National turf writers and broadcasters | Horse Racing Free Tips

Kane, Team Cody’s Wish Among NTWAB Awardees

TDN contributor Mike Kane, the human connections surrounding Cody's Wish, the Gregson Foundation and noted television personality Kenny Rice will be honored with various awards during the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters 63rd Annual Awards Dinner, Wednesday, Nov. 1, at The Woolf Den by The Derby in Arcadia, CA.

Kane, who has been this publication's on-site correspondent at Saratoga for several years, has been an NTWAB member since 1996 and is in his fifth decade of covering racing in print, radio, television and online. Kane will be honored with the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing.
Team Cody's Wish, which includes the family of Cody Dorman, the horse's owner/breeder Godolphin, trainer Bill Mott and jockey Junior Alvarado will receive the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing.

The Gregson Foundation, a non-profit developed to benefit California Thoroughbred racing's backstretch workers and their families, will be recognized with the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. The organization is named in honor of the late California-based trainer and past president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers Eddie Gregson and provided financial assistance to the children of backstretch workers to attend college. The Foundation has made well over $1.3 million in grants over the past two decades.

Kenny Rice has long been a fixture of television broadcasts of Thoroughbred racing on ESPN and more recently on NBC's coverage of the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup. He will receive the Jim McKay Award for career excellence in broadcasting.

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2022 Media Eclipse Award Winners Announced

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today announced the winners of the 2022 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories.

Photography–Wendy Wooley–“Elbow Room Please,” The Paulick Report, Oct. 1, 2022.

Writing– Feature/Commentary–Tim Layden–“Beneath the Super Bowl's Turf: The Ghosts of Hollywood Park,” NBCSports.com, Feb. 8, 2022.

Writing- News Enterprise–Tom Law–“Big Tally,” Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, July 1, 2022

Live Television Programming–NBC Sports Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 4-5, 2022–Lindsay Schanzer–NBC Sports Producer of Horse Racing

Feature Television Programming–NBC Sports–“Cody's Wish” Nov. 5, 2022–Jack Felling–Coordinating Producer

Audio/Multimedia–Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN)–Breeders' Cup World Championships, Nov. 5, 2022–Mike Penna–HRRN President

Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented their trophies at the 52nd Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony and Dinner at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 26.

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TDN’s NTWAB Members Cast Eclipse Votes

With the 52nd Annual Eclipse Awards in Palm Beach, Fla. less than a month away, the votes will be cast by the media and other important officials until Jan. 3, as Thoroughbred racing aims to honor its best.

The Thoroughbred Daily News Staff that are members of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) submitted their selections this week and here is a rundown of the results from some of the categories, along with their 'strongest vote.'

Bill
Horse of the Year: Flightline
3-Year-Old Male: Taiba
3-Year-Old Filly: Nest
2-Year-Old Male: Forte
Male Sprinter: Elite Power
Female Turf Horse: Regal Glory
Older Dirt Female: Malathaat
Owner: Godolphin
Breeder: Godolphin
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Strongest Vote: Epicenter is a deserving champ, but with Taiba having three Grade I wins to Epicenter's one, I went for Taiba in the 3-year-old male division.

Alan
Horse of the Year: Flightline
3-Year-Old Male: Epicenter
3-Year-Old Filly: Nest
2-Year-Old Male: Forte
Male Sprinter: Jackie's Warrior
Female Turf Horse: Regal Glory
Older Dirt Female: Malathaat
Owner: Godolphin
Breeder: Godolphin
Trainer: Chad Brown
Strongest Vote: Though she stubbed her toe against the boys and even with a head-to-head defeat to her commonly owned stablemate In Italian, Regal Glory gets the slight nod for three very strong top-level scores in 2022.

Christina
Horse of the Year: Flightline
3-Year-Old Male: Epicenter
3-Year-Old Filly: Nest
2-Year-Old Male: Forte
Male Sprinter: Elite Power
Female Turf Horse: In Italian
Older Dirt Female: Malathaat
Owner: Godolphin
Breeder: Godolphin
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Strongest Vote: Looking at this year's Eclipse voting, TAP holds a strong hand with both fillies and colts, horses of varying ages and across several divisions. In my opinion, he is dominance personified.

Sara
Horse of the Year: Flightline
3-Year-Old Male: Epicenter
3-Year-Old Filly: Nest
2-Year-Old Male: Forte
Male Sprinter: Jackie's Warrior
Female Turf Horse: Regal Glory
Older Dirt Female: Malathaat
Owner: Godolphin
Breeder: Godolphin
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Strongest Vote: Malathaat is my top pick this year. She not only continued the momentum from her season as a champion 3-year-old, but built upon that success with an ultra-impressive blend of tenacity and heart, topped by a breathtaking performance in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

J.N.
Horse of the Year: Flightline
3-Year-Old Male: Modern Games (Ire)
3-Year-Old Filly: Nest
2-Year-Old Male: Forte
Male Sprinter: Cody's Wish
Female Turf Horse: Regal Glory
Older Dirt Female: Malathaat
Owner: Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds
Breeder: Summer Wind Equine
Trainer: John Sadler
Strongest Vote: It was Flightline and Co.'s year, but lest we forget that Modern Games won a pair of Grade Is in North America against older (which included the Breeders' Cup Mile), which tells me this turf horse earned the bob in the hotly contested 3-year-old male division.

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Kiaran McLaughlin to Receive Bill Mooney Award

Kiaran McLaughlin will be presented with the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters' Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity. McLaughlin, long a leading trainer, has battled multiple sclerosis for more than two decades.

“I'm incredibly honored to receive this award,” said McLaughlin, who currently works as a jockey's agent for Luis Saez.

McLaughlin joins four prior Mooney winners–the award's namesake who died after a long battle with cancer in 2017, retired jockey Joy Scott, retired jockey and owner Rene Douglas and horsewoman Martine Bellocq.

“It's remarkable the way he's handled the adversity of MS all these years; you wouldn't even know it,” said McLaughlin's longtime friend, colleague and fellow former Lukas protege Todd Pletcher. “He's met it head on, never relinquished his pursuit of excellence, whether it was training and now as an agent for Luis.”

McLaughlin will be honored at the NTWAB's 62nd annual Awards Dinner at Malone's Prime Events in Lexington Nov. 2.

Other honorees at the NTWAB Annual Awards Dinner will be Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale (Mr. Fitz Award); Eclipse Award-winning photographer Barbara Livingston (Joe Palmer Award); Chris Lincoln (Jim McKay Award); and Mike Welsch and Tom Pedulla (Walter Haight Award), along with other writing award winners to be announced that evening.

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