Reporter Janet Patton Wins Second Eclipse

Reporter Janet Patton has won the 2005 Media Eclipse Award for writing in the feature or enterprise category for her series of articles in the Lexington Herald-Leader on racetrack workers and compensation. This is the second Eclipse Award for Patton, an equine and agricultural business writer for the Herald-Leader since 1998.

Patton's four-part series "Wrong Side of The Track," from Jan. 23-30, explored the backstretch, presenting extensive interviews about the lives of stable workers, trainers and jockeys, and their struggles to obtain adequate workers' compensation and insurance.

"I'm extremely gratified to win this award because this was one of the most difficult pieces that I've ever written," said Patton, who won an Eclipse for her story on Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome in 2001.

The 2005 Eclipse Awards will be held January 23, 2006 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif.