Hervey winners announced

Brad Schmaltz, writing for the Columbus Dispatch and Bernard Tobin, writing for The Canadian Sportsman, have won top honors in the 2004 John Hervey Awards competition; Tom Wolski, producer of Sport Of Kings on Citytv Vancouver, is the winner of the 2004 Broadcasters Awards competition; and Mark Hall, for his photo in Hoof Beats, has been awarded first prize in the 2004 Smallsreed Award competition.



All three contests are co-sponsored by the United States Trotting Association and the United States Harness Writers' Association. For their efforts, each winner will receive $500 from Standardbred owner Sanford Goldfarb, who has underwritten the $3,400 in prize money for this year's competitions.



Schmaltz, who penned a feature on top Standardbred driver David Miller, was selected as the newspaper winner by Rich Fisher, longtime sports editor for a chain of weekly newspapers and a stringer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Associated Press, who judged that division of the Hervey competition.



Tobin captured his first-place finish in the magazine category with "Reunited with Riyadh," a story about champion pacer Riyadh and his groom Bob Butter. Tobin was selected the winner by Mark Moffa, a managing editor with the Princeton Packet Inc., who judged the magazine competition of the Hervey Awards.



Kim Rinker, for a story she authored on Carl's Big Mack's bout with West Nile Virus in The Horseman and Fair World, was named the first runner-up and will receive $250.



Wolski was named the winner in the Broadcasters Awards for his feature on Andy and Brenda Arsenault. Wolski was selected by Tom Dawson, horse racing producer for ESPN, who was the judge of the Broadcasters Awards.



Mark Hall took first-place honors in the Smallsreed photo competition for his "Winter Wonderland" shot, which was published on the December 2003 cover of Hoof Beats. Hall was selected the winner by Barbara Livingston, a multiple Eclipse award-winning photographer, who judged the Smallsreed competition.



Claus Andersen, for his photo of Admirals Express on the July 8, 2004 cover of The Canadian Sportsman, was named the first runner-up in the Smallsreed competition and will receive $250. Joe Kyle, for his photo of horses in the fog at The Red Mile in the October 6, 2004 edition of The Horseman and Fair World wound up third and earned a $100 check.



The winners will be honored at the awards banquet conducted by the U.S. Harness Writers Association, to be held Sunday, Feb. 13 at Caesars Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. The banquet annually honors the top people and equines from the past season of harness racing. Banquet tickets, priced at $100, can be purchased from Judy Davis-Wilson at (302) 698-4610.

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