Daily Racing Form

Jay Privman, who retired from the Daily Racing Form in late 2022 after a career spanning six decades, will be presented with a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence at the 52nd Eclipse Award ceremonies to be held at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, Jan. 26. "This is quite humbling and most appreciated, as it has been bestowed by my peers and those I covered," Privman said. "I get very emotional seeing whose names have also won a Special Award, like the greatest rider I ever saw, Laffit Pincay,...

The Week In Review On Saturday, six days after Joree Scriver got hurtled to the Sunland Park dirt in a violent, one-horse spill, the 21-year-old jockey was able to report good news: For the first time since her accident and emergency surgery to fix spinal damage, she was able to discern a bit of sensation in each of her legs. "I'm a little rough, but I'm alright," Scriver told TDN via phone from the intensive care unit at Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, about five miles over...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) today announced the finalists for the 2022 Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during the 52nd annual Eclipse Awards, presented by John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club,  on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2022 Horse of the Year. Of the 258 eligible voters represented by...

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...

Dave Litfin, the widely respected former handicapper for the Daily Racing Form, died Thursday night in Saratoga Springs after a long battle with cancer. He was 64. The news was announced by his wife of 39 years, Robin, on her Facebook page. Litfin was a call-taker with the Form and joined the New York Racing Association's publicity staff as the press box manager in 1984. He went to work for the DRF in 1990 where he wrote the "Handicapper's Corner" column. He was the author of two books, "Dave Litfin's...

Thoroughbred owner and breeder Jim McIngvale will be honored along with Eclipse Award-winning photographer Barbara Livingston, broadcaster Chris Lincoln and turf writers Tom Pedulla and Mike Welsch during the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters' 62nd annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Lexington. The NTWAB 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 2022 NTWAB Awards Dinner will be held at Malone's Prime in Lexington. McIngvale, widely known as...

This week, the TDN is adding a new show to its expanding podcast lineup by introducing 'Bettor Things with Joe Bianca', which will be the publication's first podcast focused solely on handicapping and betting. The show will feature in-depth one-on-one conversations with the host of TDN's popular Writers' Room podcast and some of the brightest wagering minds in the handicapping world. The interviews will delve into strategies for playing the horses as well as sports betting, but also branch out into more general life topics to learn what makes the...

Joseph (Kevin) Costello, a 53-year-old executive from Chicago, IL, rode the strength of four victories and 14 top 10 finishes in handicapping contests to run away with the 2021 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) Tour title. Costello, who has qualified to the NHC each year since 2016, earned $75,000 for winning the NHC Tour and is eligible for a $5-million bonus if he captures the 2022 NHC Jan. 28-30 at Bally's Las Vegas. "I always wanted to have the knowledge that I'm consistently good and that's what the Tour does," said...

Daily Racing Form national correspondent Jay Privman and the late turf writers Walter Haight and Jack Mann have been selected to the National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor. Privman, 62, a resident of Carlsbad, Ca., covered his first race in 1980--Spectacular Bid's victory in the Malibu Stakes--while in college at California State University, Northridge, and working part-time for The Los Angeles Daily News. Privman worked for The Daily News full-time from 1981 through 1991, then became West Coast editor for The Racing Times (1991 to 1992)...

Renowned Eclipse Award-winning cartoonist Pierre "Peb" Bellocq and the late Eclipse Award-winning writer William Leggett have been selected to the National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor. Bellocq, 94, was born in France in 1926. At age 19, the French racing journal France Courses gave him national exposure by publishing one of his cartoons of a jockey. Bellocq signed the drawing as "Peb," a signature that became his lifelong moniker. By 1954, Bellocq's work had achieved international acclaim and he was contracted by Laurel Park owner John...

The Eclipse Awards Ceremony honoring champions of 2020 will be held Jan. 28 as a virtual event with portions hosted from Spendthrift Farm in Lexington. Winners in 17 human and equine categories will be announced in a virtual ceremony streamed live on multiple outlets, including TVG and Racetrack Television Network, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. The finalists for the 2020 Eclipse Awards will be announced Jan. 16. "Aligning the 50th Eclipse Awards with a historic property like Spendthrift Farm serving as the backdrop for the broadcast is a natural," said...

Keeneland will serve as a presenting sponsor of DRF en Espanol, a Daily Racing Form product that will deliver expanded coverage of Keeneland's Fall Meet to Spanish-speaking racing fans. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to reach new audiences and better serve our existing Spanish-speaking fans with our coverage and race analysis through DRF en Espanol," Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason said. "Investing in the future of our sport and the racing community is key to our mission, and we are excited to expand our engagement with both...