Lees, Horse Racing Alberta win Media Eclipses

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced Friday that

Douglas Lees of Warrenton, Virginia, has won the 2007 Media Eclipse Award for

Photography, and Horse Racing Alberta has won the 2007 Media Eclipse Award for

Local Television.

Lees' picture, "Down to Earth," captured jockey Will Haynes and his mount,

Navesink View (Holy Bull), tumbling over a fence at the October 20 International

Gold Cup Timber S. at Great Meadow Race Course in The Plains, Virginia. The

photograph appeared in the sports section of the Fauquier Times

Democrat on October 24.

This is the second Media Eclipse Award for Photography for the 57-year-old

Lees, who won his first bronze statue in 1978 for a steeplechase photo published

in the Fauquier Democrat. Lees was also an honorable mention for the

Photography Eclipse in 1980, 1981 and 1994.

The 2007 Eclipse Award-winning photograph captured heart-stopping drama that ended well for both horse and rider (Douglas Lees Photo/Courtesy of NTRA) "It feels phenomenal. I'm just blown away to win again," said Lees, a freelance photographer whose photographs have appeared in several equine publications and hard cover books in the Middle Atlantic region over the past 40 years. "I've been trying for many years since 1978 to get another award, so this is a great thrill. The most important thing about this photo is that both the horse and the rider were all right after the spill." In the Gold Cup, a $50,000 timber stakes at 3 1/2 miles, Lees captured eight-year-old gelding Navesink View pitched forward on his front two legs over a four-foot fence, while jockey Haynes is upside down, still holding the horse's reins before landing on the ground. Both horse and rider were uninjured. Lees took the photo at approximately 75 feet from the fence with a 70-200 telephoto zoom lens. Honorable mention in the Photography category went to Michael Clevenger, whose photograph of Street Sense winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) was published in the Louisville Courier-Journal on May 6. The panel of judges in the Photography category comprised Ed Reinke, The Associated Press, Louisville; Jim Gensheimer, San Jose Mercury News and Dan Farrell, former photographer for New York Daily News. Horse Racing Alberta was honored for its live telecast of the Alberta Derby for CTV affiliate CFCN in Calgary, Alberta. The one-hour telecast, which was televised on June 16, was produced by Jeff Robillard and Bruce Yost, in association with Whiteiron Productions. "We've been producing horse racing for over 10 years here and it's a thrill to win an Eclipse Award," said Robillard of Horse Racing Alberta. "We are truly honored to accept this award on behalf of the 8,000 men and women who work in horse racing in the province of Alberta. "This year's broadcast was bittersweet for us, because it was to be the last Alberta Derby to be run at Stampede Park, which has been conducting racing for 117 years," Robillard continued. "We woke up to downpours of rain that morning, and in some case we had to fly by the seat of our pants, but all in all that's live TV. It was a tremendous show for us."

In addition to the live production of the Alberta Derby, Horse Racing Alberta

crafted the program as a tribute to Stampede Park, weaving historical elements

into the program including features on the first starting gate ever used in

Canadian racing, and the first Canadian track to introduce the daily double

wager. Jonathan Huntington and Crystal Leriger co-hosted the broadcast, and were

joined by field reporter Dawn Lupul. Mike Little produced the historical

segments on the program.

Earlier this month, the CTV Calgary broadcast of the Alberta Derby was also

honored with a Sovereign Award as Outstanding Film/Video/Broadcast for

Thoroughbred racing in Canada. Horse Racing Alberta was an honorable mention in

the Local Television for a Media Eclipse Award in 2006 for its documentary on

Kentucky Derby hopeful Brother Derek.

Honorable mention in the Local Television category this year went to WAVE-TV

in Louisville for its live coverage of Kentucky Derby Day on May 5. WAVE won the

best local television media Eclipse in 2004 and 2005.

Judges for the Local Television category were Jack Coffey of Eclipse

Productions; Stuart Kirshenbaum of Oak Street Films and Jay Posner of the San

Diego Union Tribune.

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 in North America 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 37th annual Eclipse Awards will be held on January 21 at the Beverly

Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.