Thu Dec 27 16:13:03 2007

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Media Eclipse Award announced for Feature/Enterprise Writing

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New York, NY (Sports Network) - Brian Hiro has been honored with the Eclipse Award for Feature/Enterprise Writing. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) made the announcement Thursday that the North County Times of Escondido, California writer won the 2007 Eclipse Award.

"It's a gigantic surprise," said Hiro. "It is an honor to be recognized for an award as competitive or as significant as this one."

The 32-year-old Hiro won the award for a three-part series titled "Death and Durability of the Racehorse". The series appeared in the North County Times from August 12 through August 14.

Originally conceived as an article on artificial racing surfaces, Hiro decided to expand the scope of the series after the 2006 Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, hosted by Keeneland Association.

"The Summit was a big breakthrough in expanding the story to a series," Hiro noted. "The industry gathered a wealth of information on horse safety, and I found people such as Ed Bowen [president of the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation] and Dr. Rick Arthur [equine medical director of the California Racing Board], to be especially knowledgeable and passionate about improving conditions for racehorses. The Summit tied it all together. I found people in the industry who saw a problem right in front of them and were trying to make changes that will bear fruit."

Making up the panel of judges for the Features/Enterprise Writing category was Paul Moran, former racing writer and columnist for Newsday; Fred Klein, former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and George Solomon, former sports editor of the Washington Post.

Honorable mention in the category went to Bill Handleman for "'Hollywood' Gets a Second Go Round at Age 50" about former jockey Herb McCauley, which appeared in the Asbury Park, New Jersey Press on September 9; and to Shannon Russell for "A Remarkable Tale of Determination" on the recovery of jockey Perry Ouzts, which was published in the Cincinnati Inquirer on February 18.

The NTRA also announced on Thursday that finalists for the 2007 Eclipse Awards will be announced on Friday, January 4, 2008.

Finalists comprise the top three finishers in 17 equine and human categories, including a new Eclipse Award for outstanding Female Sprinter. The three finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced at the Awards ceremony.

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