Michael Clevenger, veteran photographer of the Louisville Courier-Journal, has earned a 2015 Media Eclipse Award for Photography for his image of American Pharoah completing the Triple Crown in the GI Belmont S., the NTRA, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Tuesday. It is Clevenger's third overall Eclipse Award, having secured the honor previously in 2002 and 2010.
The photograph, snapped from the inside rail along the Belmont Park homestretch, depicts jockey Victor Espinoza glancing over this left shoulder to see American Pharoah's margin of victory as a full grandstand cheers him to the wire in the background. The picture first appeared June 7 in the Courier-Journal, which also published Clevenger's previous two winning photos.
Clevenger joins Scott Serio as the second recipient of Eclipse Award for Photography to be recognized at Saturday's ceremony at Gulfstream Park. Serio captured a photograph of American Pharoah working out on the Keeneland training track ahead of his final career start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.
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