Verizon and Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Honor Governor Patton, Other Foundation Supporters

LEXINGTON, KY -- The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation -- featured on the 2001 Verizon Yellow Pages -- and its many supporters will be

honored tonight at the Thoroughbred Club of America. Special guests Governor Paul Patton and Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation President John Stuart will

be presented framed covers by John McDonald, regional president of sales, Verizon Information Services, publishers of Verizon Yellow Pages and

SuperPages.com.

Gov. Patton will be honored for the state's donation of 100 acres of prime Kentucky bluegrass for the development of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

farm, located at Blackburn Correctional Facility. The Blackburn farm opened in November 1999 and is now home to 70 former racehorses.

"In Lexington and throughout all of Kentucky, we have a great appreciation for horses -- they're a way of life," said Gov. Patton. "We believe

all horses deserve humane treatment and the right to a productive life after their racing careers have crossed the finish line. We thank Verizon for supporting the

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in its efforts to make that belief a reality."

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is an organization dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of thoroughbred racehorses no longer able to compete.

Tonight's reception -- highlighting the cover -- comes as Verizon finishes distribution of 240,000 copies of the directory in and around Lexington.

Of the 2,000 or more directory titles that Verizon will publish in 2001, however, Lexington is the first to feature a localized cover. The Lexington cover is

especially unique because it features a local organization on the cover, rather than local artwork or local landmarks.

"Lexington is known as the birthplace of champions, and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation makes the retirement of these champions as graceful an

endeavor as their victory days," said McDonald, Verizon Information Services. "We are proud to be part of the community and state's support of

this program."

"The Blackburn farm would not be the success it is without the help of our many advocates and friends," said John Stuart, president, Thoroughbred

Retirement Foundation. "With Verizon's support this year -- featuring the foundation's promise of a lifetime on the Lexington directory cover -- we hope

to build an even greater network of support for the Blackburn farm and the thoroughbreds residing there."

Inmates at Blackburn Correctional Facility constructed the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation farm, including a massive renovation of an existing dairy barn

and fencing pastures and paddocks. The inmates participate in the national Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's vocational training program caring for retired

horses.

The new Lexington directory -- highlighting the foundation -- also features the Inside Look® Community Magazine, which showcases area attractions,

entertainment, recreation and community services. Users looking for a restaurant to satisfy their appetite will find the Dining Your Way! Guide, under

Restaurants in the yellow pages, useful with its feature finder, locator map and menu pages.

In addition to finding local listings in the Lexington directory, area residents can log on to Verizon's SuperPages.com (www.superpages.com), the Internet's leading online directory and shopping resource for millions of local and national

business listings. In support of both SuperPages.com and the printed directory, the Lexington directory includes the Verizon Internet Guide, a road map to the

information superhighway -- complete with Internet searching tips, unique Web sites and internet-related businesses.

About Verizon Information Services and SuperPages.com

Verizon Information Services is a world leading print and online directory publisher and a content provider for communications products and services. The

largest directory publisher in the world, Verizon has annual revenues of more than $4.1 billion and employs more than 11,000 people.

Verizon Information Services provides sales, publishing and other related services for nearly 2,300 directory titles in 48 states and the District of Columbia and

17 countries outside the U.S. This includes more than 1,600 Verizon directory titles with a total circulation of approximately 110 million copies in the U.S. and

37 million copies internationally.

Verizon Information Services also produces and markets SuperPages.com, the Internet's preeminent online directory and shopping resource. SuperPages.com

has received up to 7.7 million visits and 3.4 million unique visitors per month, and is the exclusive Yellow Pages provider on Excite, Lycos, AOL Service,

AOL.com, Digital City, HotBot, and BigFoot.

Based in the Dallas area, Verizon Information Services is a unit of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), which was formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic

and GTE. Verizon is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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