NEWSLETTERS

Newsletter dated November 13, 2008

NTWA Newsletter from President Tom Law
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November 13, 2008

Good afternoon fellow Turf writers,

I apologize for the long period between newsletters but as many of you can hopefully sympathize, the lead-up period to the Breeders’ Cup, the extended Breeders’ Cup itself, and subsequent travel back from California took a bit of a toll and I’m finally getting back to day-to-day duties. It was good to see many of you at Santa Anita Park for the Breeders’ Cup, but at the same time, I regretted not seeing others because you could not make it either to our annual awards dinner or to the races for one reason or another. Here’s hoping you get the chance to do both next year when the event returns to Southern California. There’s a lot of ground to cover, some looking back and some looking ahead, so here goes…

ECLIPSE AWARDS: NTWA Vice President Tom Pedulla and I participated in an Eclipse Awards steering committee teleconference on November 13 to discuss some changes to the voting procedures for this year’s awards. Regular NTWA members in good standing will be eligible to vote this year and with voting conducted electronically via the Internet. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association will mail a ballot, informational supplement with past performances, voting instructions, and log-in information to our eligible voters on December 10. Ernst & Young will oversee the voting. Voters will receive a confirmation after voting that their ballot was received and will be able to check back later on a separate website that their ballot was received (the same procedure used in previous years). To accommodate races run through the end of the year and to avoid possible conflicts with the New Year’s Day holiday, the voting deadline will be on Monday, January 5. Ernst & Young will verify votes on January 6 and finalists in each of the categories (except Horse of the Year) will be announced on Wednesday, January 7. The 38th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony will be on Monday, January 26 at the Fontainbleau Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Florida. Horse of the Year is expected to be announced shortly after 9 p.m. on January 26 and plans are in the works for a national media teleconference with some of the divisional winners to be conducted after the awards are announced.

NTWA AWARDS DINNER: The 49th annual National Turf Writers Association Awards Dinner at Historic Castle Green is in the books and the more than 150-strong who did attend hopefully got to cherish a special evening with colleagues, fiends, family, and industry leaders alike. The NTWA took great pride in honoring Chris McCarron, Maryjean Wall, and the late Luke Kruytbosch, and we were fortunate to have some great speakers introduce or accept awards on their behalf. Comedian, Emmy Award-winning television personality, and racing enthusiast Tim Conway was on hand to introduce McCarron, and his remarks left a lasting imprint on the evening and were enjoyed by all. Special thanks to Daily Racing Form’s Jay Hovdey in helping arrange for Mr. Conway to be on hand to present McCarron with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. A special thanks also needs to go out to NTWA member and past President Bill Christine (1990-’92) for his eloquent introduction of former and pioneering Lexington Herald-Leader Turf writer Maryjean Wall, his longtime colleague and friend who made the trip from Kentucky for this year’s event and stuck around long enough later in the week to work on a photography crew shooting at the Breeders’ Cup. Wall was the winner of the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. A final note of special thanks goes to Mike Pegram, the charismatic owner of such top-class Thoroughbreds as Real Quiet and Silverbulletday, who made a special airplane trip from his home in Arizona to accept the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing for the late Luke Kruytbosch. Bill Fitzsimmons, the grandson of the late Racing Hall of Fame trainer James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, was on hand to introduce Kruytbosch and

Pegram, who incidentally celebrated later in the week when Midnight Lute won a second Breeders’ Cup Sprint. In addition to honoring our award winners, the NTWA was pleased to have Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman, a past president and one of the winners of Churchill Downs’ Red Smith Kentucky Derby Writing Awards, on hand for some brief remarks. One paraphrased point made by Jay that deserves repeating had to do with the decision by Breeders’ Cup Ltd. to discontinue the Breeders’ Cup Writing Awards previously named in honor of Joe Hirsch and the late Bill Leggett. After several conversations with members and others, I feel it is worthy to initiate some dialogue about bringing the newspaper and magazine writing awards back and for the NTWA to be involved in the process. Stay tuned. Allison Pareis, a student at Ball State University and the third winner of the Youbet.com/ NTWA Journalism Scholarship, was also on hand for some brief remarks. The NTWA would like to thank artist Robert Clark for his generous support of the organization and the NTWA Charitable Foundation in recent years. Clark donated a painting of Chris McCarron winning the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic aboard Tiznow and the piece was auctioned off during the evening, with California Horse Racing Board Chairman Richard Shapiro taking bids, for $2,000. John Adger, another generous supporter of our organization and the former racing manager for Robert and Janice McNair’s Stonerside Stable, purchased the painting on a proxy bid with THOROUGHBRED TIMES staff writer Jeff Lowe acting as his agent. Special thanks to NTWA member and Horse Racing Television host and analyst Jon White for generously volunteering his time and serving as our entertaining and informative emcee. White also stepped up to the plate during the silent auction and landed a set of four Los Angeles Lakes-Sacramento Kings basketball tickets, generously donated by the Lakers with the help of NTWA member Larry Stewart. Last and certainly not least, the entire NTWA membership should send a hearty round of thanks to secretary/treasurer Ed DeRosa for spearheading the effort to put the dinner together. From selecting the site, choosing the menu, selling ads for the program, designing and laying out the program, securing the generous and large donation of wine from Kendall-Jackson Winery, and setting up many of the night’s speakers, Ed just about did it all and in fine order for his first go-round. Other members who played a role in helping out with the night and deserve thanks are Esther Marr, Claire Novak, Larry Stewart, Jay Privman, Jay Hovdey, Jennie Rees, and Mike Kane. We were able to post a profit at this year’s dinner, despite falling a bit short of the Mendoza-line ten-table sales benchmark, thanks to strong advertising sales in the program and strong silent and live auctions. The silent and live auctions raised about $5,000 and a large percentage of the overall profit of more than $7,000 will be earmarked for the NTWA Charitable Foundation after additional costs are taken out and donations are made in the award-winner’s and the emcee’s names. Next year’s event will not only mark the 50th annual awards dinner but also the 50-year anniversary of our organization and we hope to step things up a few more notches for another great evening. I’ve already received some suggestions about a site and format for the event, but am more than willing to receive other ideas and thoughts as the year comes to a close and before planning begins in earnest next winter/spring.

