Third Photography Eclipse for Livingston

Barbara Livingston has won an unprecedented third Eclipse Award for photography for her photograph of Tapiture working out in a driving rainstorm at Churchill Downs in preparation for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

The black-and-white photograph appeared in Daily Racing Form on April 3, 2014.

Livingston, from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has been the chief photographer at the Form since 2008. She previously won the award in 1992 for a photograph in The Blood-Horse magazine and in 2001 for an image in The Thoroughbred Chronicle.

Livingston will receive her honor at the 44th annual Eclipse Awards dinner and ceremony Jan. 17 at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino. The Eclipse Awards are presented by Daily Racing Form, Breeders' Cup, and The Stronach Group and are produced by the NTRA.

"I'm very proud to record our sport's history, and it's an indescribable honor to win three Eclipse Awards," Livingston said. "I'm very critical of my work but really like this photo, in part because it evokes emotion and excitement—something our sport so often inspires—and it was also taken under very difficult conditions."

Livingston planned to photograph Tapiture, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and trained by Steve Asmussen, in the colt's final workout, a half-mile, before the Derby on Monday, April 28. It was raining at 6 a.m., the scheduled time for the work under lights, but he did not work until approximately 6:25 a.m. By then, the poor weather conditions had intensified.

"The storm was so severe, like something in a movie," Livingston said. "There was thunder and lightning and sheets of rain."

Livingston positioned herself under a trainer's stand near the final turn, close to the track kitchen, to capture Tapiture and exercise rider Abel Flores. Flores, Livingston said, "is just a little wild. I knew he'd be having a ball out there. A few of my shots show what looks like a smile on his face."

"Autofocus cameras tend to see rain drops and, with such minimal lighting, can have trouble finding the subject," Livingston said. "It wasn't easy to convince the camera to choose Tapiture instead of the rain. I think the light source behind them, accentuating the rain, helped make the photo unusual."

Due to the severity of the storm, Churchill temporarily closed the track soon after Tapiture's work.

The winning photograph was taken with a Canon Mark IV camera. It can be viewed on the NTRA web page.

Honorable mention in the photography category went to Chelsea Durand for a photo of Kate is a Ten vaulting a shadow at Belmont Park, which appeared online in Thoroughbred Racing Commentary on Oct. 22, 2014; and to Matt Wooley of the Paulick Report, for a photograph of Bayern breaking from the gate in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I), which was published on Nov. 2 of last year.

Judges in the Photography category were Richard Mackson of USA Today Sports; Kim Pratt of Parx Racing and a former Eclipse Award-winning photographer, and Michele McDonald of Full Stride Communications.