ESPN wins Eclipse Award for Belmont telecast

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form

and the National Turf Writers Association Monday announced that ESPN has won the

Media Eclipse Award for National Television -- Live Racing, for its telecast of

the 2009 Belmont S. (G1). The Belmont S. program, which was produced by Mike

McQuade, aired on ABC on June 6 from Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The Live Television Media Eclipse for ESPN will be presented at the 39th

Annual Eclipse Awards, honoring Thoroughbred racing's champions of 2009, on

January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

"We are extremely proud to win this award," said McQuade, who is senior

coordinating producer for ESPN. "No one works harder on this sport than we do.

It's a true year-round commitment to horse racing by this group of individuals.

"For this year's Belmont, we wanted to give the viewers knowledge of as many

individuals involved in the race as possible, not just the favorites, but all of

the connections, and provide them an overall context for the show."

As a part of its presentation, ESPN focused on the improbable story of jockey

Calvin Borel, who was trying to become the first rider to sweep the three legs

of the Triple Crown with two different horses. Borel had captured the Kentucky

Derby on 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird (Birdstone), only to leave him for the

filly Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) in the Preakness S. But three weeks

later, with Rachel Alexandra not entered, Borel was reunited with Mine That Bird

for the Belmont. ESPN interviewed Borel before the race from the jockeys' room,

and again following Mine That Bird's third-place finish, when ESPN raised the

question of whether Borel had moved prematurely to the lead.

ESPN also captured the emotional responses of winning trainer Tim Ice and

rider Kent Desormeaux, following Summer Bird's (Birdstone) upset victory. For

Desormeaux, the triumph represented vindication after he had lost the 2008

Belmont S. and the Triple Crown aboard odds-on favorite Big Brown.  

In addition, the ESPN production was boosted by technical enhancements,

including virtual pre-race graphics and analysis of the 1 1/2 miles of the

Belmont by Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey. ESPN also featured audio and camera

coverage of the starting gate as the horses were loading for the race. 

The Belmont S. telecast was directed by Doug Holmes. Joe Tessitore hosted the

program. He was joined by analysts Randy Moss, Kenny Mayne and Bailey. Jeannine

Edwards and Jay Privman were the reporters, and Hank Goldberg was the

handicapper. The two-hour ABC telecast was preceded by five hours of coverage

from Belmont Park on ESPN.

Judges for the National Television -- Live Racing category were: Rob Duboff

of Hawk Partners; Chris Svendsen of CBS Sports and Paul Lucey of Comcast

Sportsnet -- New England.

Honorable mention in the National Television Live Programming also went to

ESPN for its production of the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 7.

Tim Turrell and David Ceisler were the producers of the telecast.