Meadow wins inaugural Rippey Award for Handicapping Media

Meadow wins inaugural Rippey Award for Handicapping Media

Longtime handicapper and author Barry Meadow has secured the first-ever

Ron Rippey Award for Handicapping Media for his piece, "Statistics and

Garbage," that appeared in the Horseplayers Association of North America

newsletter.

Brisnet.com will present Meadow with the Rippey Award and a $1,000 cash

prize at the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters dinner on Wednesday, October

29, at The Derby in Arcadia, California.

"My goal in the article was to help handicappers think about the statistics

they consider every day and encourage them to ask the right questions," said

Meadow, who is best known for his Money Secrets at the Racetrack and as a

horseplayer advocate. "I'm delighted that articles aimed at players now have

their own separate category for recognition. Sure, the game needs owners and

breeders and trainers and all the rest, but it's great that pieces designed to

help handicappers will be honored as well."

Two entries received honorable mentions from judges Steve Byk, Jessica

Chapel, and Paul Rolfes: Byron King for "Which Trainers Produce with Horses

4-to-1 or Less" that appeared in Daily Racing Form, and Nick Tammaro for

"Pace is Key in Jockey Club Gold Cup Showdown" that appeared on

ThoroughbredRacing.com.

"An interesting group of entries with many taking different approaches but

almost all providing valuable insights to their intended audiences," Rolfes said

of the Rippey Award submissions. "(Meadow's) 'Statistics and Garbage' gets the

top nod for providing some keen insights into what Mark Twain might call 'lies,

damned lies, and statistics.'"

The inaugural Ron Rippey Award for Handicapping Media was open to any

article, blog post, or video pertaining to handicapping 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," Brisnet.com Director of Marketing Ed DeRosa said. "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 August 26.

For more information on attending the NTWAB dinner, visit

NTWAB.org.

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