2008 RTIP Distinguished Student Award
The RTIP distinguished student award goes to the RTIP student that the faculty feels best embodies the qualities and performance that represent the goal of the Program—to bridge education with opportunity. The award recognizes academic and personal growth and achievement.
Nikki DeBasio
Nikki DeBasio has been with the program her entire college career and has completed two internships with thoroughbred trainers. She is representing the students with whom she worked with on a special project looking at Gen Y and racing as a panelist on the Symposium panel session "Gen X, Y and Baby Boomers, Speaking to Racing's Diverse Audience" to discuss the groups' findings. Nikki also was honored with the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award for the Department of Animal Sciences.
Matt Carter
Matt Carter already had one degree under his belt when he came to the RTIP looking to change his career path. (a few years in the biotech pharmaceutical field, he found it just wasn't for him.) So he hit the ground running with the RTIP. Matt completed an internship at Del Mar this summer, he works in the RTIP offices helping keep everything running smoothly, and has been the coordinator for the Mentor Lunch for the past two years.
2007 RTIP Distinguished Student Award
Jon Forbes
Jon came to the RTIP with a few college credits under his belt but has spent the majority of his college career at the RTIP. He came to the program with a very clear idea of what he wanted to do in racing—become a professional reporter.
Early in Jon Forbes’ high school years, horse racing seemed as unlikely a career path as training elephants. However, after dabbling in sports writing and learning about the Race Track Industry Program, Jon decided that he could make a living writing about his favorite sport.
Last year, Jon won The Horseplayer Magazine’s inaugural “Blog Yourself to a Job” contest, earning the privilege to write a feature story for all six issues of Horseplayer in 2007. In addition, Jon was The Blood-Horse’s editorial intern this summer. He has also done freelance work for California Thoroughbred, Standardbredcanada.com, the AQHA’s Racing Journal, and other organizations. He hopes this experience will help him become a full-time professional reporter upon graduation this December.
2006 RTIP Distinguished Student Awards
In 2006, the award was presented to two of our outstanding students.
Jason Egan
Jason’s passion for racing was ignited as a young boy during the many days he spent at Longacres Park. Since then he has worked to expand his knowledge of racing on a global level, with particular interest in European racing. One of his most memorable experiences during his tenure at The University of Arizona was having the opportunity to condition yearlings for the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association sale.
Jason was the vice president of the RTIP club and a student employee in the RTIP office. He has overseen the Mentor Lunch for the past two years and the 2005 casino night and scholarship auction. This past summer, Jason completed an internship at Michael Dickinson’s Tapeta Farm and has taken a job at the Classic Mile Training Center in Ocala, Florida, working under Christine Janks.
Jon Moss
Jon has been in the racing world his entire life, with his family having been in the business for many years. His first recalled experiences are being on the backside helping out his family at Fonner Park and Aksarben. He has gone to many of the tracks across the nation acquiring a sense of the horsemen’s perspective of the issues.
Jon has been actively involved in opportunities presented by the RTIP. Some of those opportunities have come in the way of two independent study projects (for AQHA, and NHBPA) and with two internships during the summer. One of the internships was at Prairie Meadows, and the other was for the NHBPA’s summer convention. All of his experience has helped to give Jon a very well rounded knowledge of the racing industry.