Eclipse Awards Announced

So in my second attempt at entering the NTRA’s Eclipse Award competition for photography, I was lucky enough to get recognized with an HM for this photo of Culinary shot on the backside of Churchill Downs in the week leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

To see the winning photo and read the complete news release, click here.

Kirk Schlea also got an HM for his great photo of Afleet Alex’s bump with Scrappy T. in the Preakness.

A bigger congratulations goes to Herald-Leader reporter Janet Patton for winning her second Eclipse Award, this time for her four-part series Wrong Side of the Track. I had the good fortune to be part of the team that worked on both of her Eclipse Award-winning stories - the other being about the mare reproductive loss syndrome which claimed the lives of hundreds of foals in 2001.

Photographers are allowed to enter up to two single photos in the Eclipse Award photography competition, so I was unable to enter a photo story or body of work like reporters can. I chose to enter one photo from the Wrong Side of the Track series. The other photo that I entered was the one that was recognized with the honorable mention.

It’s nice to be recognized, particularly since I concentrate on thoroughbred racing for only a few weeks out of the year. There are much more dedicated and talented equine photographers than me out there grinding away at it all year round. Maybe in the years to come I’ll get lucky again and this time win the top award. Fellow staff photographer and 2003 Eclipse Award-winner Frank Anderson put it in perspective for me. “Be patient,” he told me. “It took me 38 years to win.”

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