Nick Luck to Host Eclipse Awards

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Dec. 29 that award-winning NBC Sports and Racing UK broadcaster Nick Luck will host the 47th annual Eclipse Awards Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

"It is really a huge honor to be asked to present an event as prestigious as the Eclipse Awards," Luck said. "I have been lucky enough to be a part of NBC's horse racing coverage for several years. These experiences have been made all the more enjoyable by the generosity of my friends and colleagues in the U.S. racing media. Hopefully I can do them justice next month."

Luck will replace longtime Eclipse Awards host Jeannine Edwards, who recently announced her retirement from ESPN and will undergo rotator cuff surgery in January.

"Having worked for several years with Jeannine. I know I have a very hard act to follow," Luck said.

Luck, 39, has been broadcasting for 16 years. He currently hosts the popular weekly show "Luck on Sunday" for Racing UK, in addition to all their major events, and has recently been heard as the voice of BBC Sport's Equestrian coverage.

Luck began working as a reporter on the Breeders' Cup in 2006 for ESPN, and continued as a reporter and analyst on the ESPN telecasts through 2011. Since 2012, Luck has been a part of the NBC Sports broadcast team of the Breeders' Cup, and has also been reporter, analyst and host of Breeders' Cup Challenge series programs on NBC and NBCSN. In June, Luck hosted the first NBCSN live coverage of the Royal Ascot meeting, and will be a part of NBC's broadcast team for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).

"We are so delighted to have Nick Luck—whose racing knowledge, sharp presentation, and quick wit have made him one of the most respected racing broadcasters in Great Britain and in North America—as our Eclipse Awards host this year," said NTRA president and chief executive officer Alex Waldrop. "On behalf of the presenting organizations, we also would like to thank Jeannine Edwards for her outstanding work as Eclipse Awards host the past six years, and congratulate her on a marvelous 22-year run with ESPN. We look forward to her being a part of the Eclipse Awards in the future."