NEWSLETTERS

Newsletter dated Novmber 19, 2007

NTWA Newsletter from President Tom Law
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Good afternoon fellow Turf writers,

I hope everyone came out of the soggy Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Monmouth Park in good order and that all are well and ready for the upcoming holiday season. There’s a lot of ground to cover in this newsletter so I’ll get right to business.

The 48th annual National Turf Writers Association Awards Dinner on Wednesday, October 24 aboard the chartered yacht The Atlantis turned out to be a successful event despite some snafus early in the evening that forced all our guests to be transported from one pier to another.

Fortunately all three of our award winners, Calvin Borel, Dr. Larry Bramlage, and Dick Jerardi, were able to attend and delivered eloquent and entertaining remarks to the more than 160 guests. Special thanks to trainers Carl Nafzger and Michael Dickinson and veterinarian Dr. Scott Palmer for serving as introducing speakers to the award winners, their presence added to an already star-studded event. NTWA director Dave Johnson once again served as the evening’s emcee and delivered his usual great effort.

The racing industry stepped up in support of our event and a total of 13 benefactor tables were purchased, some by longtime backers of our event (The Blood-Horse (with two), AAEP, NTRA/Breeders’ Cup, Thoroughbred Times, and the Turf Publicists of America) and welcome newcomers (West Point Thoroughbreds, Marianne Hesse’s Char Mari Stable, New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, Richland Hills, Dick Jerardi, Erin Law, and John and Wendy Slocombe). Scores of other individuals and organizations stepped forward with support either through our silent auction or with the purchase of tickets to the event and we can’t thank them enough.

Due to some of the problems with the boat docking/boarding we were unable to set up the silent auction adequately and, in my opinion, were unable to raise as much money for our charities as expected. Because of some other problems, the NTWA is in the process of negotiating with New York Cruises for a significant reimbursement. A formal letter was submitted to the owners and management of New York Cruises, listing our grievances and requesting compensation, and I’d be more than happy to provide any member with a copy of the letter at your request.

On a positive note, we were able to raise $3,165 through the silent auction and an additional $2,300 during our live auction. Thanks to Tom Gulotta, who found me in the Monmouth Park stable area, asked to purchase tickets to the event, and then generously stepped up to the plate by winning several items at the silent auction for a total of $2,325.

Our organization owes a huge debt of gratitude to artist Robert Clark, who generously donated his painting of Street Sense winning the Kentucky Derby to our live auction. Bob overcome some significant travel problems of his own the day of the dinner but was still able to attend, paint during the cruise, and hopefully enjoy the evening. Bloodstock agent Buzz Chace graciously volunteered to be our celebrity auctioneer and Marianne Hesse was the winning bidder of Bob’s painting. Special thanks goes out to them for their generosity.

Many other individuals helped make the night a success, but I would be remiss not to mention the efforts of members Claire Novak, Tom De Martini, Ed DeRosa, Jennie Rees, Pete Denk, Esther Marr, Amanda Duckworth, and others (I apologize if I’ve left you off the list), who helped out both as planned and in a pinch.

The morning after our dinner the NTWA conducted its semi-annual meeting in the Monmouth auxiliary press box.

The resignation of Sherry Ross as an NTWA director opened a vacancy on the board and the organization voted to add Brad Telias of Sporting News and CBS Radio. This will be Brad’s second tour of duty on the NTWA board and his return is a great welcome back. Brad will serve out the remainder of Sherry’s term, which runs through May 2008.

Three individuals were approved for regular membership into the organization—Ron Correll, Turf writer, columnist, and handicapper for The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois; Bob Ike, freelance writer and handicapper for such papers as the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, and San Diego Union-Tribune; and Jason Shandler, staff writer for The Blood-Horse.

Additional membership items of note: Please remember that dues will increase to $50 starting in 2008. … The organization also voted to make Joe Hickey and Mike Strauss honorary members at the May meeting. … Jill Williams, our tireless and faithful secretary/treasurer, could not be with us at the awards dinner as she and husband Robert celebrated the latest addition to the family, Victoria Quinn. Congratulations to Jill and we look forward to seeing you at Santa Anita Park in 2008!

An issue of major importance that could affect our members and the racing press in general for many years to come has arisen at Churchill Downs that I wanted to bring everyone up to speed on.

Following up on the disappointing and unacceptable decision not to include the historical Kentucky Derby charts in its 2007 media guide, the Churchill Downs’ publicity department “made the decision not to keep a number of hard-copy files, including some press clippings from previous years” during a moving process in the press box. Past NTWA President Jennie Rees and fellow NTWA member Cliff Guilliams brought the matter to the Churchill publicity staff’s attention. A statement from Churchill’s Julie Koenig-Loignon and John Asher is listed below to clarify from their perspective on exactly what happened, what was lost, and what was found.

Regardless of the particulars, the fact is that some of these important files that were collected, gathered, nurtured, saved, and cherished for so many years by some of the most respected historians of racing and the Kentucky Derby are gone forever. The files can never be duplicated or replaced and the fact that they were discarded is completely unacceptable and should be extremely embarrassing to a racetrack that puts on the single most important event in the sport and bills itself as a leader in the industry. This follows the aforementioned cost-cutting decision to not include the charts in the media guide, key personnel changes parent company Churchill Downs Inc. made earlier this year, and the decision not to release handle figures to the media.

