shared a letter with executive leadership at FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment expressing our concerns regarding the decision to phase out FanDuel TV.

Newsletter from President Byron King Ahead of Kentucky Derby

NTWAB's spring meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 29, at 11 a.m. ET in the press conference area at Churchill Downs. Members attending in person are welcome to join us on-site, and a Zoom option will be available for those unable to travel. More.....

NTWAB 2025 Eclipse Awards Voting

Click through the link to view NTWAB members 2025 Eclipse Awards votes

The 2025 Eclipse Awards: It's Official

Cutting to the chase, and to the surprise of almost no one, the HORSE OF THE YEAR is SOVEREIGNTY. Other finalists were Forever Young and Journalism. Congratulations!

Media Eclipse Award Winners Announced

2025 Eclipse Awards Finalists Announced

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced the finalists for the 2025 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing.

NTWAB, The Jockey Club to Co-Fund Record Nine Media Internships in 2026

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), with matching financial support from The Jockey Club, has agreed to support a record nine internship applications at horse racing media outlets in 2026, by far the largest group funded since the program began in 2023.

NTWAB Notes from the President

It was great seeing so many of you at Del Mar for the 2025 Breeders’ Cup and during our annual NTWAB Awards Dinner and our general membership meeting during Breeders’ Cup week.

National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Announces Expansion of Internship Funding for 2026

NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner Honors Luck, Andersen, Harper, Ouzts

Letter from the President: Breeders' Cup on the Horizon

2025 Media Eclipse Awards Rules

Bill Christine, Former NTWAB President, Dead at 87

Bill Christine, a multiple award-winning sports and turf writer and former president of NTWAB, died at age 87.

Breeders' Cup Expands Media Awards

NTWAB 2025 Annual Awards Dinner to Honor Four

Breeders' Cup Expands Media Awards for Coverage of World Championships

Minutes of the Derby Week NTWAB General Membership Meeting

The NTWAB general membership meeting was held on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 in the Media Center at Churchill Downs.

Belmont Stakes Media Notes

For those covering the Belmont Stakes, we hope the following information is beneficial. We appreciate NYRA addressing some challenges our membership experienced covering the event last year. They welcomed our feedback.

President King's Pre-Preakness Newsletter

NTWAB Past President Law Named to Receive Old Hilltop Award

Two-time Eclipse Award winner and NTWAB past president Tom Law, managing editor of ST Publishing which produces The Saratoga Special and Thisishorseracing.com, has been named recipient of the Old Hilltop Award for covering Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction.

Message from the President: Kentucky Derby Doings

With Kentucky Derby week fast approaching, this note serves as a reminder that our upcoming spring NTWAB meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 30, at 11 a.m. ET.

My fellow NTWAB members,

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With Kentucky Derby week fast approaching, this note serves as a reminder that our upcoming spring NTWAB meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 30, at 11 a.m. ET in the press conference area located next to the Churchill Downs press box.

All on-site members are encouraged to attend. For those off-site, we encourage you to join us via Zoom. A Zoom link and agenda will be distributed one to two days before the meeting.

If you are interested in running for any of the three positions, please alert us before or during the meeting. Additionally, if you have a topic you would like added to the agenda, please submit it to NTWAB Secretary Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com .

Listed below are some Kentucky Derby resources that I hope are of benefit:

The 2025 media guide with direct links: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/media-guide-info/

The full 2025 media guide in flipbook style: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/media/

NTRA teleconferences (April 24 teleconference forthcoming): https://www.ntra.com/category/teleconferences/

Kentucky HBPA YouTube publicity available for media use: https://www.youtube.com/@kentuckyhbpa7026/videos

Future Wager 6 Past Performances of Derby Prospects generated in early April: https://www.brisnet.com/document/Derby25Future6.pdf

See you beneath the Twin Spires, Byron King NTWAB President April 25, 2025

Bredar Receives Engelhard Award

Caton Bredar has been named the recipient of the Charles W. Engelhard Award by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders.

President Byron King’s March Newsletter

Members of the NTWAB, here we are eight weeks away from the May 3 Kentucky Derby! I look forward to seeing many of you at Churchill Downs! Please make a note that our spring NTWAB meeting will take place at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, April 30 at 11 a.m. ET.

2024 Eclipse Awards: How NTWAB Members Voted

Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Recap with Connections of Each Winner

Twitter posts @NTWAB by Dick Downey

Ed Bowen Passes At Versailles Home

Ed Bowen, a longtime NTWAB member, died on Jan. 20 at his home in Versailles, Ky. at age 82. His memory will be honored at the upcoming Eclipse Awards ceremony.

Media Eclipse Awards Announced

Lexington, Ky. (January 8, 2025) ―The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today announced the winners of the 2024 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories.

2024 Eclipse Awards Finalists

The 2024 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, in alphabetical order.

NTWAB Announces 2025 Support For Five Internships

The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters are pleased to announce the organization will support a record five internships at various horse racing media outlets in 2025.

Past and Present NTWAB Members Named to Hirsch Media Roll of Honor

Tim Layden, a member of National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and former NTWAB members Ed Schuyler, Jr. and the late Edwin Pope have been selected to the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

NTWAB Accepting 2025 Internship Support Applicatons

Outlets are encouraged to apply by Dec. 16.

Eclipse Awards Release Media Awards Guidelines

Photo Essay From Our 64th Annual Awards Dinner

Photos by Skip Dickstein.

Award Winners: Team Kenny McPeek, Backside Learning Center, Sean Clancy, Laffit Pincay III, Tom Law, John Cherwa

President's Letter: Saddling Up for Breeders' Cup

2024 Media Eclipse Awards Rules

NTWAB Announces 2024 Annual Award Winners

Breeders' Cup Writing Awards Open for Entries

NTWAB Member Morales Wins Handleman Award

Post-Derby Newsletter from President Byron King

President Tom Law's Spring Newsletter

Entries Welcome for Woods, Frutkoff Preakness Awards

Art Wilson, Longtime NTWAB Member, Passes After Lengthy Illness

President's Newsletter: Eclipse Awards

Eclipse Awards Recap with Connections of Each Winnner

See you beneath the Twin Spires,

Byron King
NTWAB President
April 25, 2025