2011 Eclipse Awards
January 14th, 2011 Comments Off
The Eclipse Awards are just around the corner and the big question of who will be Horse of the Year will be answered. I’ll be at the Fountainbleau along with a few hundred other people from the horse racing industry. There will be the usual gathering of owners and breeders. With Gulfstream Park just around the corner there will be plenty of jockeys and trainers, more than just the handful nominated for the awards. The media will be there as both horse racing networks (TVG and HRTV) and ESPN will have their people there . . . and then there’s me . . . just a guy with his paint brush, palette, and a couple canvases. I’ll be there working on the final stages of two paintings of the horses at the center of the storm for HoY: Zenyatta and Blame. To some the obvious painting was to paint the Breeders’ Cup Classic with both horses (which has been voted the moment of the year in horse racing), but that might not do justice to both horses’ accomplishments; so, I’ve painted Zenyatta winning the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn. Oaklawn uses a light pink saddle cloth for all entries in the Apple Blossom, which goes great with the Moss silks as she is painted in front of a backdrop of pastel spring blossoms. Blame is painted winning the Whitney at Saratoga as he wins an exciting stretch duel over the pre-race favorite Quality Road. After working on these two paintings for a couple weeks it was announced that Marylou Whitney would be receiving a special Eclipse Award for her lifetime contributions of to the sport. It’s nice that the Whitney name is promenently displayed on the Blame saddle cloth; not only are the two HoY candidates represented in the paintings, but so too are all three of the groups receiving special Eclipse Awards: Team Zenyatta, Claiborne Farm (partners on Blame and where he has gone to stud), and Marylou Whitney on the saddle cloth . . . see, I knew there was a reason I wasn’t painting the BC Classic.
I am honored to paint at the Eclipse Awards as the guest of the National Turf Writers & Broadcasters Association in conjunction with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The proceeds of the painting of the Horse of the Year will be donated to the NTRA Charities. I’m proud of the relationship and mutual respect I have with the NTWBA whom I began painting for 5 years at ago at their awards banquet and first painted for them at the Eclipse Awards 3 years ago.
I have no idea how the vote for Horse of the Year turned out; both of these paintings were started long before the votes were counted. Next week, I’ll post the two paintings . . . until then . . . “down the stretch they come!”
