For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sarah Bernknopf
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PAT DAY, HAL WIGGINS & DR. TED HILL ADDED TO SELECTION COMMITTEE FOR 2018 PETE PEDERSEN “OUTSTANDING STEWARD” AWARDS
Lexington, Ky. (April 20, 2018) — The Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) announced today three additional members to the Pete Pedersen “Outstanding Steward” Award Selection Committee: Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day, former leading trainer and ROAP accredited steward Hal Wiggins, and former The Jockey Club steward and NYRA track veterinarian Dr. Ted Hill. The new members join Rick Baedeker, CHRB executive director; Dan Metzger, TOBA president; Scott Wells, president of Remington Park and Lone Star Park; and Wendy Davis, University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program director.
The Pete Pedersen Award is presented to stewards who have made important contributions to the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing industries. The award is named in honor of the longtime outstanding steward and noted journalist Pete Pedersen.
At the March 27 ROAP board meeting, the directors voted to expand the Selection Committee to seven members, begin the nomination process earlier in 2018, and determined that five stewards will each be recognized with a Pete Pedersen Award each of the next three years – 2018, 2019 and 2020. There will be at least two currently working stewards and two retired stewards recognized each year. The recipients will be recognized at the annual Awards Luncheon at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program’s Global Symposium on Racing and Gaming in Tucson, Ariz.
“We are very pleased to be able to add Pat, Hal and Ted to the Selection Committee,” said ROAP Chair Dan Fick. “Pat rode before the watchful eyes of most of the outstanding stewards in North America. Hal trained under their supervision. Dr. Hill is a 2014 Pete Pedersen Award winner, steward for more than 20 years and a longtime U.S. delegate to the Asian Racing Conference and International Stewards Committee. We could not ask for better judges.”
Anyone in the horse racing industry can nominate a past or present steward for the 2018 Pete Pedersen Award by going to horseracingofficials.com and clicking on the green “Pete Pedersen Award” banner. The nominator needs to provide a brief resume of the steward’s career and three letters of reference from track management, a racing commission, and a fellow steward. Nominators are also encouraged to provide additional letters of support from horsemen, jockeys, racing fans, turf writers and racing officials. This year, the nomination deadline has been moved up to June 30. Previous nominees for 2016-2017 will be carried over for 2018, and more letters of support for their nominations are encouraged.
Pete Pedersen, for whom the award is named, worked as a steward in California for 50 years before retiring at the age of 85 in 2005. The Seattle native became the second steward to receive the Eclipse Award of Merit, in 2002. He was also the recipient of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award in 2008 for serving the racing industry with integrity, dedication, determination and distinction. Pedersen worked at nearly every track on the West Coast, and his reputation for objectivity and kindness is widely known.
A list with bios of previous Pete Pedersen Award winners can be located at https://www.horseracingofficials.com/roap-pete-pedersen-award-recipients.
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The mission of ROAP is to accredit and provide continuing education to all racing officials, stewards and judges in the horse racing industry. By doing so ROAP is enhancing the image and upholding the integrity of horse racing at all levels.
ROAP, which receives primary funding from The Jockey Club and is based in its Kentucky office, is a 501(c)(6) organization whose board of directors is made up of representatives from 18 industry organizations and eight at-large representatives. Stewards and judges receive their accreditation and continuing education credits through this program. The website address for ROAP is horseracingofficials.com.