Dick Jerardi, sports writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, has won the 2006
Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the News/Commentary category for his series
of articles on the injury to Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Barbaro (Dynaformer) in
the hours following the Preakness S. (G1). Jerardi’s articles “A Nightmare,
Right from the Start” and “Maybe Step” were published on May 22. “In Barbaro’s
Corral” was published on May 24.
In the first of the three articles, Jerardi described the scene at Pimlico
Race Course right after Barbaro’s injury and the colt’s journey to the George D.
Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania’s New
Bolton Center that evening. The second article detailed the explanations of Dr.
Dean Richardson after performing surgery on Barbaro at the New Bolton Center.
The final story provided comment on the decision of Barbaro’s owners, Roy and
Gretchen Jackson, to move ahead with the surgery and the emotional turmoil of
the preceding two days.
“I wanted to give readers the experience of what it was like at those crisis
moments at Pimlico and New Bolton through my eyes,” said Jerardi, who has been
covering sports for the Philadelphia Daily News since 1985. “I had never
been in a situation quite like this one before. It was one of the biggest
stories I’ve ever covered, and of course, in those long hours of Barbaro’s
surgery at New Bolton, you don’t know the outcome. My editors gave me a lot of
leeway and I appreciated it very much.”
Honorable mention in the Writing – News/Commentary category went to J. Davant
Latham Jr. for “Crystal Clear,” a commentary on the life of 2005 Eclipse Award
Sprinter Lost in the Fog, which appeared in The Blood-Horse on September
30; and Joe Clancy for his article “Everyone Wanted to Know About Barbaro,”
which was published in The Blood-Horse on June 10.
The panel of judges for the Writing – News/Commentary category was comprised
of Reid Cherner, USA Today; Jim Peden, former vice-president of communications
for The Jockey Club; and Fred Klein, sports columnist and journalist.