Team Cody's Wish – led by Cody Dorman and his multiple Grade 1-winning namesake – will be honored along with the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, Turf writer Mike Kane, and broadcaster Kenny Rice during the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters' 63rd annual Awards Dinner on Nov. 1 in Arcadia, California.
The NTWAB Awards Dinner is the organization's only fund-raiser, and a portion of the proceeds of the event will fund Thoroughbred industry charities and internships for prospective racing journalists. The 2023 NTWAB Awards Dinner will be held at The Woolf Den by The Derby near Santa Anita Park.
Team Cody's Wish, which also includes the Dorman family, owner-breeder Godolphin, trainer Bill Mott and his team, and jockey Junior Alvarado, will be honored with the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. The Cody's Wish story began at Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm in October 2018 when Cody Dorman, 13 at the time, was introduced to a five-month-old weanling by Curlin. There was an immediate connection between the horse and Cody, who was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a rare genetic disease that causes serious and often fatal physical issues. Godolphin staff that witnessed that first meeting were so impacted they decided to name the horse for Cody. The Cody's Wish story has resonated with people inside and outside of racing.
The Gregson Foundation, a nonprofit foundation developed to benefit California Thoroughbred racing's backstretch workers and their families, will be honored with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. Named for the late trainer and past California Thoroughbred Trainers President Eddie Gregson, the foundation provides financial resources for children of backstretch workers to attend college. In 2022, the foundation issued five new scholarships with $23,000 in grants, which coupled with 19 past recipients' applications approved, resulted in a $187,000 overall grant total for the year. The foundation has provided well over $1.3 million in scholarship grands over the past two decades.
Mike Kane, an NTWAB member since 1996 who served as president and five-time vice-president, has covered racing in print, radio, television and online since 1980, will be honored with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in Turf writing. Kane's early newspaper work led the Schenectady Gazette from enhanced coverage of the Saratoga meetings to national coverage of Thoroughbred racing. With that, he won the Red Smith Kentucky Derby Writing Contest for five consecutive years. Still active, Kane is a longtime New York correspondent for BloodHorse and covers Saratoga and New York racing for Thoroughbred Daily News. His work has appeared in Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, the Louisville Courier-Journal, New York Times, New York Daily News, Albany Times Union, USA Today, and Saratoga Living.
Kenny Rice, one of the most recognized and respected racing broadcasters who rose to national prominence on NBC's coverage of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup starting in 1999, will be honored with the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting. Rice earned an Eclipse Award for outstanding local television achievement in 1996, the same year he became the youngest winner of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association's Charles W. Engelhard Award for lifetime contributions to the Kentucky Thoroughbred industry. He has also been honored with a John Hervey Award for outstanding television reporting of the Standardbred racing industry.
Tickets for the NTWAB Awards Dinner, which can be purchased through the NTWAB website, 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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