Godolphin, the global racing stable founded by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the principal sponsor of the awards in association with The Jockey Club, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protection Association (NHBPA), the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and the Breeders’ Cup. Godolphin also sponsors the equivalent Stud and Stable Staff Awards in Ireland, Australia, Britain and France.
A new awards category is being added in 2019 in America – the Administrative Award. Said Dan Pride, COO of Godolphin in America, “As we all know, it really does take a village to care for our equine athletes whether it’s on a racetrack, on a farm, at a sales company, or at a feed supplier. Our administrative colleagues do an incredible job covering a wide array of functions and duties to keep these beautiful animals performing at their best and we felt it to be very important that we honor and reward this group of people as well.”
With the addition of the Administrative Award, a total of seven categories will be presented this year and will carry total prize money of $128,000. The awards will be held on Wednesday, October 11, at Keeneland Racecourse. The Keeneland Association hosted the event the first two years and it returns to the Lexington, Kentucky, oval after being held during Breeders’ Cup Championship Week last year with Churchill Downs as the host.
Dan Metzger, President of TOBA, added, “These awards continue to grow and it couldn’t be done without the help of a very large and committed group of individuals within the industry. On behalf of our partners, a special thanks to the Keeneland Association for their unwavering support, as well as our industry media partners – BloodHorse Publications, the Daily Racing Form, the Paulick Report, Thoroughbred Daily News, TVG and NBC Sports. ”
For more information and to nominate online, please go to www.godolphinusawards.com.
