The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form
and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Thursday that
Glenye Cain Oakford of Daily Racing Form has won the 2012 Media Eclipse
Award in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category for
“Zenyatta: Wait for First Foal Combines Science, Art and Anticipation,”
which appeared on drf.com on February 28.
With heightened interest of the impending birth of 2010 Horse of the Year
Zenyatta’s first foal, Oakford, of Lexington, Kentucky, developed a multi-media
project which captured a behind the scenes look at the people who are
responsible for the demanding and often exhausting world of late night foaling
of Thoroughbreds. Oakford combined online text of the basics, and potential
problems, of the foaling process with a video she filmed, produced and narrated
of Eduardo Terrazas and his night-watchman at Terrazas Thoroughbreds, assisting
in the birth of a new foal.
“I’m thrilled,” Oakford said. “It’s tremendously energizing and heartening to
earn this recognition from one’s colleagues, and I will treasure it,” said
Oakford, who is senior bloodstock correspondent for Daily Racing Form.
“But what makes this most special to me is that the Eclipse Award is also the
racehorses’ championship. To be placed in their company is very humbling and an
honor indeed.
“Night-watching during foaling season might look like someone just sitting
around in a barn all night, but in fact it’s a season-long test of endurance
that is fraught with tension and worry,” Oakford said. “Still, it’s also about
sweet anticipation, and the reward is so obvious when a mare delivers her foal
safely. The public doesn’t often get to see that drama, and I hoped through the
video and story they could. I’m very grateful to Eduardo and night-watchman Troy
Saylor for telling that story so eloquently and in such touching, honest,
personal terms.”
From the accompanying online text of the entry:
The long wait and the thrill of anticipation are familiar to Thoroughbred
breeders around the world, whether they wait up with their mares themselves or
await a manager’s midnight phone call announcing a foal’s arrival, the moment
that pedigrees on paper take living form. Especially for those who sit through
the night watching for signs of imminent labor, the season between January and
early June is an exercise in patient endurance.
Honorable mention in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category went to Paulick
Report’s “Breeders’ Cup or Bust: Stories from the Southwest,” which focused on
efforts to save ex-racehorses in New Mexico.
Judges in the Audio and Multi Media Internet category were Mike Kane,
Thoroughbred journalist; Michael Brunker of MSNBC.com and Brian Nadeau of
Horseplayer Now.
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 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. Those awards are voted by NTRA, Daily
Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB). Eclipse
Awards also are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage
of Thoroughbred racing.
The 42nd Annual Eclipse Awards dinner and ceremony will be held on January
19, 2013, at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Tickets to the Eclipse Awards are available for $375 each. Order forms for
tickets are available
here. Hotel Reservations at the Westin Diplomat can be made at this
link. For additional information, please contact Michele Ravencraft of the
NTRA at mravencraft@ntra.com.
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