Old Hilltop Award Will Go to Dunleavy

Veteran journalist Jim Dunleavy, Mid-Atlantic correspondent for the Daily Racing Form, has been named winner of the 2017 Old Hilltop Award, presented by the Maryland Jockey Club for covering thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction.

Dunleavy, whose time with the Daily Racing Form has touched parts of four decades, will be honored Thursday, May 18 during the traditional Alibi Breakfast at historic Pimlico Race Course.

A graduate of the Racetrack Industry Program at the University of Arizona, Dunleavy went to work for the Daily Racing Form as a member of the track crew at Santa Anita Park in 1982. After a decade of charting races and writing articles at tracks ranging from Aqueduct to Canterbury Downs to Philadelphia Park, he became a member of the editorial staff in the Form's Chicago office.

Dunleavy was later named assistant managing editor of the Form while working in its New York headquarters. In his current duties, he covers thoroughbred racing in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Alibi Breakfast, which began in the 1930s on the porch of the historical Pimlico Clubhouse, features a gathering of media, owners, trainers, jockeys, horsemen and fans to celebrate the Preakness, and solicit interesting race predictions.