Joe Nevills, the Daily Racing Form’s sales editor & breeding correspondent, applied his beat to Kentucky Derby handicapping and won the second annual Ron Rippey Award for Handicapping Media for his “Who is Bred for the Distance” published April 30, 2015.
Brisnet.com will present Nevills with the Rippey Award and $1,000 prize at the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters dinner on Wednesday, October 28, at The Marriott Griffin Gate in Lexington.
Two entries received honorable mentions from judges Mike Curry and Greg Hall: Lenny Moon for “Becoming a Better Horseplayer Part 2: Mastering Money Management” that appeared on his Equinometry blog, and Craig Milkowski for “View Turf Racing in a New Light” that appeared in the Horseplayers’ Association of North America newsletter. The HANA newsletter also published last year’s winner, “Statistics and Garbage” by Barry Meadow.
"It's an incredible honor to be selected for this award,” Nevills said. “We have been working hard to bridge the gap between bloodstock and handicapping with our coverage at DRF Breeding, and the Average Winning Distance pieces during the Triple Crown races have been a big part of that. It has been rewarding to see the numbers I've put together not only get recognized by the Ron Rippey Award judges, but also find a few live runners at a price over the years, as well."
The Ron Rippey Handicapping Media Award is open to any article, blog post, or video pertaining to a handicapping topic published (in print or online) in the past year.
“Handicapping horse races is both an art and a science, and the ability to produce compelling content about the topic is a specialty that deserves recognition,” said Brisnet.com Director of Marketing Ed DeRosa. “We not only want to acknowledge the good work done in this regard but also encourage people to continue to produce this type of content, and who better to honor than successful handicapper and newspaper columnist Ron Rippey.”
Rippey won the 2006 National Handicapping Championship, was a 10-time qualifier for the prestigious annual event, and a beloved regular on the contest circuit. He also wrote about racing and made picks for the Newark Star-Ledger and contributed Spotlight Selections to Brisnet.com for major race days. Rippey died last year.
“Ron’s enthusiasm for both playing the game and writing about it was infectious,” DeRosa said. “He wanted to beat you, but he wanted everyone to have fun, too, which is the essence of a good day at the races.
For more information on attending the NTWAB dinner, visit NTWAB.org.