Paulick featured speaker at Bergstein Award presentation

Ray Paulick, publisher of the Paulick Report, will be a featured speaker in

the second annual Stan Bergstein Writing Award presentation on December 11 in

Tucson, Arizona.

Paulick was a finalist for the inaugural award last year and has three story

nominations in 2013, which could leave him with double duty as a speaker and

award recipient at the afternoon session in the University of Arizona Race Track

Industry Program's Global Symposium on Racing and Gaming.

Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin, who created the award to foster the type of

writing Bergstein embodied with his influential pieces on important issues in

horse racing, was eager for Paulick to be part of the event, whether or not he

wins the $25,000 first prize.

"In an era of shrinking news space for important stories, Ray has not only

filled some of the gaps, but he is one of the only racing journalists in North

America that follows the sport and business on a daily basis with hard hitting

material," Irwin said. "His perspective is important."

Paulick launched the Paulick Report five years ago. He previously was the

managing editor of the Blood-Horse and had previous stints at The Racing Times,

Daily Racing Form and Thoroughbred Times. In an interview this year for

Offtrackthoroughbreds.com, he echoed Irwin's lament that journalists have often

treated horse racing's problems with a light touch.

"An industry that doesn't have critical coverage really has a problem,

because you need someone, whether it's me or someone else, to call out things

are important issues, or reveal things that are wrong," he said.

Irwin also will speak at the award presentation. Stories published between

November 2, 2012 and November 1, 2013 in North America and about horse racing

are eligible. Team Valor so far has nominated 10 stories for consideration from

a four-judge panel that will consist of Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times;

Billy Reed, formerly of Sports Illustrated, the Lexington Herald-Leader and

Louisville Courier-Journal; Ray Kerrison of the New York Post and Jeff Siegel of

HRTV.

The nominated stories are:

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com