Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Dave Witten Wins Smallsreed Award

January 2, 2007

A sweeping photograph of Mr Feelgood’s winning move in the Little Brown Jug, captured by North Carolina’s Dave Witten, was selected the winner of the 2006 George Smallsreed Award for photojournalism, it was announced by the United States Harness Writers Association.

The Smallsreed, named for the chief photographer for the United States Trotting Association and a much honored photojournalist, features a grand prize of $500 with $250 for second and $100 for third. The prizes, including the John Hervey Awards for print and video journalism, are sponsored by horse and racetrack owner Jeff Gural and are presented for excellence in the coverage of harness racing.

Witten, whose winning entry appeared in the September 27, 2006 edition of Horseman & Fair World, also won the Smallsreed in 2005 for one of his Little Brown Jug photos. He covers most of harness racing’s premier events with his wife and co-photographer, Bea. The Wittens live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
“This is a picture that illustrates the excitement of a winning move in harness racing,” said Michael Lipack, a photo editor for the New York Daily News, who served as the contest judge.

Lipack awarded second-place honors to Jackie Wimbush of Belleville, Ontario, who submitted a whimsical shot that appeared in the November 2006 issue of Trot. It is an image of a zebra watching a harness horse in action. The photo, entitled “Racing Stripes,” was used in the Trot for Kids calendar.
It was a “funny, eye-catching picture,” Lipack said. “It would stop you on the page.”

Mr Feelgood was also the subject of the third-place photo. The “Feelgood Moment,” the cover shot of the September 26, 2006 edition of the Canadian Sportsman, was taken by Dave Landry.

This image of caretaker Adam Hanley, embracing the head of Mr Feelgood, illustrated a “nice feeling between horse and groom after a race,” noted Lipack.
Winners will be honored as part of the Night of Champions Awards Banquet at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 25, 2007. For tickets to the banquet [$100 each], contact Scott Warren at 302-222-1222 or 302-398-7595. Further information is available on www.ushwa.org.