By T. D. Thornton
The Aug. 1 nominations deadline is fast approaching for the inaugural United States version of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), which offers $115,000 in total prize money in recognition of unsung, unheralded, and behind-the-scenes horse workers who demonstrate leadership and dedication within the racing and breeding communities.
The TIEA program is sponsored by Godolphin, and is modeled after the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards that have been held for more than a decade in England, Ireland and Australia.
There are five categories: Two separate Leadership awards for racing and breeding personnel, two separate Dedication awards for racing and breeding personnel, plus a fifth Thoroughbred Industry Community Award that is open to support staffers who contribute to the greater good of the sport, even if they are not directly employed in the industry. Legal-resident workers in the U.S. can be nominated.
U.S. racing traditionally recognizes leaders in statistical categories, or lauds the human connections of top graded stakes winners in its annual awards ceremonies. But the TIEA program is designed to delve deeper into the industry, with the intent of becoming an annual event.
To that end, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA), the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), and The Jockey Club are partnering with Godolphin to help spread the word and solicit worthwhile nominees for the first batch of awards.
“The men and women on the backsides of racetracks and in the barns of the breeding farms, they're the ones that make this business go every day,” NHBPA chief executive officer Eric Hamelback said in a phone interview. “I have an interesting viewpoint having worked so long on the racetrack side, then to the farm side, and now kind of back to the industry side. I can't tell you the number of people I've worked with for so many years who have put their hearts and souls into this business, and they do backbreaking work simply because they love the horses. Not only do we need to recognize these individuals, but we need to show the rest of the non-racing world what goes on behind the scenes and how much dedication and hard work goes into it.
“I got goose bumps looking at the videos of the awards ceremonies from the UK, seeing how [Godolphin founder] Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum envisioned the awards system, and how it's exploded in Europe,” Hamelback continued. “It's long overdue. Our industry has so many positive things that we don't talk about enough. It's high time that we started celebrating the unsung people that make this business great. We all love this industry. We're not always going to agree on certain issues that arise. However, in this instance, we have to all agree that this is an extremely good program that needs to be built upon for years to come.”
TOBA president Dan Metzger said he had a similar reaction when he watched some of the stable staff awards ceremonies from other countries.
“It really captures your heart to see how much it affects these winners,” Metzger said in a phone interview. “It's become their Eclipse Awards. And I think anybody's who's invested in the game, whether it's an owner or a breeder or a trainer or whoever else, they know their operations can't be successful–or even run on a day-to-day basis–without the grooms, hotwalkers, and people that work with the foals, the mares, and the stallions. In just the brief time that we've been associated with TIEA, the response from the industry has been overwhelming.”
Andrew Chesser, the manager of registration services at The Jockey Club, said in a phone interview that beyond honoring individual recipients, the TIEA program will play an important educational role in showing people not yet involved in the racing and breeding industries what meaningful horse-related work options might be out there for them to pursue.
“That's another aspect of these awards–making people aware of jobs and careers that are available, so they can see what opportunities there are for working hands-on with horses,” Chesser said. “I recall when I was much younger, I had this very narrow focus of what working in the horse industry was and what opportunities there were. It's not always evident that there are a really lot of rewarding, important jobs that can be fulfilling careers in the industry.”
The TIEA ceremony will be held in Lexington Oct. 7, the opening day of Keeneland Race Course's fall meet. Top three finalists in each category, plus one guest each, get invited to Kentucky for a 48-hour stay.
Nomination forms and additional information about TIEA are available at www.godolphinusawards.com. The process for determining finalists is two-fold: First, a panel of judges will determine three finalists in all categories; second, a final judging panel will conduct in-person interviews to complete the overall selection process in the week preceding the awards ceremony.
In addition to a commemorative trophy for the winners, individual awards in each Leadership and Dedication category will be distributed for first place ($10,000), second place ($2,500) and third place ($2,500). A single first-place award gets paid to the overall Thoroughbred Industry Community Award winner.
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