Ryan Book Award Entries Being Taken

Castleton Lyons announced entries are being taken for the seventh annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, a competition recognizing excellence in writing in the Thoroughbred industry.

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

"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," said Shane Ryan, president of Castleton Lyons.

Qualifying entries must have been published during the 2012 calendar year, and may represent any genre, including history, human or equine biography, investigative reporting, hands-on/how-to, photo essay, and fiction, so long as it is related to some aspect of horse racing. A copy of the nomination form is available on the Castleton Lyons website.

Deadline for submissions is Jan. 15, 2013. Finalists will be announced in March, and the winner will be named at an April awards ceremony held in Castleton Lyons' stallion barn. In addition to the $10,000 winner's check, two runners-up will each receive crystal trophies and $1,000.