The Executive Director's Award was bestowed upon Stan Bowker, executive secretary of the Virginia Racing Commission.At this year's luncheon, Timothy "Ted" Connors handed out the inaugural Chairman's Award to RCI president Ed Martin and RCI executive vice president Paul Bowlinger for their efforts with last year's merger of the RCI and the National Association of Pari-Mutuel Regulators (NAPRA).Special awards were handed out to the "unification team" that joined RCI and NAPRA: Martin, Bowlinger, Peter Burnett, Ted Connors, Dan Hartman, Mike Kendrick, and Frank Lamb.
Dr. Curtis Barrett was awarded the William H. May Award Wednesday afternoon during an awards luncheon at the Association of Racing Commissioners International's annual convention. The convention is being held at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort near Albuquerque, N.M.The May award is named for the former Kentucky racing official and is the most prestigious award handed out by RCI.The Joan F. Pew Award was given to Richard Shapiro, chairman of the California Horse Racing Board. The award, named for the first woman commissioner, was presented by the late Pew's husband, Barker Hickox.
