Entries Being Accepted for Ryan Book Award

Castleton Lyons has announced that entries are being accepted for the eighth annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, a competition recognizing excellence in writing in the Thoroughbred industry. The deadline for entry is Dec. 31.

The award, which comes with a $10,000 winner's prize and a Tipperary Crystal trophy, is named for the late Castleton Lyons owner "whose twin passions for great writing and quality horse racing led to his launch of the competition in 2006," according to a release from the farm.

"We have had seven excellent book award winners to date and I have no doubt that 2013 will once again prove to be a year of outstanding quality in equine literature," said Castleton Lyons president Shane Ryan. "Our sponsorship of the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award gives me great pleasure as it is a wonderful forum to promote and reward equine writing as my father intended when he founded this award in 2006."

Qualifying entries must have been published during the 2013 calendar year, and may represent any genre, including history, human, or equine biography, investigative reporting, hands-on/how-to, photo essay, or fiction as long as it is related to some aspect of horse racing. A copy of the nomination form is available here on the Castleton Lyons website.

Finalists will be announced in March 2014, and the winner will be named at an April awards ceremony held at Castleton Lyons' stallion barn. In addition to the $10,000 winner's check, two runners-up will each receive crystal trophies and $1,000.

Past winners, finalists and semi-finalists in the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award competition have included best-selling mystery author Dick Francis, 2010 National Book Award recipient Jaimy Gordon, and multiple Eclipse Award honorees William Nack, Joe Drape, Bill Mooney, and Maryjean Wall.