Rees honored with third Eclipse Award

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

and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Wednesday that

Jennie Rees has won the 2011 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the

News/Enterprise category for "Breeders' Cup 2011: Jockeys Rein in Their

Emotions," which appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal on October

30.

This is the third writing Media Eclipse Award for Rees, who resides in

Louisville, Kentucky, and has been the Thoroughbred racing writer for the

Courier-Journal since 1983.

In her article, Rees examined the circumstances and aftermath of the

altercation between jockeys Calvin Borel and Javier Castellano which ensued in

the winner's circle following the 2010 Breeders' Cup Marathon and explored the

reasons for how these situations are normally resolved. In addition to the

principals involved, Rees interviewed jockeys Robby Albarado, Jon Court, Ramon

Dominguez, and former riders Gary Stevens and Richard Migliore. Some riders

revealed that they were sometimes more concerned about receiving suspensions for

careless riding than they were for the welfare of their fellow competitors in

the jockeys' colony -- until their rival actually hit the ground.

"We're always looking for stories that will be of interest to a general

audience during the showcase weeks of racing coverage, such as the Breeders'

Cup," Rees said. "Having covered Borel for years and also Castellano, the

explosion of emotions from these two gentlemen after the Breeders' Cup was

jolting. It got me thinking about the unique dynamics of the jocks' room.

"Unlike anything else in professional sports, not only do these highly

motivated athletes have to go back in the locker room and be with their

competitors, there's the safety factor where their welfare on the track in large

measure rests in each other's hands.

“We felt it was a topic that had not been fully explored. I really want to

thank my newspaper and sports editor Harry Bryan for committing the time and

space to tell this story. But what made the story was all the jockeys who spoke

so candidly about involvement in such sometimes unpleasant situations."

Link to this article may be found at:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20111029/SPORTS08/310290116/Breeders-Cup-2011-Jockeys-rein-their-emotions

Rees won her first Eclipse Award in 1988 for a profile of trainer D. Wayne

Lukas, which appeared in the Sunday Magazine of the Courier-Journal, and

won her second Eclipse for Newspaper writing in 1993 on horse injuries. She also

collaborated with other members of courierjournal.com for a 2008 Eclipse Award

in Audio and Multi Media Internet category.

Honorable mentions in the News/Enterprise category went to Joe Drape for

"Ex-Racehorses Starve as Charity Fails Mission to Care for Them," about the

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which was published by the The New York

Times on March 18; and to Ryan Goldberg for "Lasix: Demystifying the Drug,

Methods of Training Without it," which appeared in Daily Racing Form on

November 17.

The panel of judges for the News/Enterprise Writing category was comprised of

Michael Brunker of MSNBC.com; Reid Cherner of USA Today and Bob

Kieckhefer of United Press International.