Steeplechase photo garners Media Eclipse Award

By: SPORTS NETWORK

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Bob Mayberger of Eclipse Sportswire has received the 2011 Media Eclipse Award for Photography honoring his photo of thoroughbreds jumping over a fence during a steeplechase race at Saratoga Race Course on August 4. The picture, of the A.P. Smithwick Memorial, was featured on the Sports Illustrated Snapshot web site the same day.

"I am unbelievably surprised and happy that I've won an Eclipse Award considering the number of outstanding and talented photographers that enter the competition each year," said the first time honoree. "It was a beautiful day at Saratoga and I thought I would try a fisheye photo on the Steeplechase course for the first time. Steeplechase racing allows you to get a shot of something the average person doesn't normally see. I know how lucky I am."

The Albany resident photographed 225 stakes races in 2011. He began taking pictures from the Saratoga grandstand 10 years ago, but initially gained recognition as a photographer in 2008 for a widely distributed photo he took of a loose horse shoe on Big Brown during the colt's failed attempt to sweep the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes.

The 58-year-old Mayberger works as a lawyer at a New York State appeals court.

The Eclipse Awards are voted upon by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters. The 41st annual Eclipse Awards will be presented on Monday, January 16 in Beverly Hills, CA.