Livingston, Scheinman earn media Eclipse Awards

Livingston planned to photograph Tapiture in the colt's final workout, a

half-mile, before the Derby on April 28. It was raining at 6 a.m. (EDT) -- the

time Tapiture was supposed to work, under artificial lights -- but he did not

work until approximately 6:25 a.m. By then, the poor weather conditions had

intensified.

"The storm was so severe, like something in a movie," Livingston recalled.

"There was thunder and lightning and sheets of rain."

Livingston positioned herself under a trainer's stand near the final turn,

close to the track kitchen, to capture Tapiture and exercise rider Abel Flores.

Flores, Livingston says, "is just a little wild. I knew he'd be having a ball

out there. A few of my shots show what looks like a smile on his face."

"Autofocus cameras tend to see rain drops and, with such minimal lighting,

can have trouble finding the subject," Livingston remembered. "It wasn't easy to

convince the camera to choose Tapiture instead of the rain. I think the light

source behind them, accentuating the rain, helped make the photo unusual."

Due to the severity of the storm, Churchill temporarily closed the track soon

after Tapiture's work.

The winning photograph was taken with a Canon Mark IV camera.

Honorable mention in the Photography category went to Chelsea Durand for a

photo of Kate is a Ten vaulting a shadow at Belmont Park, which appeared online

in Thoroughbred Racing Commentary on October 22, 2014; and to Matt Wooley of the

Paulick Report, for a photograph of Bayern breaking from the gate in the

Breeders' Cup Classic, which was published on November 2 of last year.

Judges in the Photography category were Richard Mackson of USA Today Sports;

Kim Pratt of Parx Racing and former Eclipse Award-winning photographer, and

Michele McDonald of Full Stride Communications.

The three Eclipse Award-voting entities have also announced that John

Scheinman has won the 2014 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the

Feature/Commentary category for "Memories of a Master: The Determined Life of

Dickie Small," a retelling of the remarkable life of late Mid-Atlantic trainer

Richard "Dickie" Small, who died of cancer at age 68 in April 2014. Scheinman's

article appeared on The Blood-Horse website, bloodhorse.com, on

May 12, 2014.

This is the first Eclipse Award for Scheinman, the Baltimore-based freelance

writer and editor and former turf writer at the Washington Post.

"I'm thrilled to win the Eclipse Award and honored to win for this story on

Dickie Small," Scheinman said. "I invested more time and more of myself in this

project than any other that I have written on horse racing. It feels incredible

to join the company of past winners whose writing I have admired so much through

the years."

In "Memories of a Master," Scheinman reveals a man who lived life to its

fullest yet never seemed to get too full of himself. Raised in a family rich in

racing tradition, Small excelled playing sports at a young age, but bad grades

forced him out of the University of Pennsylvania. He enrolled at Delaware and

earned a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science and agricultural

biochemistry. Before he could be drafted into the Army, he enlisted and wound up

conducting dangerous top-secret missions with Special Forces behind enemy lines

in Vietnam. After returning home, it took a while for him to readjust, but Small

eventually took out his trainer's license in 1974 and ultimately built one of

the most successful careers of any horseman in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Scheinman brings to focus Small's world of training horses and how both his

military discipline and independent spirit coexisted as he honed his craft. His

story touches on Small's intimidating temper and struggles with alcohol, but

also his playful nature and the fierce loyalty he inspired in those who worked

for him. It also details Small's exploits with the blazingly fast and ill-fated

filly Caesar's Wish and the idiosyncratic multiple graded stakes winner Broad

Brush. Scheinman's story shows how, even while dying from cancer, Small showed

up every day to do the job he loved until the end.

"I knew that Dickie was sick and had lived this incredible life, and I was so

excited when The Blood-Horse gave me the go-ahead to do this," Scheinman

said. "I had written about his stakes winners a bit through the years, and from

time to time enjoyed sitting with him in the late afternoon outside his barn at

Pimlico talking about great horses, what's right and wrong with racing,

politics, you name it. He was a great talker on all levels and a spellbinding

storyteller. Spending so many hours with him in the final months of his life,

listening to him, both of us knowing whatever I put together, this was going to

be it -- it was an intensely emotional experience for me. I am so thankful he

gave me that."

Honorable mention in the Feature/Commentary category went to two-time Eclipse

Award-winner Mary Simon for "The Story of Old Rosebud, An American Tragedy,"

which was published on DRF.com on April 18, 2014, and to Brendan O'Meara for

"When Smarty Jones Shook the Earth," which appeared on horseraceinsider.com on

September 21, 2014.

Judges in this category were Ed Gray, former Boston Herald racing

writer; Bob Kieckhefer of United Press International; Beverley Smith, former

sports writer for the Globe and Mail in Canada; and Hank Wesch, former

racing writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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