ENTRIES BEING TAKEN FOR
2013 DR. TONY RYAN BOOK AWARD
Lexington, Kentucky—Castleton Lyons will again be sponsoring the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, a competition recognizing excellence in writing in the Thoroughbred industry, and entries are now being taken for the eighth annual award. 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, whose twin passions for great writing and quality horse racing led to his launch of the competition in 2006.
“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. 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 Mr. Shane Ryan, president of Castleton Lyons.
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, 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; http://castletonlyons.com/images/files/Book%20Award%202013%20nomination%20form.pdf
Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2013. Finalists will be announced in March, and the winner will be named at an April awards ceremony held in a picturesque loft above 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.
Previous winners of the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award:
- 2012 Patrick Smithwick, Flying Change:A year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing
- 2011 Milt Toby, Dancer’s Image: The Forgotten Story of the 1968 Kentucky Derby
- 2010 Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule
- 2009 James E. “Ted” Bassett and Bill Mooney, Keeneland’s Ted Bassett: My Life
- 2008 Rudy Alvarado, The Untold Story of Joe Hernandez: The Voice of Santa Anita
- 2007 T. D. Thornton, Not By a Long Shot: A Season at a Hard-Luck Horse Track
- 2006 Joe Drape, Black Maestro
For more information, contact Stuart Fitzgibbon at Castleton Lyons, (859) 455-9222 or sfitzgibbon@castletonlyons.com
About Castleton Lyons
Castleton Lyons is full-service Thoroughbred facility located on historic property near Lexington, Kentucky, in the heart of Blue Grass country. This limestone rich acreage, once owned by 18th century statesman John Breckinridge and later by Victorian Era Wall Street financier James R. Keene, has produced some of America’s most notable racehorses—from long-ago Racing Hall of Fame champions Domino, Commando, and Colin, to triple Eclipse Award-winning Ryan-family homebred and current Castleton Lyons stallion Gio Ponti who stands alongside our newest stallion venture, G1 winning sprinter Justin Phillip.
Castleton Lyons, 2469 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, Kentucky 40511; (859) 455-9222
