NTWAB Winter Newsletter

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 in advance of the weekend.

First, keeping with the longstanding tradition, a spreadsheet showing the first-place Eclipse Award votes of each NTWAB member is attached to the newsletter email you received. Thanks to all who participated in this year’s voting. Some who did not vote have already reached out to me with reasons why and others are encouraged to do so. We’ll likely circle back soon with those who didn’t vote as well.

Second, I’ve been contacted by a few members regarding decorum in press boxes from coast to coast. Some of this relates to NTWAB members and some of it does not. Regardless, I’d encourage everyone to remember that the press box is a work area with a professional atmosphere. Please remember to exercise simple consideration and keep conversations to a bare minimum and/or take them to another location. The NTWAB is working with our sister organization, Turf Publicists of America, on this issue and others that include loud phone calls and non-working members of the media and/or guests with access to the press box or media centers.

Third, NTWAB VP Greg Hall and I will participate in a conference call with other members of the Eclipse Awards Steering Committee next week. If you have any suggestions, comments, complaints, compliments or other thoughts on the process, the dinner, Media Awards or anything else relevant to the NTWAB please pass them on to me at tlawky@gmail.com and Greg at gahall@gmail.com.

Finally, plans are in the works for our semi-annual meeting prior to the Kentucky Derby. The meeting, which will include some elections of board member positions, will most likely be the Wednesday prior to the Derby, May 1 in the Media Center at Churchill Downs. Looking way ahead, we’re also in the very early stages of planning for the 60th annual NTWAB Awards Dinner prior to the 2019 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita. The event will most likely again be held the Wednesday prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Oct. 30, at a location to be determined. Stay tuned.

I’d like to wish you all a belated Happy New Year and best of luck covering the lead up to this year’s Triple Crown. Chat soon.

All the best,

Tom Law

NTWAB President

Feb. 7, 2019

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. . . .

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

By Dick Downey • November 1, 2025

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.

Letter from the President: Breeders' Cup on the Horizon

October 23, 2025

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.

2025 Media Eclipse Awards Rules

October 7, 2025

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.

Bill Christine, Former NTWAB President, Dead at 87

By Dick Downey • September 9, 2025

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

Breeders' Cup Expands Media Awards

August 28, 2025

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.

NTWAB 2025 Annual Awards Dinner to Honor Four

August 26, 2025

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.

Breeders' Cup Expands Media Awards for Coverage of World Championships

July 25, 2025

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.