The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced yesterday that Barbara Livingston has won the 2014 Media Eclipse Award for Photography, while a pair of Writing Awards were earned by John Scheinman in the Feature/Commentary category and Joe Clancy in the News/Enterprise category.
Livingston will receive her third overall Eclipse Award for her photograph of Tapiture (Tapit) working out at Churchill Downs in a heavy rainstorm in advance of the GI Kentucky Derby.
“I'm very proud to record our sport's history, and it's an indescribable honor to win three Eclipse Awards,” said Livingston. “I'm very critical of my work but really like this photo, in part because it evokes emotion and excitement–something our sport so often inspires–and it was taken under very difficult conditions.”
Livingston captured the image on the morning of Apr. 28, just before Churchill was forced to close the track due to the torrential conditions.
“It wasn't easy to convince the camera to choose Tapiture instead of the rain,” added Livingston. “I think the light source behind them, accentuating the rain, helped make the photo unusual.”
Scheinman garnered his first Eclipse Award for “Memories of a Master: The Determined Life of Dickie Small,” a piece which appeared on The Blood-Horse website remembering the life of the late Richard Small, a Maryland-based trainer who passed away from cancer at age 68 in April. The feature explores Small's time before becoming a trainer, his modesty and successes as a horseman, and his enduring love for the game in his final years.
“I'm thrilled to win the Eclipse Award and honored to win for this story on Dickie Small,” said Scheinman. “I invested more time and more of myself in this project than any other that I have written on horse racing.”
Clancy, too, secured his first Eclipse recognition for his news report, “Horse of a Lifetime,” which documented the story of dual-classic winner California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) before and during his victorious effort in the GI Preakness S. The account appeared in the July edition of Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred and focuses heavily on the public enthusiasm for the colt and his trainer, 77-year-old Art Sherman.
“Art was very open as I walked with him alone up to the track,” said Clancy when recalling the moments leading up to the Preakness. “It was just the two of us right before going to the paddock. Before the race, he was just very genuine.”
All three honors will be presented at the Eclipse Awards ceremony and dinner to be held Jan. 17 at Gulfstream Park.
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