NO MEETING: Back to more official business. Unfortunately we were unable to conduct our regularly scheduled meeting the Thursday prior to the Breeders’ Cup due first to a lack of a quorum by our board of directors (it did not help that three of the nine were unable to make the trip to California) and then due to some miscommunication about where and when the meeting would take place. I take the blame for the miscommunication and the scheduling (or lack of scheduling) of the meeting. The agenda for that meeting was not too lengthy, but we unfortunately we unable to consider new member applications for three individuals. Those applications will be considered at our first 2009 meeting the week of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville.

MEDIA ISSUES: Based on some feedback from the membership and on what I personally witnessed, there were only a few problems from a media-coverage perspective for the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park. The wireless internet service was disrupted during the week, particularly during the Breeders’ Cup Friday program, but it was up and running in relatively better order on Saturday after being addressed on Friday afternoon. Some of the photocopiers in the auxiliary press box were broken on Friday and Saturday, which might have led to some media not receiving charts, quotes, etc. in a timely manner, but more than likely reduced some of the paper being used and wasted, which essentially makes for a better environment anyway (OK, I’ll tone down the “going green” talk for now). Reports from those who attended the two post-position draw events generally said that the first was in a room entirely too small for the crowd that turned out and that the second was much smoother. I’ve already discussed all these issues with Jim Gluckson of Breeders’ Cup. As always, please pass along any other issues, concerns, or problems you encountered at the Breeders’ Cup to me at tlaw@thoroughbredtimes.com.

MEDIA ECLIPSE AWARDS: The deadline for submission of Media Eclipse Awards is fast approaching and Jim Gluckson wanted me to remind everyone that all entries must be received by Tuesday, November 18. To access the official rules for the Media Eclipse Awards, please access the National Thoroughbred Racing Association website at www.ntra.com. Media Eclipse Award submissions must be sent to: Joan Lawrence NTRA 800 Westchester Avenue, Suite 641 N Rye Brook, NY 10573

BIG SPORT OF TURFDOM: Our friends at the Turf Publicists of America have named trainer Larry Jones as the winner of the Big Sport of Turfdom Award for 2008. A release on this fitting recipient is below. Please note that the award will be presented during the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program’s Symposium on Racing and not prior to the Eclipse Awards ceremony as in previous years.

Thanks for your time, enjoy the upcoming holidays, and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns via email at tlaw@thoroughbredtimes.com, at my office at 859-260-9800 ext. 125, or on my cell phone at 859-396-9407.

Tom Law
NTWA President
November 13, 2008

Big Sport of Turfdom press release:

November 12, 2008

LARRY JONES NAMED WINNER OF TPA'S BIG SPORT OF TURFDOM AWARD The Turf Publicists of America (TPA) announced today that Larry Jones, trainer of the brilliant three-year-old fillies Proud Spell and Eight Belles, has been chosen as the 2008 winner of the organization's Big Sport of Turfdom award. The award is presented annually to a person or group of people who enhances coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with the media and Thoroughbred racing publicists. "Larry has always been generous and gracious with publicists and reporters, but never was this clearer than in the aftermath of the tragic accident involving Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby," said TPA president Eric Wing. "Larry met with reporters on Derby Day and numerous times thereafter under the most difficult of circumstances. With his heartfelt words, Larry was an embodiment of the love that horsemen have for their animals. The entire Thoroughbred industry owes Larry a great debt of thanks for his cooperation with the media this year, and the Turf Publicists of America is exceedingly proud to honor him as our 2008 Big Sport of Turfdom.” "This award is wonderful,” Jones said. “I think it’s my highest achievement in the sport. I’ve always felt that we, as trainers and horsemen, have an obligation to keep the fans well informed, and hopefully we’ve done that.” Jones will receive the 43rd annual Big Sport of Turfdom award on Tuesday, December 9 in Tucson during the keynote luncheon of the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program Symposium on Racing & Gaming. The Symposium will be held at the Westin La Paloma Resort in Tucson from December 8-11. In addition to the multiple Grade I winner Proud Spell and the Derby runner-up Eight Belles, Jones enjoyed graded stakes success in 2008 with Kodiak Kowboy, Honest Man, Sweet Hope, Maren’s Meadow and Buy the Barrel. His 2007 campaign was highlighted by Hard Spun, who won the Kentucky Cup Classic and placed in the in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Breeders’ Cup Classic. The TPA is an organization consisting of approximately 200 publicity and marketing personnel from racetracks and racing organizations around the country and the Big Sport of Turfdom award has been presented every year since 1966. Previous winners of the Big Sport of Turfdom include Joe Hirsch, Penny Chenery, Jack Klugman, Jim McKay, Tim Conway, Chris McCarron, Sackatoga Stable, John Servis, Pat Day, Dr. Dean Richardson and Carl Nafzger. Additional information about the luncheon may be obtained by contacting Eric Wing, the TPA president, at (914) 481-8390.

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