Media Awards Finalists Announced

Standardbred Canada is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2009 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 Lauren Lee, assistant editor of The Canadian Sportsman.

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

Claus Andersen and Sylvain Gagnon are the finalists in the Outstanding Photography category.

Outstanding Written Work

No Holds Barred, written by Andrew Cohen and published in Trot Magazine's State of the Industry issue (May, 2009), discussed the urgent need for immediate change and leadership in harness racing. Cohen shared his thoughts on the state of harness racing in 2009 and the work that must be done to save the sport, including a suggestion that a North American commissioner of harness racing might be the route to take.

A Father Says Goodbye to the Cup, written by Lauren Lee and published in the July 9 issue of The Canadian Sportsman, recounted the heartwarming memories of her dad’s lifelong love affair with harness racing and his final visits to the racetrack as he battled cancer.

Outstanding Broadcast

Horse Racing Alberta’s feature on Tajma Hall was broadcast on a live, one-hour telecast on CTV Alberta on August 8, 2009. Executive producers of the Tajma Hall feature were Jeff Robillard of Horse Racing Alberta and Mike Little of Whiteiron Productions.

Woodbine Entertainment Group’s live coverage of the 2009 North America Cup aired as a special presentation on The Score Television Network on Saturday, June 27 from 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Greg Lanzo produced the 90-minute special.

Outstanding Photograph

The photograph of John Campbell and Jody Jamieson taken by Claus Andersen was published in the April 16 edition of The Canadian Sportsman.

The photograph of racing on the boardwalk taken by Sylvain Gagnon was published in the August edition of Trot Magazine in the feature, Le 5 Milles: One Day Worth Celebrating, by Paul Delean.

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.

These 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; Debbie Little, sportswriter and handicapper for the New York Post; and Scott Roberts, news reporter and anchor for CTV Edmonton, judged the works submitted for the Outstanding Written Work category.

Brad Diamond, producer and broadcaster for Bradford Productions and former producer for The World of Horse Racing; Alan Kirschenbaum, Hollywood producer and director for various sitcoms including Yes Dear and Everybody Loves Raymond; and Evan Kosiner, founder of Television Development scored the submissions for the Outstanding Video, Film and 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 30, 2010 at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel.