Patton's enterprise in this four-part series "Wrong Side of The Track," from January 23-30, explored the world the backstretch, conducting extensive interviews about the lives of stableworkers, trainers and jockeys, and their struggles to obtain adequate workers' compensation and insurance.

"I'm extremely gratified to win this award because this was one of the most difficult pieces that I've ever written," said Patton, who won a writing eclipse award for her story on Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome in 2001. "There was a great deal of time spent on researching this project and by the time I got around to writing it, we knew we had developed several distinct themes about the issue of workers' compensation. We wanted to do a piece that incorporated the personal side of the story, not just numbers."

The panel of judges for the Features/Enterprise Writing category was comprised of Reid Cherner, horse racing editor of USA Today; Steve Wulf, Editor at Large, ESPN The Magazine, and author Jane Schwartz.

The 2005 Eclipse Awards will be held January 23, 2006 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards dinner reservations, contact Debbie Blair at the NTRA's Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail dblair@ntra.com.

Eclipse Awards are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. Awards also are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horseracing interests, including the American Quarter Horse Association, charged with increasing popularity of horseracing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA and Breeders' Cup Limited also administer the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, Thoroughbred racing's year-end Championships consisting of eight races and $14 million in purses and awards and the Breeders' Cup Stakes Program. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and New York City. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA Web site, ntra.com, and at the Web site for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, breederscup.com.

The Preakness telecast, produced by David Michaels, aired on May 21 from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. As part of the 90-minute Preakness show, NBC focused on the near fall and then dramatic recovery of race winner Afleet Alex at the top of the stretch, utilizing a wide array of replay angles coupled with reporting from its talent at trackside.

"After a truly amazing year of Thoroughbred racing, it is a great honor to win the 2005 Eclipse Award for Live Television,” said Michaels, who produced NBC Sports’ Triple Crown coverage. “Our racing team at NBC puts their heart and soul into each telecast. This year's Preakness Stakes was a race for the ages and it is truly fulfilling to win an Eclipse Award for it. Many thanks go to Joe and Karin De Francis at Pimlico for providing the terrific support which allowed us to do our work at the highest level."

Judges for the National Television – Live Racing category were: Stan Isaacs, former Newsday television sports columnist; Bud Lamaroux, former CBS Sports producer and Mike Sheehan, director, HBO Sports.

The National Television – Features award winner on the story behind Afleet Alex, which aired on the May 7 Derby telecast, was produced by Scott Boggins. NBC told the story of Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who lost her battle to cancer in August 2004 at age eight, and had established her first lemonade stand when she was age four to help raise money for her hospital. Soon “Alex’s Lemonade Stands” were popping up throughout the country to fight pediatric cancer – an initiative that gained even more momentum when the Afleet Alex team threw its support behind “Alex’s Lemonade Stands” in 2004. NBC conducted interviews with members of Cash is King Stable, the owners of Afleet Alex, and with Afleet Alex’s breeder, John Silvertand, who is also a cancer patient.

Commenting on the National Television Features award, Michaels added, "The Afleet Alex story provided Thoroughbred racing with one of the most compelling stories ever. I'm proud that Scott Boggins was able to capture the essence of the story and win an Eclipse Award. Scott brings great passion to his work and it's great to see him recognized for it."

Honorable mention in the National Television Features category went to TVG for “Breeders’ Cup Video Diary: Singletary,” produced by Scott Eberly, which aired on December 12, 2004 and to NTRA Productions for its segment on “Kentucky Derby History,” produced by Tom Dawson, from the “NTRA Road to the Kentucky Derby” telecast, which aired on NBC on April 9, 2005.

Judges in the National Television – Features category were Rob Duboff of Hawk Partners Productions; Joel Feld, producer, New England Sports Network, and Paul Lucey, producer, Fox Sports Net.

Eclipse Awards are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. Awards also are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

The 35th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 23 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards dinner reservations, contact Debbie Blair at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail dblair@ntra.com.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horseracing interests, including the American Quarter Horse Association, charged with increasing popularity of horseracing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA and Breeders’ Cup Limited also administer the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships consisting of eight races and $14 million in purses and awards and the Breeders’ Cup Stakes Program. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and New York City. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA Web site, ntra.com, and at the Web site for the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, breederscup.com.

Lynn Roberts

Rapid Proof, Honor in War and race winner America Alive finish noses apart at the wire in the Colonel E.R. Bradley Handicap on turf at the Fair Grounds on January 15.

