Month: September 2022

Flavien Prat may have started the racing week on Wednesday at Saratoga and ended it on Monday at Saratoga, but in between he made a special trip to Del Mar for Saturday's blockbuster card, winning three graded stakes races including their signature event, the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. He ended the week on Monday at Saratoga with a G3 stakes win. But that's not all: Prat also was the nation's leading rider by number of wins with 14.

Those accomplishments earned Prat Jockey of the Week for Aug. 29 through Sept. 5. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, honors jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

After riding at Saratoga, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Prat went west to familiar territory at Del Mar where he has won or tied for the riding title five times.

Riding for Phil D'Amato, Prat was aboard Hong Kong Harry in the G2 Del Mar Mile on the turf. Off as the favorite, Hong Kong Harry closed from sixth in the field of nine and pulled away to win by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:33.15.

“We had a good trip,” said Prat. “The pace was strong. I got lucky when I was able to drop myself inside around the turn and he made a good run when I asked him to do it.”

In the feature race, the G1 Pacific Classic, regular rider Prat was given a leg up on Flightline by trainer John Sadler. Off as the overwhelming favorite in the field of six, Flightline cruised to a record-setting 19 1/2-length win, completing the 1 1/4-mile race in 1:59.28.

“When we went into the final turn, he was travelling so well I asked him to pick it up a little bit,” said Prat. “As soon as I looked back and saw how far in front he was, I wrapped up on him. Obviously, this is the best horse I ever rode.”

Prat capped off a four-win day on Gold Phoenix in the G2 Del Mar Handicap for trainer Phil D'Amato. Gold Phoenix rallied in the middle of the grass course in the final furlong to win by a head in the 1 3/8-mile marathon in 2:14.51.

Back at Saratoga on their closing day card, Prat won the G3 Bernard Baruch Handicap on Emaraaty going wire-to-wire for leading trainer Chad Brown. It was Prat's fourth stakes win of the meet.

Prat intends to ride the Belmont meet at Aqueduct then Keeneland and the Breeders' Cup before returning to Southern California to ride the winter-spring meet at Santa Anita which begins December 26.

Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Junior Alvarado who won the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Tyler Gaffalione with a graded stakes win at Saratoga, Jose Lezcano who won the G1 Spinaway, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. who won three graded stakes at Saratoga and the leading rider title for the fourth time.

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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 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 EventBrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ntwab-annual-awards-dinner-2022-tickets-391887725737), 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.

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