News Releases

Wednesday, October 28, 2020Contact: Shannon Luce (859) 224-2716
America's Best Racing Announces the 2020 Fan Choice Awards

  NEW YORK, N.Y., – Americas Best Racing (ABR) announced today the launch of its second annual Americas Best Racing Fan Choice Awards” in partnership with the Secretariat Vox Populi Award. The 2020 Fan Choice Awards will open to fans for online voting on AmericasBestRacing.net on Thursday, Nov. 12, and be open through Nov. 30. Three new categories have been added to the lineup for the 2020 Fan Choice Awards, which will feature a total of 10 award categories.

After such a successful inaugural launch last year, we are excited to bring back the Fan Choice Awards,” said Penelope Miller, senior manager of digital media for TJC Media Ventures. This has certainly been one of the more challenging years for the global racing community, and as we reflect on the ways in which the sport of racing has been a welcome distraction and offered moments of pure elation, the Fan Choice Awards are the perfect opportunity for fans to express their enthusiasm and gratitude for the horses, personalities, and racing outlets that entertained us this past year.”

The awards are designed to be interactive and give fans a voice in determining their favorites for 2020. At the conclusion of the open fan voting period on Monday, Nov. 30, four lucky voters will be randomly selected and each awarded a $1,000 Amazon gift card. Voting will be limited to one vote per email address. 

The categories for the 2020 Fan Choice Awards are the following:

Secretariat Vox Populi Horse of 2020
Favorite Race of 2020
Favorite Jockey of 2020
Favorite Racetrack to Bet
Favorite Racing Radio Show or Podcast of 2020
Favorite Racing Analyst of 2020
Favorite Race Call of 2020

Favorite Betting Site (New Category)
Favorite Horse Country” Experience (New Category)
Favorite OTTB in Equine-Assisted Therapy (New Category)

For the new Favorite Horse Country Experience” Award, finalists were determined by fan feedback and a social media campaign conducted by Visit Horse Country, a group of Thoroughbred farms, veterinary clinics, and other racing-related entities in central Kentucky that has opened its gates for fans to experience the sport up close. The Thoroughbred Incentive Program aided in compiling the finalists for Favorite OTTB in Equine Assisted Therapy, while the Vox Populi finalists will be determined by a separate and independent eight-person committee overseen by Secretariat.com. The remaining seven award category finalists were selected independent from ABR and determined by an impartial and diverse nine-person committee geographically located across all major racing jurisdictions in the United States, representing media, consumer products, fans, and horseplayers.

We are so excited our member locations have been included as a new category of the 2020 ABR Fan Choice Awards," said Anne Sabatino Hardy, Executive Director of Visit Horse Country. "We know fans get passionate about the experiences and their favorite guides, and we always love hearing from them, so we can't wait to see results.

ABR will again partner with the esteemed Secretariat Vox Populi Award and fold it into the Americas Best Racing Fan Choice Awards as it specifically relates to the most popular horse of 2020. The Secretariat Vox Populi Award was inaugurated in 2010 and annually recognizes the horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the general public and gained recognition for Thoroughbred racing.

"Secretariat Vox Populi Award winners have represented some of the past decade's most uplifting and thrilling stories in the sport. While their achievements were noteworthy, this award has celebrated their personal connection to the fans,” said Kate Chenery Tweedy, family historian and daughter of Penny Chenery. "We'll let industry insiders figure out which horse was the best, but Vox Populi voters again will choose the horse who captures their hearts."

Voting for the Vox Populi Horse of 2020 will be jointly available at both AmericasBestRacing.net and Secretariat.com, while voting for the nine remaining categories will be exclusively hosted at AmericasBestRacing.net. Winners for all 10 award categories will be announced on ABRs website and social media channels on Thursday, Dec. 3.

About Americas Best Racing:

America's Best Racing is a multimedia fan development and awareness-building platform designed to increase the profile and visibility of North America's best Thoroughbred racing events with a primary focus on the sport's lifestyle and competition.

It starts with a shared love and respect for the horse. We're passionate about the admiration we feel for these athletes and showing how you can support them too! America's Best Racing is here to bring current and new fans together to experience the thrills of the sport, the excitement of placing a winning bet, the lifestyle that embodies one of America's original sports, and the enduring care provided to our athletes through racing and retirement. We'll teach you how to responsibly wager, how to have the most fun at the track, where to watch and listen, and how to stay connected with best the sport has to offer.

You can follow America's Best Racing at americasbestracing.net as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

About Secretariat Vox Populi Award:

Horse racing already has established avenues to award outstanding accomplishments, and we certainly should honor superior performance. But achievement can be measured in many ways, and fans occasionally feel a disconnect when the horses who most impacted the public are not recognized through the traditional equine awards. The industry is long overdue in annually acknowledging the star horse who brings the most excitement and attention to the sport. It is my hope that the Secretariat Vox Populi” Award will be an honor that reflects the heart and soul of racing and will help build upon the devotion the public has for a horse they love.” – Penny Chenery, 2010