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Mike Gillum Wins NTRA National Horseplayers Championship

Mike Gillum topped the field of 765 entries at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's 25th National Horseplayers Championship to take home the $800,000 grand prize and earn the Eclipse Award as the Horseplayer of the Year Sunday evening in Las Vegas.

After finishing day one in fifth place, Gillum found himself in the 81st spot with two races to go on day two. He jumped over a few people to qualify into the semi-final round in 64th place, barely inside the 10% cut line set at 77 entries.

When asked about his strategy going into Sunday's final day of the competition, Gillum said, “My picks did not change since 6 a.m. this morning, I played exactly what I would have played regardless of which place I was in. I got lucky, it was just my day today.”

Racing has always been something Gillum, who operates a produce company in Indianapolis, Indiana, enjoyed, he said.

“It's a passion of mine and has been for 20, 30 years. This is just the best,” Gillum said.

In only his second trip to the NHC, Gillum is the 25th individual to take home the grand prize at the handicapping contest.

When asked what this means to him, Gillum said, “I am just thinking about my family at home watching, I'm just so excited and happy. Truly I'm at a loss for words.”

The official top 10 finishers at the 2024 NHC and prize money won are: Mike Gillum, $800,000; Seth Morris, $250,000; Matthew Blanchet, $200,000; Lawrence Kahlden, $150,000; Daniel Kaplan, $125,000; Rob Henie, $85,000; Nicholas Shirilla, $80,000; TJ Sonde, $75,000; GT Nixon, $70,000; and Scott Cavalieri, $65,000.

“Horseplayers are such a pivotal part of the sport of Thoroughbred racing, and the NTRA is extremely proud to host this event to celebrate all their contributions every year to crown our annual champion,” said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. “It's incredible to see how the NHC has evolved in the 25 years since it began and really special to have so many dedicated horseplayers who work all year to qualify for this event. To have the 25th NHC, coupled with St. Patrick's Day and the NCAA tournament weekend, has made for a weekend like no other. Congratulations to all who made it here this weekend, and especially to Mike Gillum for taking home the grand prize.”

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Turf Writers President Makes Eclipse Disagreements Public

Turf writer Tom Law, the president of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, appeared on Steve Byk's radio show Thursday to discuss the disagreements the group had with its fellow Eclipse presenters, Daily Racing Form and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, over this year's awards. Law said that the NTWAB's disagreements centered around two issues: industry organizations being added to those up for consideration for media Eclipse Awards, and the awarding of this year's Eclipse Award of Merit to Stuart Janney.

Woodbine Entertainment went on to win an Eclipse Award in the category of Feature Television programming for their production of “Secretariat: the Last Race,” and America's Best Racing, a multimedia marketing program run by The Jockey Club, received an Honorable Mention in the multimedia category for their video with Mage's owner, Ramiro Restrepo, at this year's Kentucky Derby.

Law, who represents the Turf Writers on the six-person Eclipse Award steering committee, said that in the past, the lack of unanimous approval had been enough to negate a rules change like the one to the media Eclipse Awards this year, or the awarding of a Special Eclipse Award or Eclipse Award of Merit.

“Obviously, as we all know, everything went through,” said Law of the rules change and the awarding of the Eclipse Award of Merit. “They presented the award and I asked them if we could not be included in the press release because we didn't really feel like our organization was behind it. We had basically full agreement by our board about this and about how it was handled, about how we were either ignored, or our concerns were ignored.”

The NTRA disputed Law's claims. In a statement emailed to the TDN on Thursday, NTRA President and Tom Rooney said, “With regards to the rules change, the Steering Committee continually converses to keep the rules reflective of the ever dynamic and changing landscape. Allowing industry outlets to submit media nominations, with the approval of the Steering Committee, is reflective of the changing media landscape and was agreed to by the committee. Additionally, the process for selecting any Eclipse Award of Merit and Special Award is decided on in coordination with the Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters in the same way that it has been for the past 25 years. This year was no different.”

Byk, also an NTWAB board member, agreed with Law.

“Both of these topics essentially dictated the spirit of cooperation and collective approach that has essentially ruled this system over the last 50 years,” he said. “It was clearly abandoned here. And the Eclipse Award of Merit, in fact, three of the last four years, or three out of the last five years, I think, wasn't awarded. It's something that you mentioned at Steering Committee, it gets floated and everybody has to agree. Everybody did not agree, and I was very proud of the collective, frankly, of the Turf Writers and Broadcasters when we had these discussions that we forcefully said, `This is a divisive decision and inappropriate at this juncture, but it was basically forced upon us and the forum.'”

