NBC Sports has won the Eclipse Award for National Television-Live Racing Programming for its production of the 2001 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.The program, expanded from its previous 4 1/2-hour format to five hours in 2001, aired Oct. 27, from Belmont Park in New York, and was produced by David Michaels. The NBC network has won four Eclipse Awards since 1971. "We're honored to receive this award," Michaels said. "Over the many years of producing the Breeders' Cup, and most recently the Triple Crown, we have developed what I call the 'dream team' of on-air talent and production staff."This past Breeders' Cup was particularly poignant for a number of reasons. It was the first international sporting event to be held in New York City since the Sept. 11 attacks, and right away we were challenged by the horrible accident with Exogenous (the filly who fell while walking to the track from the paddock). Our team handled the incident with sensitivity and class."Judges for the category included Ed O'Brien, a morning news anchor at WRGB-TV in upstate New York; Rob Duboff, marketing consultant and executive-in-residence at Boston College; and Terry Hanson of Hanson Enterprises, a sports and entertainment management firm. NBC Sports' broadcast of the Kentucky Derby placed second in the Eclipse Award voting.
