Standardbred Canada is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2010 Media Excellence Awards

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The finalists in the Outstanding Written Work category are Andrew Cohen, CBS News chief legal analyst and legal editor, and Paul Delean, who covers personal finance and small business for the Montreal Gazette.

For the third consecutive year, Horse Racing Alberta and the Woodbine Entertainment Group are the finalists in the Outstanding Video, Film or Broadcast category.

Ann MacNeill, an award-winning photographer with a specialty in equine photography, and Diana DeRosa, a veteran equestrian photo journalist who has travelled the world and has recorded equestrian history for almost 30 years, are the finalists in the Outstanding Photography category.

'Fall of the House of Brooks,' written by Andrew Cohen and published online at theatlantic.com reviews the Brooks Brothers demise in harness racing.

'Four Windows Onto Tragedy,' written by Paul Delean and published in the December 24, 2009 issue of The Canadian Sportsman, is a feature that recounts the death of horse racing in Quebec through four stories of personal loss.

Horse Racing Alberta’s feature 'A Special Lady' tells the incredible story of why Gordon Rumpel named a horse 'A Special Lady' after his wife, Illa, who is battling a life-threatening disease. The couple met when they were 12 years old, married in 1951 and have been together since. The feature was posted on Horse Racing Alberta’s industry website. Executive producers of the feature were Jeff Robillard of Horse Racing Alberta and Mike Little of Whiteiron Productions.

Woodbine Entertainment Group’s live coverage of the 2010 North America Cup aired as a special presentation on The Score Television Network on Saturday, June 26 from 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Greg Lanzo produced the 90-minute special.

A photograph of Shark Gesture was taken by Diana DeRosa and was published on the cover of the August 2010 edition of Trot Magazine.

The photograph of Part Shark leading the field in his Gold Cup and Saucer Trial on August 15 at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino was taken by Prince Edward Island photographer Ann MacNeill and published in the September 2, 1010 edition of The Canadian Sportsman.

The Media Excellence Awards program is aimed at honouring those who have, through one piece of exceptional work, covered Canadian harness racing in a manner that is extraordinary and of broad national appeal.

The six finalists were the top point earners scored by a panel of esteemed judges.

Standardbred Canada would like to extend their thanks and appreciation to all of the judges. Louis Cauz, horse racing author and managing director of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame; Bill Galvin, Canadian horse racing historian, author and poet; and Michelle Staples, author and horse safety specialist, judged the submissions in the Outstanding Written Work category.

Jocelyn Engle, producer and casting director for Shannon’s Rainbow; Alan Kirschenbaum, Hollywood producer and director for various TV sitcoms, including Yes Dear and Everybody Loves Raymond; and Dave Rutherford, executive producer of The Fight Network, were the judges in the Outstanding Broadcast Category.

Sovereign Award-winning photographer Michael Burns, Skip Dickstein, a past Eclipse Award winner and staff photographer at the Albany Times Union, and Barbara Sheridan, an award-winning freelance writer and photographer and former associate editor of Horse Care Magazine, scored the submissions for the Outstanding Photography category.

The winners will be announced and presented with their unique trophies at the annual O’Brien Awards gala on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel.

For more information on the O'Brien Awards, click here.

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