CHICAGO, IL – The Illinois
Harness Horseman’s Association (IHHA) has announced that Mike Paradise will be
honored with the national 2012 Clyde Hirt Media Award for his tireless
contributions to the publicity of Illinois harness horse racing. The award will
be presented by the Harness Horsemen’s International at the Dan Patch Awards
Banquet, the culminating event at the Harness Congress VI weekend in March.
Paradise began contributing to
the IHHA’s website in February 2009 where his nightly line and comments as well
as ‘Notes and Quotes’ appear on Chicago race nights. In addition, his
historical ‘looking back’ stories about great Chicago racehorses, drivers,
trainers and racing events, has garnered many fans.
Mike got his start in the early
1960’s in the sports department of the Chicago Americannewspaper –
later re-named Chicago Today. By early 1973, he had shown his
promise as a writer and handicapper and was given the space to author a weekly
harness racing column and daily harness handicapping line and comments. That
same year, Mike was made the department’s Sports Desk Chief.
“Mike knows harness racing
inside and out and offers some of the best insight into the sport that can be
found,” said IHHA Executive Director Tony Somone. “He has elevated the
awareness of Illinois harness racing onto the national level. We’re incredibly
proud of his accomplishments.”
In 1974, the Chicago
Today ceased publication and Mike immediately went to work for
Sportsman’s Park, where he served as the track’s director of publicity for both
thoroughbred and harness racing from 1974 through 1996. Paradise then put his
expertise to work as publicity director for Maywood Park from 1997 until 2008.
“There is no question that Mike
revolutionized Chicago harness racing for the handicapper,” said Somone. “He
led the charge on producing nightly stories and comments on every horse in
every race and he was at the forefront of using computer analysis for each
race.”
Under Paradise’s direction,
Sportsman’s Park became the first press box in the country to use computers to
distribute harness entries, charts, results and stories to all of the Chicago
newspapers and many of the suburban publications. He also spearheaded the first
micro-wave system to instantly transmit nightly races to downtown Chicago where
TV stations were allowed to broadcast the events at no charge.
In 1987, Mike created “Chicago
Harness Racing,” a cable television show that he co-produced and co-hosted with
Eleanor Flavin. The program ran through April of 1995.
Mike Paradise’s enthusiasm and
dedication led the Illinois Department of Agriculture in 1990 to honor him on
Super Night at Balmoral racetrack for his “enthusiastic promotional efforts on
behalf of horse racing in Illinois that have helped make these kinds of
programs the best of their kind in America.” And on January 24, 2009, the IHHA
presented him with a lifetime of dedication award upon his induction into the
Illinois Harness Hall of Fame.
The Illinois harness racing
landscape has changed in many ways over the past five decades. New technology
on the track has led to faster horses and online wagering now brings the game
right into the homes of horseracing fans. One constant, however, has been the
unwavering enthusiasm and dedication of one of Chicago’s best known harness
racing experts and publicists, Mike Paradise.
