NEWSLETTERS

Newsletter dated April 5, 2007

NTWA Newsletter from President Tom Law
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Good afternoon fellow NTWA members. I hope this note finds everyone in good health and prepared for the upcoming final classic preps and Triple Crown races immediately following. There are several items of business that need to be addressed and hopefully I can cover them all with as much brevity and depth as possible.

First and foremost, we have selected a location for the 48th annual National Turf Writers Association Awards Dinner and feel like this could not only be one of the best dinners put on by our organization but also a highlight of the entire Breeders’ Cup World Championships week. The dinner will be on Wednesday, October 24 and will be on a chartered yacht that leaves from a dock in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, only a few miles from Monmouth Park.

The event will be handled by New York Cruises, which will provide all the services that we’ve been able to offer in the past, including room for our silent auction, cocktail hour, a stage for presentations, and enough seating for 250 people. The yacht is completely weather proof as well, and if weather permits there is room to go outside.

Plans are to sail around the Statue of Liberty and past the picturesque Manhattan skyline during the event. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with plans to set sail at 6:30 p.m. and have everyone back at the dock by 10 p.m.

Tickets for the event will be $60 for NTWA members and $95 for non-members. It should be noted that the ticket prices have increased by $10 per ticket, but that this is only the price hike in several years.

Additional information about the cruise and the yacht we will be traveling on can be found at www.newyorkcruises.com.

Since the Breeders’ Cup seems like a long ways off for many, I’d like to address some more pressing issues related to the Triple Crown and specifically the Kentucky Derby.

Churchill Downs plans to follow similar protocols for the Derby this year as in previous years. The drawing and selection of post positions for the Kentucky Derby will again be at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Fourth Street Live in downtown Louisville.

The decision to move the draw to that location a few years ago essentially created logistical problems for reporters looking to cover the event, and no working area will be provided for those that do venture down there for the draw. Churchill’s Tony Terry suggests that Turf Writers not attend, but instead watch the event from the press box on television.

Churchill will follow the same protocol for parking and shuttles this year, with parking available at the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium Media lot starting on Tuesday, May 1. Shuttles will start running at 4:30 a.m. and will continue running during the week until approximately 8 p.m. The shuttles will run on Wednesday, the night of the post position draw until about 10 p.m., on Thursday until about 8 p.m., on Friday, Kentucky Oaks day, until about 10 p.m., and on Saturday, Kentucky Derby day, until about 11 p.m.

The semi-annual meeting will again be held the Thursday prior to the Kentucky Derby at a time and place to be determined. This year’s meeting is particularly important because we will need to elect three new board members with two-year terms expiring for Kevin Modesti, Jay Privman, and Brad Telias. Other topics to discuss during the meeting include the annual awards dinner, new members, and honorary members.

Other notes of interest include:

*At the request of several members after last year’s Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup races, the NTWA will provide a Spanish translator at the Kentucky Derby post-race press conference. We are considering employing a translator at the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup World Championships as well, and I’d appreciate any feedback members might have about this possibility.

* Equibase Co. will again provide past performance program proofs of the remaining Kentucky Derby prep races that Jill Williams will email out to the membership. This is to continue through the Triple Crown and hopefully will extend to Breeders’ Cup preps. Special thanks to past President Jennie Rees of the Louisville Courier-Journal for making this happen.

* Charity donations from the 2006 NTWA Awards Dinner have been sent to the appropriate charities. A $2,000 gift to the Barbaro Fund at New Bolton Center on behalf of New Bolton and Team Barbaro, $1,000 to the greyhound adoption group Make Peace With Animals on behalf of Daily Racing Form’s Steve Crist, and $1,000 to Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation on behalf of Dave Johnson.

* Velocity, a youth-oriented weekly published by the Louisville Courier-Journal, wants to profile Turf writers aged 20-39 who cover the Kentucky Derby. If you are interested, contact Joe Lord at (502) 582-4501 or jlord@velocityweekly.com.

* The National Sporting Library in Virginia had contacted some of our members, board members, and executives about possible future fellowships for journalists. I’ve attached a note below from Elizabeth Tobey to NTWA Secretary/Treasurer Jill Williams outlining the possibilities. 

* We received a note from member Rudi Groothedde, managing editor of California Thoroughbred Magazine, regarding the late NTWA member Debra Ginsburg and a filly named after her that won a race on January 27 at Santa Anita Park. I’ve pasted his letter below in case anyone wanted any additional information.