The photograph, taken from the inside rail, depicts Rapid Proof, Honor in War and race winner America Alive – noses apart at the wire.

“God set this shot up for me because I could not have done this on my own,” said Roberts, who is originally from Yazoo City, Miss., and now resides in Franklinton, La. “Lou Hodges (Fair Grounds track photographer) likes to place me in some interesting locations, and one of them is on the inside rail. I imagined the close finish as the horses were approaching the wire and I shot seven frames, and it turned out absolutely perfect.”

Honorable mentions in the Photography category went to David Stephenson for his photo of a horse named Culinary receiving a bath at Churchill Downs, which appeared on the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader website on May 5; and to Kirk Schlea for capturing the contact between Scrappy T. and Afleet Alex at the top of the stretch at this year’s Preakness Stakes in the Thoroughbred Times of May 28.

The panel of judges in the Photography category was comprised of Steve Fine of Sports Illustrated, Jim Gensheimer of the San Jose Mercury News and Danny Farrell, retired New York Daily News photographer.

Eclipse Awards are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. Awards also are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

The 2005 Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 23, 2006 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards dinner reservations, contact Debbie Blair at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail dblair@ntra.com.

The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horseracing interests, including the American Quarter Horse Association, charged with increasing popularity of horseracing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA and Breeders’ Cup Limited also administer the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships consisting of eight races and $14 million in purses and awards and the Breeders’ Cup Stakes Program. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and New York City. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA Web site, ntra.com, and at the Web site for the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, breederscup.com.

In the first-ever national live radio broadcast of all eight Breeders’ Cup races, Sirius devoted eight hours of coverage on Sirius Channel 125, led by co-hosts Dave Johnson and Bill Finley, who were joined by reporters Caton Bredar and Mitch Levites, and analysts Dave Grening, Dick Jerardi, Jay Privman, Gary Selby, Mark Johnson, Nick Smith and Simon Clare. In addition to pre-and post-race analysis, and Johnson’s race calls, the Sirius team conducted on site interviews with jockeys and trainers throughout the day. The broadcast, which aired on October 29, also included pre-recorded vignettes titled “Where Are They Now?” featuring interviews with connections of former Breeders’ Cup champions.

“It’s an exceptional accomplishment by co-hosts Dave Johnson and Bill Finley and producer Ed Pappas, and all of our team at Sirius to win this award,” said Steve Cohen, vice president of sports programming for Sirius Satellite Radio. “It was an extremely demanding challenge to broadcast all eight races of the World Thoroughbred championships, but we had first-rate people on the talent and production side to get the job done.”

Honorable mention in this Audio and Multi-Media Internet category went to WBAL Radio in Baltimore for “Baltimore’s Last Preakness?” produced by Mark Miller and Mike Wellbrock on May 21 about the future of racing in Maryland.

Judges for the Audio and Multi Media Internet category were Jim Militello of Associated Press Radio; Brian Rublein, former news director of WHAS Radio in Louisville; and Mike Farrell, racing journalist and former UPI Radio reporter.

Eclipse Awards are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. Awards also are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

The 2005 Eclipse Awards will be held January 23, 2006 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards dinner reservations, contact Debbie Blair at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail dblair@ntra.com.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horseracing interests, including the American Quarter Horse Association, charged with increasing popularity of horseracing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA and Breeders’ Cup Limited also administer the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships consisting of eight races and $14 million in purses and awards and the Breeders’ Cup Stakes Program. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and New York City. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA Web site, ntra.com, and at the Web site for the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, breederscup.com.

“We are extremely excited about winning the Eclipse Award for the second consecutive year,” said Dan Foos, executive producer of WAVE 3 TV on behalf of the station and the more than 100 personnel who worked on the broadcast. “Our coverage of horse racing isn’t just a job; it’s a part of life in this city. We believe in balancing our Derby broadcast with knowledgeable reporting for the hard-core fan and to educate the novice who is unfamiliar with the sport. We especially enjoy delivering stories about Louisville residents who work on the backstretch and behind the scenes at the Derby.”

Judges for the Local Television category were Jack Coffey of Eclipse Productions; Stu Kirshenbaum of Oak Street Films and independent film producer Fritz Mitchell.

Eclipse Awards are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. Awards also are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

The 2005 Eclipse Awards will be held Monday evening January 23, 2006 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards dinner reservations, contact Debbie Blair at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail dblair@ntra.com.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.