The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form
and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Wednesday that
Claire Novak has won the 2011 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the
Feature/Commentary category for "Pressure off Durkin at Belmont," which appeared
on ESPN.com on June 10.
This is the first Media Eclipse Award for Novak, a native of Lake Zurich,
Illinois, who now resides in Lexington, Kentucky, and is a horse racing
correspondent for ESPN.com.
Prior to this year's Belmont Stakes, Novak wrote a profile of the renowned
racecaller Tom Durkin, on his reflections weeks after his decision to step down
early in 2011 as the NBC Sports' "Voice of the Triple Crown." In the piece,
Durkin revealed his anxieties, the nerve-racking preparations to leave the
network position, but also a man more at peace with his new circumstances. Novak
also spoke to Louisiana Downs' racecaller Travis Stone, who idolized Durkin
growing up, and the thoughts of Larry Collmus, who replaced Durkin as NBC's
Triple Crown announcer.
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