DRF's Illman wins Old Hilltop Award

Dan Illman, a reporter, handicapper, and executive producer of Daily Racing Form’s video production, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Old Hilltop Award, which is given by the Maryland Jockey Club to honor journalists who cover the sport with “excellence and distinction.”

Illman will be presented the award at the May 16 Alibi Breakfast, an annual event held in the week leading up to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse.

Illman has been the Mid-Atlantic Correspondent for Daily Racing Form since 2020. A native of Long Island, Illman began at DRF in 1998 and started appearing as its lead anchor on a series of handicapping videos in 2003. He is the author of “Betting Maidens and Two-Year-Olds,” and he compiles DRF’s weekly divisional ratings.

“I am very honored to receive the Old Hilltop Award,” Illman said in a release. “I fell in love with racing the first time I went to Belmont Park as a child, snuck the Daily Racing Form into my high school classes, and am very grateful to live my dream covering the sport each day. The last few years of reporting on the Mid-Atlantic region, especially Maryland racing, have been the most rewarding of my career.”

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