Stan Bergstein Writing Award goes to Ray Paulick

Ray Paulick, the editor and founder of the online Paulick Report racing news site, was selected for the Stan Bergstein Writing Award and its $25,000 prize last week by the sponsor and creator of the award, Team Valor International, a racing partnership.

Paulick was selected for the award by a four-person panel put together by Team Valor, which inaugurated the award last year for reporters who write about problems in racing. The recognized piece by Paulick was entitled, “Fla. Investigation: Vet said Cibelli Told Him: ‘Keep Me Out of It,’ ” about an investigation into a substance injected into a horse on raceday trained by Jane Cibelli at Tampa Bay Downs.

“Any fan that reads the sports section knows there are problems with cheating and drugs,” said Barry Irwin, the founder of Team Valor, in a statement. “Ray is one of the few out there on a daily basis who is doing the tough work of investigating racing’s issues.”