Goins wins Media Eclipse Award for Photography

Julien Leparoux's tumble was captured in the 2006 Eclipse Award winning photo (Matt Goins)

Matt Goins has won the 2006 Media Eclipse Award for Photography for his

picture of apprentice jockey Julien Leparoux being unseated from his mount,

Sanibel Storm (Stormy Atlantic), in the stretch at Keeneland on April 28. The

photograph appeared in the sports section of the Lexington Herald-Leader on

April 29, and was subsequently picked up in other publications.

Dogwood Stable's Sanibel Storm, a two-year-old filly who was making her debut in

the 6TH race on the final day of the Keeneland spring meet, ducked into the

inside rail near the sixteenth-pole. Goin's photo captured Leparoux being thrown

over her head prior to somersaulting into the infield. Both rider and horse were

unhurt.

"I'm a very lucky guy," said Goins, who turned 36 last week. "This is one of

the greatest thrills of my life. Before I blew out the candles on my birthday

cake I wished I would win the Eclipse Award."

Goins, a commercial photographer for 15 years, said he should not have been

at the track that day after undergoing an appendectomy 16 days earlier.