From the National Turf Writers Association
Jockey Calvin Borel, noted veterinary surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage, and award-winning racing journalist Dick Jerardi will be honored Oct. 24 with awards presented by the National Turf Writers Association.
Borel, who rode champion Street Sense to victory in the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), at Churchill Downs, will receive the Mr. Fitz Award during the 48th annual NTWA Awards Dinner on a chartered yacht cruise that leaves from Atlantic Highlands, N.J., and will sail around the Statue of Liberty and past the Manhattan skyline.
Presented annually to an individual or group for typifying the spirit of racing, the award is named for the late Hall of Fame trainer Jim “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons. Past winners of the Mr. Fitz Award include 2006 recipient “Team Barbaro,” Bill Shoemaker, Chris McCarron, Pat Day, Laffit Pincay Jr., Robert and Beverly Lewis, and John Henry.
A native of St. Martin Parish, La., Borel rides on the Kentucky-Arkansas-Louisiana circuit and has ridden more than 4,000 winners. Borel’s winning ride on Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby enabled the colt to become the first winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby, and also the first 2-year-old champion to win the Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979.
Bramlage will receive the Joe Palmer Award, named for the former New York Herald Tribune Turf writer and presented annually for meritorious service to racing. A native of Kansas and a graduate of Kansas State University, Bramlage is an equine orthopedic surgeon who serves as chief of surgery at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington.
Introduced to Thoroughbred racing at Fonner Park in Grand Island, Neb., Bramlage has since traveled to many of the world’s most prestigious racetracks and lectured on six continents and in 33 countries. Bramlage has also served as a key member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners “On Call” program since its inception in 1993.
Bramlage is the second veterinarian to be honored with the Joe Palmer Award, following last year’s recipient Dr. Dean Richardson and the New Bolton Center. Other winners include John Gaines, Secretariat, E. P. Taylor, and Alfred Vanderbilt.
Jerardi, the lead Turf writer for the Philadelphia Daily News since 1985, will receive the Walter Haight Award named for the former Washington Post Turf writer and columnist and presented annually for excellence in Turf writing. A longtime racing enthusiast who also serves as the paper’s lead college basketball writer, Jerardi was presented the Media Eclipse Award in the news/commentary category earlier this year for his coverage of Barbaro’s injuries suffered in the 2006 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Jerardi is also a four-time winner of the Red Smith Kentucky Derby Writing Award in 2006, 2005, 1997, and 1991; a two-time winner of the Joe Hirsch Breeders’ Cup Newspaper Writing Award in 1996 and 1999, and winner of the David F. Woods Memorial Award for best the Preakness story in 2005. Other winners of the Walter Haight Award include Steve Crist, Andy Beyer, Bill Nack, Bill Leggett, Joe Hirsch, and Red Smith.