Goins earns Media Eclipse for photo of flying dismount

Matt Goins captured Frankie Dettori’s famed leap from the saddle (Matt Goins/Courtesy of NTRA.com) The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association announced Monday that Matt Goins of Lexington, Kentucky, has won the 2008 Media Eclipse Award for Photography for his picture “Frankie’s Flying Dismount” of jockey Frankie Dettori leaping off Donativum (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux) in the winner’s circle following his victory in the October 25 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita. The photograph appeared in Al-Adiyat, the Dubai-based racing publication, on November 6. This is the second Media Eclipse Award for Photography for the 38-year-old Goins, who won his first bronze statue in 2006 for a photo of jockey Julien Leparoux published in the Lexington Herald-Leader. “I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to work in such an exciting industry, and to be awarded the sport’s highest honor on two occasions is extremely humbling,” Goins said. “I’ve had a front row seat for some of the greatest moments in racing history while being surrounded by the beauty that is the Thoroughbred.”

Dettori is a champion jockey in Europe and known around the world for his
flying dismounts after important victories. In Goins’s winning photo, he
captures a delighted Dettori, arms and legs in the air, over the gray Donativum,
owned by Princess Haya of Jordan and Darley Stable. The full frame, shot with a
Canon 70-200mm zoom lens at 75mm, captured palm trees to the left of the
winner’s circle and the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

Honorable mention in the Photography category went to Alexander Barkoff,
whose photo of a morning sunrise on the Fair Grounds backstretch was published
in the New Orleans Times Picayune on November 9, and to Matt Wooley,
whose photo of Big Brown winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) appeared in Daily
Racing Form on May 6.

The panel of judges in the Photography category comprised Ed Reinke, The
Associated Press, Louisville, Kentucky; Jim Gensheimer, San Jose Mercury News
and Dan Farrell, former photographer for New York Daily News.

Eclipse Awards are given to recognize members of the media for outstanding
coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and
individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of
champion in their respective categories. Awards also are given to recognize
members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and
foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18
starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races,
including three Epsom Derbies.

The 2008 Eclipse Awards ceremony will be held on January 26, 2009, at the
Fontainebleau Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Florida. For hotel accommodations and
Eclipse Awards dinner reservations, contact Michele Ravencraft at the NTRA’s
Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail mravencraft@ntra.com.