The Joe Palmer Award is presented annually by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) for long and meritorious service to horse racing. The award is dedicated to Joe Palmer, who served as racing editor of the New York Herald Tribune.
History The award, presented since 1964, honors the legacy of the New York Herald Tribunes Joe H. Palmer.
The Joe Palmer Award recognizes an individual for meritorious service to thoroughbred racing. Each year, it is presented during the National Turf Writers Association's annual dinner.
Wathen Knebelkamp, former president of Churchill Downs, was the first to receive the honor.
Past recipients Source: 1964 – Wathen Knebelkamp 1965 – John D. Schapiro 1966 – Marshall Cassidy 1967 – John Longden 1968 – Marion Van Berg 1969 – Raymond R. Guest 1970 – Warner L. Jones Jr. 1971 – Bill Shoemaker 1972 – Paul Mellon 1973 – John Galbreath 1974 – Secretariat 1975 – I. J. Collins 1976 – Fred W. Hooper 1977 – Nelson Bunker Hunt 1978 – Steve Cauthen 1979 – Laz Barrera 1980 – Chick Lang; Leo O’Donnell 1981 – Keene Daingerfield; Marion duPont Scott 1982 – Frank E. "Jimmy" Kilroe 1983 – Sonny Werblin 1984 – E. P. Taylor 1985 – John Gaines 1986 – James E. "Ted" Bassett III 1987 – Alfred Vanderbilt 1988 – Charlie Whittingham 1989 – Shug McGaughey 1990 – James P. Ryan 1991 – Joe Burnham 1992 – Barry Weisbord 1993 – Henryk de Kwiatkowski 1994 – Joe Hirsch 1995 – Mark Kaufman 1996 – Allen E. Paulson and Cigar 1997 – Jim Bolus 1998 – Sandy Hawley 1999 – Kent Hollingsworth 2000 – Jim McKay 2001 – Shirley Day Smith 2002 – Richard L. Duchossois; Eugene Melnyk 2003 – Laffit Pincay Jr. 2004 – Noble Threewitt 2005 – Pete Pedersen 2006 – Dr. Dean Richardson and New Bolton Center 2007 – Dr. Larry Bramlage 2008 – Chris McCarron 2009 – Dr. Jack Robbins 2010 – Old Friends Equine 2011 – Nancy LaSala 2012 – Raymond "Butch" Lear 2013 – Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson 2014 – Cot Campbell 2015 – Cathy Schenck 2016 – American Association of Equine Practitioners 2017 – Winners Foundation 2018 – Jim Gluckson 2019 – Rick Violette 2020 – None 2021 – Dan Smith 2022 – Barbara Livingston 2023 – Edwin J. Gregson Foundation 2024 – Backside Learning Center 2025 – Joe Harper
See also National Turf Writers Association
References