Fri Dec 21 15:47:57 2007

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Eclipse Award goes to photographer Lees

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New York, NY (Sports Network) - Veteran photographer Douglas Lees has been voted the 2007 Media Eclipse Award for Photography by a panel of judges. The award winning photograph, which appeared in the October 24th Fauquier, VA Times Democrat, is of jockey Will Haynes and his mount, Navesink View, tumbling over a fence at the International Gold Cup at Great Meadow Race Course in The Plains, VA., on October 20.

"It feels phenomenal. I'm just blown away to win again," said Lees. "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 alright after the spill."

Lees won his first Eclipse Award in 1978 for a steeplechase photo published in the Fauquier Democrat. The 57-year-old received honorable mention for the Photography Eclipse in 1980, 1981 and 1994.

Ed Reinke, The Associated Press, Louisville; Jim Gensheimer, San Jose Mercury News and Dan Farrell, former photographer for New York Daily News were the judges in the Photography category.

Honorable mention went to Michael Clevenger, whose photograph of Street Sense winning the Kentucky Derby was published in the Louisville Courier-Journal on May 6.

The 2007 Eclipse Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, January 21, 2008 at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.