* As of April 5, 180 members have paid dues. Members who have paid are Warren Alber, April Alfarano, Dirk Allen, Frank Angst, Jeff Apel, Debbie Arrington, Dale Austin, Rick Bailey, Logan Bailey, Steve Bailey, Stacy Bearse, Andrew Beyer, Dede Biles, Furman Bisher, Ted Black, Denis Blake, Jerald J. Bossert, Christina Bossinakis, Ed Bowen, Mike Brunker, Alan Carasso, Bill Christine, Joe Clancy, Sean Clancy, Don Clippinger, Ryan Conley, Robert Cooke Jr., Steven Crist, Liane Crossley, Mike Curry, Mark F. Cusano, Van Cushny, Paul R. Daley, Steve Davidowitz, Tom De Martini, Leslie Deckard, Jody Demling, Pete Denk, Ed DeRosa II, John DeSantis, Cindy Deubler, Tom Didato, Craig Donnelly, Linda Dougherty, Dick Downey, Shelby Downs, Amanda Duckworth, Jackie Duke, Anne Eberhardt Keogh, Bob Ehalt, Richard Eng, Dan Farley, Mike Farrell, Robert D. Fierro, Bill Finley, Robert Fortus, Brad Free, Tracy Gantz, Bill Giauque, Bruce Greene, Don Grisham, Rudi Groothedde, Lisa Groothedde, Scott Gruender, Cliff Guilliams, Ron Hale, Gregory A. Hall, Tom Hall, Wally Hall, Ray Hallett, Evan Hammonds, Russ Harris, Steve Haskin, Lori Hebel-Osborne, Bill Heller, Robbie Henwood, Kimberly Herbert, Ellen Hilts-Gossett, Jay Hovdey, Rowland Hoyt, Jack Ireland, Mike Jensen, Dick Jerardi, Dan Johnson, Dave Johnson, Thomas Joyce, Michael Kane, Dan Kenny, Robert Kieckhefer, Jerry Klein, Nick Kling, Audrey Korotkin, Joe Kristufek, Tom LaMarra, Tom Law, Myra Lewyn, Dan Liebman, Jeff Lowe, Michele MacDonald, Eric Mandel, Judy Marchman, Esther Marr, Mike Marten, John McEvoy, Marty McGee, Sandra McKee, Gary McMillen, Ed McNamara, Neil Milbert, Eric Mitchell, Ron Mitchell, Kevin Modesti, Bill Mooney, Jack Murray, Thomas Musgrave, Steve Myrick, Bill Nack, Ron Nicoletti, Claire Novak, Bill Oppenheim, Amy Owens, Tony Palmisano, Ellen Parker, Ron Parker, Betsy Parker, Jack Patterson, Tom Pedulla, Anne Peters, James Platz, Edwin Pope, Paula Welch Prather, John Pricci, Jay Privman, Francis J. Rak, Jennie Rees, Paula Rodenas, Patricia A. Rodriguez, Paul Rolfes, Sherry Ross, Julie Howell Sarno, John Scheinman, David Schmitz, Steve Schuelein, Anne Scott, David Scott, Laurel Scott, Howard Senzell, Jack Shinar, Lenny Shulman, Mark Simon, Ralph Siraco, Pohla Smith, Beverley Smith, Lynne Snierson, Richard Sowers, Patricia Stevens, Gene Stevens, Chuck Stogel, Charles H. Stone, Larry Stumes, Bob Summers, Brad Telias, T.D. Thornton, Susan van Dyke, Michael Veitch, Paul Volponi, Maryjean Wall, Mike Watchmaker, Hank Wesch, Jon White, Jill Williams, Jack Wilson, Alicia Wincze, Maury Wolff, Tom Wolski, Robert Yates, Gary Yunt, Don Zamarelli, Victor Zast, and Vic Ziegel.

As always, please reach out to me with any additional questions or concerns at tlaw@thoroughbredtimes.com, my office at 859-260-9800 ext. 125, or on my cell phone at 859-396-9407. Thanks for your time, and best of luck at the races,

Tom Law
NTWA President
April 5, 2007

 

Rudi Groothedde letter:
I wasn’t sure whether or not you were aware of this, but I just wanted to notify you that NTWA member Debra Ginsburg passed away last June, and that the filly named after her, Debie Ginsburg, won on her debut at Santa Anita Park on Saturday, January 27. Debie was the beloved Turf writer for our magazine for over 20 years, after previously working at Fairplex Park. I thought this would be worth mentioning in your next newsletter, better late than never, so please contact me should you need any more info in this regard.
With many thanks
Rudi Groothedde
Managing Editor
California Thoroughbred Magazine
CTBA – California Thoroughbred Breeders Association
rudi@ctba.com
(626) 445-7800 ext.226

 

National Sporting Library letter:
Dear Ms. Williams,
Jay Hovdey suggested that I contact you.  I am working for the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia, not far from Washington, DC, and am also a longtime fan of the sport of thoroughbred racing.  The Sporting Library has one of the best collections of books, magazines, and manuscript and archival materials in the country on the history of thoroughbred racing and breeding – a real treasure trove for researchers.  For instance, we have a full run of the Blood Horse, a full run of John Skinner’s The American Farmer (begun 1821)and The American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine (begun 1829) – the first serial on thoroughbred racing in America; The Thoroughbred Record (from 1951 to 1988), and other publications.  The Library recently acquired the Margaret Woolums’ Collection of 3000 books and serials on thoroughbred racing, which includes stud books from every country in the world that has thoroughbred racing! 
In an effort to support researchers who wish to come here to use our collections for researching books and articles on sporting subjects, we have launched a fellowship program. Although the details are still being finalized as to the length of the fellowship and stipend amount, we envision that we will be able to host 2 or 3 research fellows per year.  Fellows would receive a monthly stipend and would be provided with free housing here in Middleburg.  Since I know that some of the best books about horse racing’s history have been written by journalists, we hope to publicize the fellowship to turf journalists since our collections might be very useful to them for their research and writing. 
Mr. Hovdey suggested that I ask you for a contact list of individuals who are part of the National Turf Writers Association. Once we finish our brochure for the fellowship and start soliciting applications for the first round of fellowships, I would like to be able to send out our brochure to the writers in your organization.  I recently wrote to Tom Law letting him know about our program, and I would be happy to speak to you and Tom further if you wish. I also welcome any suggestions that you might have on how to publicize our program to individuals in the racing world, and also how much time do you think on average a journalist would need in researching a particular project.  We are thinking of allowing a fellowship period for as little as a week which would permit individuals with tight schedules to be able to come use our collections.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Best,
Elizabeth M. Tobey
John H. Daniels Research Fellow & Fellowship Coordinator
National Sporting Library
P.O. Box 1335
102 The Plains Rd.
Middleburg, VA 20118-1335
etobey@nsl.org
540-687-6542 x 25

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