Sunday, January 30 2011

JOHN DOYLE WINS FINAL RACE TO CAPTURE $500,000 GRAND PRIZE IN 2011 DRF/NTRA NATIONAL HANDICAPPING

John Doyle of Scottsdale, Ariz., won the $500,000 first-place prize and title of DRF/NTRA Handicapper of the Year at the 12th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC) Saturday night.

The 49-year-old Doyle, a longtime IBM account executive who resigned to become a fulltime horseplayer roughly one year ago, amassed a winning score of $234.80 from 30 mythical $2 win-and-place wagers over the two-day tournament held at Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in Las Vegas.

Thursday, January 27 2011

Uncle Mo, at 128 Pounds, is High Weight on 2010 Experimental Free Handicap

Uncle Mo, last year’s champion 2-year-old male and undefeated winner of the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, received the high weight assignment of 128 pounds on the 2010 Experimental Free Handicap, released today by The Jockey Club and available within the Publications and Resources section of jockeyclub.com.

The filly division is headed by last year’s champion 2-year-old filly and undefeated Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, Awesome Feather, at 123 pounds.

NTRA Thoroughbred notebook January 27, 2011

TOP HORSEPLAYERS TO VIE FOR $500,000 FIRST PRIZE, RECORD $1.1 MILLION PURSE AND TITLE OF "HANDICAPPER OF THE YEAR" IN 12th ANNUAL DAILY RACING FORM/NTRA NATIONAL HANDICAPPING CHAMPIONSHIP

Defending champion Brian Troop heads a record field of 305 horseplayers who will gather at Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa on January 28-29 to vie for horse racing's official title of "Handicapper of the Year" and a first-place prize of $500,000 in the $1,125,150 Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC). The total purse represents an NHC record.

Wednesday, January 26 2011

ZENYATTA WILL BE BRED TO BERNARDINI

Owners Jerry and Ann Moss announced today that ZENYATTA, the 2010 Horse of the Year, will be sent to Bernardini to be bred in 2011.

A son of Lane’s End’s two-time leading sire A.P. Indy, Bernardini was champion three-year-old colt in 2006. In 2010, with his first crop to race, Bernardini was the leading freshman sire by number of graded stakes winners and by number of stakes winners. He is out of Grade 1 winner Cara Rafaela by Quiet American and stands at Darley.

Friday, January 14 2011

Breeders’ Cup Classic Narrowly Voted 2010 NTRA Moment of the Year

The exciting victory by Blame over the previously undefeated Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic has been voted the 2010 National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Moment of the Year. The connections of Blame will be honored at the Eclipse Award ceremony Monday, January 17, in Miami Beach, Fla., with the "NTRA Moment of the Year" award. This year’s balloting was conducted at the NTRA Web site, ntra.com, and offered voters 12 different images illustrating a wide range of human emotions as well as outstanding displays of equine athleticism. Finishing a close second was Zenyatta’s victory in the Vanity Handicap. The images and events that fans chose from, with percentage of votes they received in parentheses, were:

Wednesday, January 12 2011

Breeders of Winning 2010 Breeders’ Cup World Championships Horses to be Honored at Eclipse Awards

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced today that the breeders of horses that won Breeders’ Cup World Championships races at last November’s event will be recognized at the the 2010 Eclipse Awards, which will take place Monday, January 17 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Fla.

GREY GOOSE® Vodka, title sponsor of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, will also serve as sponsor of the upcoming Eclipse Awards ceremony.

Thursday, January 06 2011

Blame, Goldikova (IRE) and Zenyatta Lead Eclipse Award Finalists

Led by Horse of the Year finalists Blame, Goldikova (IRE) and Zenyatta, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters today announced the finalists for 2010 Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing. Winners in all 17 horse and human categories will be announced at the 40th annual Eclipse Awards dinner ceremony on Monday evening, January 17, at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Fla.

Record participation of 238 out of 251 voters (94.8%) representing the NTRA, the NTWAB and Daily Racing Form took part in this year’s voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first place votes. The voting was audited by the Louisville accounting firm Strothman & Company.

Wednesday, January 05 2011

Team Zenyatta to Receive Special Eclipse Award

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters today announced that Team Zenyatta—the individuals who helped the 6-year-old mare become one of the most recognizable sports stars of 2010—will be honored with the Special Eclipse Award at the 40th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony on Monday, January 17 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, in Miami Beach, Fla.

The Special Award honors extraordinary service, individual achievements in, or contributions to the sport of Thoroughbred racing.

North American Race Record Notifications from Equibase

The following jockeys are approaching a major North American Thoroughbred milestone as listed below:

Jockey Victor Lebron is approaching a personal milestone of 1,000 all time wins. Through racing yesterday, January 4, Lebron was at 995 wins. He has two scheduled mounts for today at Gulfstream Park.

Thursday, December 30 2010

Bill Finley Wins 2010 Media Eclipse Award for News/Enterpirse Writing

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced that Bill Finley has won the 2010 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the News/Enterprise category for “Do We Need a Sturdier Racehorse? Racing Grapples With Smaller Fields, Fewer Starts," which appeared in Thoroughbred Daily News on November 16.

This is the first writing Media Eclipse Award for Finley, 49, a veteran freelance writer of New York Metropolitan newspapers, who resides in Fair Haven, N.J. Finley was also a part of the Sirius Satellite Radio broadcast team which won the Audio and Multi Media Internet award for its 2005 Breeders’ Cup World Championships program.

Wednesday, December 29 2010

HRTV Wins Television Feature Media Eclipse Award For Swale Documentary

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters announced today that HTRV has won the 2010 Media Eclipse Award in the Television Feature programming category for its documentary “Swale,” about the 1984 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, which aired on February 28.

This is the third Media Eclipse Award won by HTRV, but its first for a program that it wrote and produced. HRTV received the Media Eclipse Feature award in 2006 for the Pony Highway production of “On the Muscle” and in 2008 for the Hennegan Brothers’ documentary “The First Saturday in May.”

Thursday, December 16 2010

LAKE BECOMES SIXTH TRAINER IN HISTORY TO WIN 5,000 RACES

LAUREL, MD. 12-15-10---History was made at Laurel Park Wednesday afternoon when Scott Lake became the sixth trainer in North American history to win 5,000 races when Communicator ($3.40) wired the field in the opener.

Only Dale Baird (9,445), Jack Van Berg (6,405), King Leatherbury (6,313), Jerry Hollendorfer (5,830) and Steve Asmussen (5,684) have more first place finishes.