Thompson of ESPN.com wins Media Eclipse Award

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

and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters announced Wednesday that Wright

Thompson has won the 2010 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the

Feature/Commentary category for "The Legend of Zenyatta" which appeared on espn.com on

October 10.

This is the first Media Eclipse Award for Thompson, 34, of Oxford,

Mississippi, who has been a senior writer for espn.com since 2006.

In August, Thompson spent two days at Hollywood Park, immersing himself into

the world of the champion race mare Zenyatta and, the people close to her and

her adoring fans. In first person, Thompson told the story of Zenyatta's career

through interviews with the main players of Team Zenyatta, paintings individual

portraits of owners Jerry and Ann Moss; Zenyatta's trainer, John Shirreffs,

racing manager Dottie Ingordo, and jockey Mike Smith.

Thompson reveals the simple joy that Zenyatta brought to the barn at

Hollywood Park for her handlers and the fans around her. Throughout the piece,

Thompson searched to explain the mysterious connection between horses and humans

through Zenyatta's incredible popularity and revealed a foreboding sense of loss

around the barn when thoughts turned to Zenyatta's eventual retirement. 

"To win the Eclipse Award is truly a special honor," said Thompson, who prior

to espn.com had previously worked for the Kansas City Star and the New

Orleans Times Picayune. "For the first time I understood what this horse

meant to the people who are around her every day. I found people who loved an

animal and wanted to see her succeed. It was special to see a relationship like

that from the inside. It was a fantastic experience. I am grateful to John

Shirreffs and the Mosses to have spent the time and the experience to be around

their horse."

On John Shirreffs, Thompson wrote the following:

Shirreffs, ever the logical one, doesn't give himself over to any romantic

notions. Zenyatta is a horse. A wonderful, smart horse, but a horse nonetheless.

And for four years, Shirreffs has kept Zenyatta feeling good and healthy, never

letting her get sick, never letting her get down or bored or burned out...That's

the true stuff of legend. Not that the horse has such a big personality or that

she dances or that her fans like Lady Gaga, but that she has won so many races

in a row. Shirreffs should be, at the end, a man satisfied. When presented with

the chance of a lifetime, he didn't let it slip through his fingers. We could

all hope to acquit ourselves so well. He got his Michael Jordan, and he did

everything right.

For the complete story of "The Legend of Zenyatta," Click here:

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/eticket/story?page=101104/Zenyatta

The panel of judges for the Feature/Commentary Writing category was comprised

of Matthew Graves, former racing writer and columnist for the Albany

Times-Union; Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun; Bob Kieckhefer of United

Press International. The decision of the judges was unanimous.