Pimlico awards to Horse Player NOW, Jay Privman, Barbara Livingston

Horse Player NOW, a racing marketing organization founded by Jeremy Plonk and Joe Kristufek, will receive Pimlico Race Course’s Special Award of Merit this year for making a “positive impact on the racing industry,” Pimlico’s parent announced on Thursday.

Horseplayer NOW was launched in 2009. The company provides handicapping tips and strategies for racetracks, and, since 2011, Horseplayer NOW has administered the “Night School” internet sessions for new and experienced handicappers.

Pimlico also announced that Jay Privman, a reporter for the Daily Racing Form, will receive its David F. Woods Award for an article last year on Doug O’Neill, the trainer of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another. Privman was also selected for the David F. Woods award in 2002.

Barbara Livingston, the DRF’s photographer, will receive Pimlico’s Jerry Frutkoff Award for a photograph of the Preakness finish last year.

WBAL-TV sports director Gerry Sandusky and Horse Racing Radio Network’s Mike Penna will receive the Old Hilltop Award for “covering Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction.” Sandusky has anchored WBAL’s Preakness coverage since 2001. HRRN has provided exclusive radio coverage of the Preakness for the past six years.

Pimlico, owned by the Stronach Group, annually grants awards in conjunction with the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, at its popular Alibi Breakfast two days prior to the race, which will be run May 18.