Law, who won an Eclipse Award in 2022 for his story “Big Tally” in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, told Byk, also an NTWAB board member, “I'm not even a year removed from winning one myself, so I understand what it means to win one. I don't take any of this lightly, and it was a serious business to me, and it still is. And after 12 years as President of the Turf Writers, I take it seriously and it means a lot, and I feel like I'm representing a large majority of our members with these statements that I'm making to you now. And, certainly, with the support of my board, which is very diverse and has a great representation of all the trade publications and geographic locations, as well, in print and broadcasting.”

The Turf Writers hadn't gone public with their disagreement until they had had the opportunity to discuss the issue with their members, which happened in a Zoom call Wednesday.
Law said that the Turf Writers had put an individual forward several years ago, and despite a 5-1 vote to award the Eclipse of Merit to that person, the one `nay' vote overruled that. “I didn't agree, but I played the game,” said Law. “Didn't complain about it. Didn't cry about it. But as I mentioned to our members yesterday, someone asked `what do they think will happen going forward?' I said, `Well, I mean, we've just emboldened them now. If you think that this won't happen again, you're mistaken.'

Archives of Byk's show are available here.

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Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Onsite As Official Charity Of The Eclipse Awards

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) will be in attendance as the official charity for the 53rd Eclipse Awards Jan. 25 at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida, the non-profit said in a Friday release.

“It's an honor to stand with NTRA and the whole racing community, celebrating the incredible talent and of the Thoroughbreds and the dedication of their connections,” said Stacie Clark Rogers, Operations Consultant for Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. “We are grateful for the opportunity to highlight our commitment to our industry's horses on this prestigious platform.”

“We are thrilled to welcome back Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance as our esteemed partner for this year's Eclipse Awards,” added NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney.

The NTRA also organized a 'Sip, Shop, and Support' event with three participating stores–Lilly Pulitzer, J. Mclaughlin and Oumere–who will donate a percentage of their proceeds to the TAA.

Additionally, TAA will hold a raffle featuring select items from these stores and 100% of those proceeds will be donated to their cause. Store hours are scheduled from Noon to 3 p.m. ET.

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Citing Conflict of Interest Issues, Rooney Self-Recuses from MRTOA Training Center Decisions

To avoid any potential conflict-of-interest issues, Tom Rooney, an appointed voting member of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), has recused himself from any further decision making in the selection of a year-round training center, said Alan Foreman, another voting member of the non-profit.

The new organization is positioning itself to assume control of day-to-day racing operations in Maryland, pending legislative approval. In a proposed plan, The Stronach Group, which owns Pimlico Race Course, would turn over ownership and daily operations of the track to the state and to the MTROA, respectively.

Complementing a revamped Pimlico would be the selection of a companion training facility to accommodate roughly 700-800 horses.

The MTROA identified eight potential training facilities for purchase. They include the Shamrock Farm Training Center, a little over 20 miles from Pimlico. Shamrock Farm is a 155-acre facility owned by the Rooney family since 1948, according to the facility's website.

Foreman said that Shamrock Farm was selected as a possible training site due to the Rooney family opening the door to its possible sale.

Initially, Rooney said that “'if in fact the farm is a possibility, I'll resign from the Authority because I don't want anybody to think there's a conflict of interest there,'” said Foreman, who is also general counsel for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA).

Rooney sits on the Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA) board. The MHBA “did not feel that he should step down,” said Foreman.

“But Tom said, 'if I don't step off the board, I'll want to make very clear that I'm recusing myself with respect to any matters related to Shamrock Farm or consideration of Shamrock as a training facility. You can deal directly with the family,'” said Foreman.

“Tom would not participate in the vote for the training center,” Foreman added. “So, it isn't just that he would recuse himself from Shamrock, but he has recused himself from voting on the location of the training center.”

According to a MTROA report dated Jan. 5, if a decision is made to move forward with Shamrock Farm as a training center location, “a third-party appraisal process will be used to substantiate a purchase price,” the report states.

In a separate report, the MTROA rates the eight different possible training facilities by several criteria, including their location, size, cost to purchase and cost of redevelopment.

According to this rating system, two facilities come out jointly on top–Shamrock Farm and Mitchell Farm Training Center, a 97-acre facility near the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The third-rated facility is the Bowie Race Track, a 131-acre training facility.

According to Foreman, these three facilities will undergo independent appraisal in preparation for a final training site vote.

The ambitious reconfiguring of Maryland's horse racing infrastructure hinges upon legislative approval. The recently unveiled report came with the endorsement of Maryland's governor, Wes Moore.

“Our hope is, we can coalesce around a site by the end of the legislative session,” said Foreman. The Maryland General Assembly's 90-day legislative session is scheduled to run until Apr. 8.

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