Billy Reed and the Ramseys to be honored with Bluegrass Sports Awards
Billy Reed with author Rudy Alvarado at our Kentucky Oaks Breakfast
Lane is a fixture in Kentucky basketball history and has dedicated his life to the youth of central Kentucky and will receive the Jim Host Youth Sports Award. Previous winners include Martha Layne Collins, Louis Stout, Dave Kerchner, Don Adkins and Mike Fields.
Ken and Sarah Ramsey own Ramsey Farm and have multiple graded stakes winners, three Breeders’ Cup winners, and the Ramseys themselves have won multiple Eclipse Awards for outstanding owner and breeder. Many of their race horses have names incorporating the word “Kitten”, Ken’s nickname for Sarah. Previous winners are Bill Farish, Mitch Barnhart, Alan Stein, Jerry Carroll and Ted Bassett.
Larry Collums will receive the Tom Hammond Sports Media Award which is a national award presented to a broadcaster who has achieved outstanding accomplishments in the field. Collmus joins previous winners Dick Enberg, Marty Brennaman, Cris Collinsworth and Larry Conley.
The Tom Hammond Kentucky Sports Media Award goes to Billy Reed. He joins past winners Jennie Rees, Larry Vaught and Dick Gabriel, Mike Battaglia, Donna Brothers and Kenny Rice. The Mt. Sterling native has spent the better part of 40 years covering major sporting events around the country for such publications as the Courier-Journal, the Lexington Herald-Leader, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times, and the Churchill Downs website.
At age 16, Reed went to work for the Lexington Herald-Leader for a six-year span. By the time he was a senior in college, he was the assistant sports editor before moving on to an opportunity at the Courier-Journal in Louisville in 1966. Reed went on to work for Sports Illustrated in New York where he spent four years before returning to the Courier as a special projects writer. The first special project was to investigate the thoroughbred racing industry for which he received national recognition. Reed returned to sports writing and was the sports editor for the Courier from 1977-86 and was a senior writer for Sports Illustrated for 30 years. He’s worked as an adjunct professor at Indiana University and was an executive scholar in residence at Georgetown College.
The author of 13 books, Reed currently serves as the executive editor of the Catholic Sports Network. Reed is a three-time recipient of the Eclipse Award (‘79, ‘88, ‘08) and is an eight-time Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. He received the Sigma Delta Chi national award for general reporting in 1973 and is an eight-time winner of the Red Smith Award for Kentucky Derby coverage. Reed is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, Transylvania University Hall of Fame, U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, and the Henry Clay High School Hall of Fame.
“Billy Reed has spent his lifetime writing about sports both in our state and nationally,” said Hammond. “He has established himself as one of the most accomplished journalists in Kentucky’s history.”
Each Derby, Billy Reed gives Kentucky Derby Tours member his thoughts on the Oaks and Derby at our Breakfast Oaks morning. Congratulations on your award Billy!
The event will consist of a reception with award winners and keynote speakers, a sit-down dinner and awards program. For more info or to purchase tickets, please call 859-286-5156. Edited press release
