The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has announced that Dick Jerardi, sports writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, has won the 2006 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the News/Commentary category for his series of articles on the events surrounding the injury and surgery of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro in the hours following the 131st Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. Jerardi's articles "A Nightmare, Right from the Start," and "Maybe Step," were both published on May 22 and "In Barbaro's Corral" was published on May 24.
In the first of the three articles, Jerardi described the scene at Pimlico right after the Barbaro's injury and the colt's journey to the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center that evening. The second article detailed the explanations of Dr. Dean Richardson after performing successful surgery on Barbaro at New Bolton. The final story provided comment on the decision of Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, to move ahead with the surgery and the emotional turmoil of the preceding two days.
"I wanted to give the readers the experience of what it was like at those crisis moments at Pimlico and New Bolton through my eyes," said Jerardi, who has been covering sports for the Daily News since 1985. "I had never been in a situation quite like this one before. It was one of the biggest stories I've every covered, and of course, in those long hours of Barbaro's surgery at New Bolton, you didn't know the outcome. My editors gave me a lot and leeway and I appreciated it very much."
Jerardi also made special mention of Dr. Richardson: "He was brilliant in his ability to explain veterinary medicine in layman's terms on deadline. He explained things as someone who was both 'player' and 'coach.'"
Honorable mention in the Writing - News/Commentary category went to J. Davant Latham Jr., for "Crystal Clear," a commentary on the life of 2005 Eclipse Award Sprinter Lost in the Fog, which appeared in The Blood-Horse on September 30, 2006; and Joe Clancy for his article "Everyone Wanted to Know About Barbaro," which was published in The Blood-Horse on June 10, 2006.
The panel of judges for the Writing - News/Commentary category was comprised of Reid Cherner, USA Today; Jim Peden, former vice-president of communications for The Jockey Club and Fred Klein, sports columnist and journalist.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) also announced that Mike Jensen of the Philadelphia Inquirer has won the 2006 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the Features/Enterprise category for "The Man Whose Job Is Saving Barbaro," a profile of Dr. Dean Richardson, which was published on May 28, 2006.
This is the second Eclipse Award for Jensen, who won the Features/Enterprise Eclipse in 2004 for a series of articles on Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones.
Jensen's feature, which ran on Page 1 in the Inquirer, brings the reader into the world of Richardson, chief surgeon for the University of Pennsylvania's George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals. Jensen profiles Richardson in the surgeon's own words and the words of friends and colleagues who have known him best over the years, providing dimension to his personality and interests. The article begins with Richardson watching the Preakness in Florida, where he has just performed surgery at another veterinary hospital. Jensen then chronicles Richardson's journey back to New Bolton and into the operating room to perform surgery on Barbaro the following day.
"I am stunned to win this award again," said Jensen, who has worked for the Inquirer for 19 years. "I am very appreciative of this honor and am very privileged to be one of the people writing a chapter in Philadelphia sports history."
This was not a feel good story. It was an intense time at New Bolton. We heard Dr. Richardson in a morning press conference, right before Barbaro's surgery, spell it out in blunt terms what was going to happen and the difficulty in performing a successful surgery. He was infectiously brash. You could see the confidence he brought to his work. It wasn't hard to bring that side out of him in the story."
Jensen also added: "Unfortunately, this (the award) comes at the most distressing time at our paper, the same week that 71 Inquirer newsroom employees were told they were laid off. Included among the 71 was photographer Joan Kanes, who rushed to New Bolton the night of the Preakness, and who also took the majority of our photos of Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex."
Honorable mention in the Writing - Feature/Enterprise category went to Josh Pons for "Merryland, A Diary" which appeared in The Blood-Horse on December 3, 2005.
The panel of judges for the Features/Enterprise Writing category was comprised of Matt Graves, former racing writer for the Albany Times-Union; Steve Wulf, Editor at Large, ESPN The Magazine, and author Jane Schwartz.
The Eclipse Awards are presented by the NTRA, National Turf Writers Association (NTWA) and Daily Racing Form. 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 2006 Eclipse Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, January 22, 2007 at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel 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.
Photography Award
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National Television Awards
Writing Awards
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