Authors to the Starting Gate for Book Award

Castleton Lyons, a leading Thoroughbred breeding farm, and Thoroughbred Times, a leading Thoroughbred industry publishing company, announced that they will be conducting the second annual Castleton Lyons-Thoroughbred Times Book Award to honor the best books published about Thoroughbred racing in 2007. Last year, the inaugural Castleton Lyons-Thoroughbred Times Book Award and its $10,000 first- place prize were awarded to Joe Drape for his book Black Maestro, which chronicled the life of Jimmy Winkfield, the last African-American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.

“The first year produced an outstanding winner in Black Maestro, and Joe Drape’s book is exactly the kind of work that we want to honor,” said Mark Simon, president of Thoroughbred Times. “This is the first award in Thoroughbred racing that honors books, which are such an important part of the fabric of racing but have been overlooked by the Thoroughbred racing industry.”

Nominees for the Castleton Lyons-Thoroughbred Times Book Award can be in any category: fiction, non-fiction, handicapping, training, children’s, health care, photography, etcetera, as long as it pertains to an aspect dealing with Thoroughbreds. Judges selected by Thoroughbred Times will critique books on content, as well as design, layout and artwork when applicable, to select the 2007 winner. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31, with the semi-finalists announcement in March 2008. The winners will be announced at a reception at Castleton Lyons in Lexington, Ky., in April 2008.

To enter a submission, authors or publishing companies should visit www.thoroughbredtimes.com and download the printable form. Just follow directions on how to send four copies of the book, along with the nomination form to the Thoroughbred Times office in Kentucky.