Sovereign Awards: McCalmont a finalist for two media awards

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Keith McCalmont of the Woodbine Entertainment Group’s media communications department earned nominations in two different categories as the Jockey Club of Canada announced the media finalists for the 2013 Sovereign Awards on Monday.

The winners of the three categories – writing, digital audio/visual and broadcast, and photograph – will be announced at the annual Sovereign Awards ceremony at Woodbine on Friday, April 11, the night before opening day of the 2014 meet.

McCalmont was named a finalist in the writing category for his piece “Perfect Timber, Walker ready to take next step,” which was published on Woodbine’s website. Daily Racing Form’s Alex Campbell and multiple Sovereign Award-winning writer Beverley Smith are the other two finalists in the category.

Campbell’s story, entitled “Saved for Now” was published in the Blood-Horse magazine, while Smith’s piece, entitled “In the Wake of Uncertainty in Ontario, ‘We’re Still Here Fighting,’ ” appeared on the Paulick Report website.

McCalmont also is among the finalists in the photograph category. His photo, “Snow Day,” was published on Woodbine’s website and is joined by Woodbine track photographer Michael Burns Jr.’s photo, “Silhouette,” which was published in the Toronto Star, and Patti Tubbs’s photo, “Frank Fuentes,” which was published on horseracingbc.ca.

Woodbine’s television department was named finalist in the digital audio/video and broadcast category for its broadcast of the Woodbine Mile, along with Horse Racing Alberta and Whiteiron Productions for its 2013 Canadian Derby Show from Northlands Park and Norm Borg for his special presentation on Secretariat that appeared on the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario’s website.

The judging for the three categories was conducted by journalism professors from the Humber College School of Media Studies and Information Technology, located minutes from Woodbine.