Frankel heads New York honorees

JAMAICA, N.Y. - There will be a distinct California flavor to next summer's New York Turf Writers Awards dinner in Saratoga.

Trainer Bobby Frankel and equine stars Point Given and Tiznow headed the list of honorees when the NYTWA announced its 2001 award winners on Thursday.

Frankel received two honors, earning the Fourstardave Award for achievement at Saratoga and the Woody Stephens Award as outstanding trainer. Frankel went 10 for 21 at Saratoga, winning graded stakes with six different horses, including the Grade 1 Whitney with Lido Palace and the Grade 1 Alabama with Flute. For the year in New York, Frankel won 22 races from 63 starters, including 13 stakes, for earnings of $5.14 million.

Tiznow won the C.V. Whitney Award for special achievement by becoming the first horse to win the Breeders' Cup Classic in back-to-back years. Point Given was voted the Secretariat Award as New York's Horse of the Year for winning the Belmont and Travers. He also won the Preakness, Haskell, and Santa Anita Derby.

Barry Schwartz, chairman of the New York Racing Association, won the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Award as the individual who did the most for racing. In his first year as chairman, Schwartz successfully lobbied for lower takeout which, since the beginning of the Saratoga meeting, has returned more than $16 million to bettors.

Jerry Bailey and John Velazquez tied for the Eddie Arcaro Award as New York's outstanding jockey, while Juddmonte Farms Inc. and Edmund Gann will share the outstanding owner award. The Thoroughbred Corporation was honored as outstanding breeder, while Say Florida Sandy was awarded the inaugural Big Apple Award as the top New York-bred horse.

Eugene Melynk, who donated $1 million to the Belmont Child Care Association, won the Red Smith Good Guy Award.

The 79th annual NYTWA Annual Awards Dinner will be held at The Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs on Aug. 19, 2002.