Team Kenny McPeek–including jockey Brian Hernandez and exercise rider Danny Ramsey–will be honored along with the Backside Learning Center, turf writer Sean Clancy and broadcaster Laffit Pincay III during the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters' 64th Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 30 in Del Mar, California.
The NTWAB Annual 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 2024 NTWAB Awards Dinner will be held at The Brigantine Del Mar, located just a mile away from Del Mar Racetrack, which will host the Breeders' Cup Nov. 1-2.
McPeek and his team will be awarded the Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing. McPeek became just the third trainer in history to pull off the Oaks-Derby Double when Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and Mystik Dan (Goldencents) won the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Kentucky Derby.
The Backside Learning Center, an independent non-profit organization, provides support and resources for the community of racetrack workers and their families at Churchill Downs and
surrounding tracks and training facilities, and they will be awarded the Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing.
Clancy is the recipient of the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing. A champion steeplechase jockey who embarked on a journalism career after his riding days,
Clancy, with his brother Joe, started Steeplechase Times in 1994 and The Saratoga Special in 2001. He is a two-time Eclipse Award winner.
Pincay, the son of one of the greatest jockeys in the history of the sport, is the recipient of the Jim McKay Award for broadcast excellence. Part of the HRTV team from 2002-15, he joined ESPN's telecast of the 2007 Breeders' Cup and later became a key part of coverage of the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup on NBC. Since 2019, he has worked as a host for the FOX/NYRA broadcasts seen daily during all of New York's meetings.
Tickets for the NTWAB Awards Dinner can be purchased online on the NTWAB website at www.ntwab.org/order-ntwab-annual-awards-dinner-tickets. Tickets are $85 for NTWAB
members and Breeders' Cup credentialed media and $115 for non-members and guests. The NTWAB also offers tables of eight and 10 at a discount. Invitations will be mailed to NTWAB
members, and non-members can request an invitation by contacting Jennifer Kelly at thesirbarton@gmail.com.
The winners of two Breeders' Cup writing awards will also be announced by Breeders' Cup at the dinner.
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