BloodHorse Earns Eight First-Place AHP Awards

American Horse Publications recognized BloodHorse in 11 categories—including eight first-place awards—in announcing June 16 results of its equine media awards for material published in 2017 at its conference in Hunt Valley, Md.

Also recognized in three categories, including one top honor, was BloodHorse-published Keeneland magazine.

First-place awards in editorial content included a pair of stories by online editor Jeremy Balan for BloodHorse.com covering a wildfire that ravaged Southern California's San Luis Rey Training Center. Balan's story, "Horsemen Report Equine Deaths in San Luis Rey Fire" (Dec. 7) won in the breaking news or investigative reporting category. And a follow-up story, "San Luis Rey Horsemen Faced Brutal Challenges in Fire," (Dec. 13) won in the news reporting related feature category.

BloodHorse correspondent Tracy Gantz took top honors in the freelance writer, equine-related journalism category for her story (published on BloodHorse.com Dec. 12) on two vets who took in more than 100 horses displaced by the San Luis Rey fire, "Trifecta Equine Staff Shines in Vital SLR Rescue Effort."

BloodHorse.com also published the year's top long-form story as Milt Toby was honored for "Silent Tom's Atomizor," recalling a scandal involving Tom Smith, who cemented his place in history as the trainer of Seabiscuit.

A BloodHorse magazine (April 1) story by Frank Angst, "A Brother's Love," on jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. and his brother, retired jockey and current jockey agent Nelson Arroyo, earned top honors in the personality profile category.

BloodHorse magazine also earned three other awards. Art director Catherine Nichols was honored for her work in the top cover category (10,000-20,000 circulation) for the Man o'War 100th anniversary issue (March 25); and best editorial design (Evan Hammonds editor) for the same issue. For the second consecutive year, BloodHorse's digital Tablet edition was honored by AHP as the equine industry's top digital publication. It's produced by BloodHorse's creative services department.

Earning runner-up honors for event coverage was Alicia Wincze-Hughes for her BloodHorse magazine story on the 2017 Dubai World Cup won by Arrogate . The story, "The Audacity of Greatness," appeared in the April 1 issue.

In the equine-related video category, a preview of the Fasig-Tipton November Sale earned third-place honors; executive producer Anne Eberhardt Keogh, editorial lead and talent Claire Crosby, director of photography and editor Jonathan Palmer, and videographer David Stephenson.

Receiving honorable mention in the feature category was the BloodHorse Daily story (Aug. 14) from Eric Mitchell about Columbia University research into the effectiveness horse programs in treating veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, "A Firmer Footing for Retired Horses and Veterans."

Keeneland magazine earned three honors at the AHP Awards ceremony. First place in a personality profile category was Cynthia Grisolia for her feature on Ercel Ellis in the Fall 2017 issue, "Dean of Racing." Receiving honorable mention was Liane Crossley in the Service to the Horse Industry category, for her story "Amazing Makeovers" about the Thoroughbred Makeover competition in the Fall 2017 issue. Nichols' cover design for the Winter 2017 issue received an honorable mention.