NEWS
Belmont celebration to pay homage to Joe Hirsch
Posted: Friday, April 23, 2004
Eclipse Award-winning Turf writer Joe Hirsch will be honored during the Belmont Celebration at Belmont Park on June 4, one day before the 136th running of the Belmont Stakes (G1).
The event is hosted by the New York Racing Association and the Jockey Club. Tickets are $275 and proceeds will benefit Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.
Hirsch covered Thoroughbred racing for 55 years and formally ended his career as executive columnist for Daily Racing Form late last year. Among his many awards and honors over the years are the Jockey Club Medal [1989], the Eclipse Award of Merit [1992], and designation as the Thoroughbred Club of America's Testimonial Dinner honored guest in 1994, all three citing his lifelong service to the Thoroughbred industry.
Hirsch, 75, also remains the only writer to win both North America's Eclipse Award for outstanding writing on horse racing [1978] and the equivalent Lord Derby Award from the Horse Race Writers of Britain [1981].
"For half a century in the pages of Daily Racing Form, Joe welcomed us into his world, sharing with us his keen insights, observations, and enthusiasm for the sport of Thoroughbred racing and its participants," said NYRA Chairman Barry Schwartz. "Through his writings and his boundless generosity of time and spirit, Joe has been a true ambassador for the sport of Thoroughbred racing. It is with great admiration and truly most appropriate that we honor him on the eve of New York's classic race."
NYRA also renamed the Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (G1) to the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Handicap, to be run on October 2.
