Achievements of Thoroughbred owners in the four major North American racing regions and breeders in 22 states and Canada will be honored at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's 29th annual National Awards Dinner.
It will be held Friday, Sept. 5 at the Lexington Convention Center in Lexington and will be streamed live at bloodhorse.com (link to be available day of event).
The following regional owners will be honored:
Eastern Region Owner of the Year: Phipps Stable
Midwestern Region Owner of the Year: Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey
Southern Region Owner of the Year: Willis D. Horton
Western Region Owner of the Year: Gary and Mary West
A National Owner of the Year will be selected from these regional owners, with the recipient of the award to be announced will be revealed at the dinner.
The state and Canadian breeders of the year are:
Arizona: Richard Owens
California: Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams
Canada: Sam-Son Farm
Florida: Gil & Marilyn Campbell
Illinois: Darrell and Sadie Brommer
Indiana: Deann and Greg Baer
Iowa: William Hobbs
Kansas: Lance and Valerie Gabriel
Kentucky: Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Louisiana: Glen C. Warren
Maryland: Robert E. Meyerhoff
Michigan: Jerry and Lisa Campbell
Minnesota: Richard Bremer and Cheryl Sprick
New Jersey: Quiet Winter Farm
New Mexico: Mike Carson and Bill Carson
New York: Patricia S. Purdy
North Carolina: Elizabeth H. Muirhead
North Dakota: Leigh Backhaus
Oregon: George Hurliman
South Carolina: Franklin G. Smith
Texas: Sam Stevens and Sammy Stevens
Virginia: Estate of Edward P. Evans
Washington: Keith and Jan Swagerty
TOBA's National Breeder and National Small Breeder of the Year will be selected from the above list of breeders and will be announced at the event.
TOBA will also honor Helen Alexander with the new Robert N. Clay Award. The purpose of this award is to enhance awareness and promote education among horsemen regarding the impact of land loss on the equine community. In partnership with the Equine Land Conservation Resource, this award recognizes a member of the Thoroughbred community who has made an outstanding contribution to preserving land for equine use.
Additionally, TOBA will honor Take Charge Lady as the National Broodmare of the Year. This award offers catalog designation from the North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee.
Owned by Katie Ruppel, successful competitive eventer Houdini will be named the Rood & Riddle Thoroughbred Sport Horse of the Year. This award is presented to the owner of the ex-Thoroughbred racehorse that has excelled in sport horse competitions as tracked by the United States Equestrian Federation.
National Awards Dinner sponsors include H.E. Sutton Forwarding Company, Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC, Jackson Family Wines, Woodford Reserve, Zoetis, John Deere, Flair Nasal Strips, Daily Racing Form, OwnerView.com Thoroughbred Owner Conference, and Blood-Horse Publications. Tickets for the National Awards Dinner may be purchased at www.toba.org.