All that said, please be confident that the leaders of the NTWA will file a formal complaint and expression of dissatisfaction with Churchill Downs, Churchill Downs Inc. executives and board members, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, Turf Publicists of America, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and Breeders’ Cup Ltd.

I would also urge all members of the NTWA to contact their local track and ask that they take special care of the historical files they have so they can be used by the hard-working members of the press given the task of covering a sport that has nearly fallen off the national media radar screen.

Elizabeth Tobey from the National Sporting Library sent our organization a note letting us know they received 33 applications for the Daniels Fellowship (see newsletter from April 5), including several from NTWA members and others interested in racing. She also sent along a press release about an exhibition at the library and I’ve attached it below.

Finally, Chris Bailey from the University of Miami and an organization called Citizens to Save Hialeah Park sent our organization a note and asked if it could be included in our next newsletter. I’ve attached his note below.

LETTER FROM CHURCHILL DOWNS:

Dear Tom:

We wanted to contact you in regards to information that has been circulating about changes that were made last summer to our publicity records.

In the process of cleaning up and organizing files and relocating them to a new media library within the press box, a member of our staff made the decision not to keep a number of hard-copy files, including some press clippings from previous years.  This individual did not understand the extent to which the files were used as reference materials by the journalists who routinely work out of our press box and by visiting media who are in Louisville to cover the annual Kentucky Derby and Oaks.

It was a very unfortunate and unintentional mistake that was brought to our attention by NTWA members Cliff Guilliams and Jennie Rees.  Contrary to published reports, however, no historic files were discarded. 

Since Jennie and Cliff first raised this issue, we have discovered that there were a number of files containing decades-old press clippings that went missing sometime between 2003 and 2005, the years that the Churchill Downs press box was under renovation. A number of files containing older news clippings that were relocated or put into storage during the renovation did not return to the press box in 2005. We realized this on Saturday, Nov. 17, while going through a storage closet above the main press box where we discovered a box with some of the files Cliff and Jennie said were missing.  We have explained this to both Jennie and Cliff in hopes of setting the record straight, and we continue to look for the other missing files.  In the interim, we are now working to replace any current-day press clippings that should have remained in our permanent files in order to have them available to your membership in advance of the 2008 Kentucky Derby season.

We deeply regret any inconvenience this has caused your membership and appreciate your patience as we work to locate our missing files.  We greatly value our relationship with the turf writers who have and will continue to help us tell the Kentucky Derby story, and we welcome your input on the kinds of records past and present that will assist you and the journalists who cover horse racing in the future.

Sincerely,

Julie Koenig Loignon                                
Vice President of Communications   

John Asher
Vice President of Racing Communications

PRESS RELEASE FROM NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY:

National Sporting Library to Host Symposium on Sir Alfred Munnings
MIDDLEBURG, Va. – In conjunction with its exhibition, Reflections on a Life with Horses: Paintings by Sir Alfred Munnings from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art, the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia, will host a full-day symposium on Saturday, February 9, 2008.
Royal Academician Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) is among the most renowned painters of equestrian and sporting subjects of the twentieth century.  The exhibition at the Library, curated by Elizabeth Manierre, is part of an international commemoration of the 100th birthday of art collector, philanthropist, and sportsman Paul Mellon (1907-1999). Mellon was an avid collector of Munnings’ paintings, many which he gave to the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Conn. The exhibition is on view at the National Sporting Library through March 29, 2008.
The symposium, Reflections on a Life of Art and Sport: A Symposium on the Work of Sir Alfred Munnings, will feature lectures by four art historians followed by a panel discussion and reception. Speakers include Mitchell Merling (Paul Mellon Curator, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), Diane Roe (Director, Sir Alfred Munnings Museum), Angus Trumble (Curator, Yale Center for British Art), and Lorian Peralta-Ramos.
Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis and early registration is encouraged. The cost is $50 with a $30 discounted fee for students.  For more information and to receive a registration brochure, please contact Elizabeth Tobey, Director of Research, at 540-687-6542 ext. 25 or etobey@nsl.org.

NOTE FROM CHRIS BAILEY:

My name is Chris Bailey with the organization, Citizens to Save Hialeah Park. I would really like to talk to someone at the NTWA about our organization, what we are working on, what we have been able to do, and what our organization’s goals are for the race track which was at one time “the most beautiful track in the world”, Hialeah Park.
Please check out our website (www.savehialeahpark.com) to get some more information about us and read some of the stories that have been written about Hialeah Park and our organization.
Our organization is working hard to spread the word about the dangers surrounding Hialeah and what needs to be done to save this great place. We are working hard with local communities and those in the Thoroughbred Industry in Florida and around the nation.
The more attention we can bring to Hialeah Park, the more support we will receive. We are quickly gaining support by the day and our organization support is growing by the minute.
Please feel free to have someone contact me at cbailey1@miami.edu or at 810-923-0378 at anytime to discuss some other media outlets we would like to get attention from so that Hialeah Park receives the attention it so rightly deserves.
Sincerely,
Chris Bailey
"Citizens to Save Hialeah Park"
Director for Racing Industry
www.savehialeahpark.com
810-923-0378

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