DRF's Livingston wins fourth Eclipse Award for photography

Barbara D. Livingston, the staff photographer for Daily Racing Form, has been selected for her record fourth Eclipse Award for photography, according to the Eclipse Award administrators, which announced all six media winners on Friday.

Livingston, who has also been part of two teams to win Eclipse Awards in the audio/multimedia category, was selected for a shot taken at Parx racetrack in September that captured the horse Whereshetoldmetogo attempting to savage Firenze Fire in deep stretch of the Grade 3 Gallant Bob Stakes. Firenze Fire won the race, and the attempted savaging was a viral sensation that weekend.

Only the late Bill Nack, with seven media Eclipse Awards, has won more than the six won by Livingston, a lifelong horse and racing lover.

“Of the countless races I’ve shot over the decades, I may have photographed three or four biting episodes, and this was by far my best image,” Livingston said. “I’m thrilled that other people saw in it what I did.”

The other media winners:

◗ Tim Layden, the lead horse racing writer for Sports Illustrated, was selected in the feature/commentary category for a piece that appeared on June 4 on Sports Illustrated’s website deconstructing the call by Chic Anderson of the 1973 Belmont Stakes, won by Secretariat. It is the second Eclipse for Layden, who won a writing award in 1987.

◗ Jeremy Balan, the California correspondent for Blood-Horse, was selected for the news/enterprise Eclipse for an article late in 2017 that was published one week after the San Luis Rey Downs fire claimed the lives of 46 horses. In the article, Balan sought to answer questions as to why the fire moved so swiftly to overtake the training center. It is Balan’s first Eclipse.

◗ Christie DeBernardis, a staff writer for Thoroughbred Daily News, and Patty Wolfe, a video producer, were selected for the audio/multimedia award for a piece combining editorial and video that profiled Isabela de Sousa and an off-the-track Thoroughbred, Cozmic One, whom she began training in 2017. Cozmic One is the first foal out of the superstar mare Zenyatta, and de Sousa is a 17-year-old rider who won three straight competitions sponsored by the Thoroughbred industry for the retraining of retired horses.

It is the first Eclipse for the 29-year-old DeBernardis and for Wolfe.

◗ NBC was selected for the live racing television achievement Eclipse for its coverage of the 2018 Belmont Stakes, won by Justify to become the sport’s 13th Triple Crown winner. NBC Sports, a network owned and run by NBC, was selected for the Eclipse for feature television achievement for a piece airing during its 2018 Kentucky Derby broadcast about the San Luis Rey Downs fire.

The two Eclipses ran the total for NBC and its affiliates to 13 over the past decade.

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