Veteran Turf writer and racing historian Milt Toby won first place and runner-up honors for the “Magazine Article” category in the recent EQUUS Film & Arts Fest literary competition.
The winning article, “The Path Behind and Ahead: Due Process, the Derby, and the Dancer’s Image Playbook,” appeared in the July 2021 print edition of Blood-Horse magazine. It examines the ongoing Bob Baffert/Medina Spirit medication dispute arising from this year’s Kentucky Derby in the historical context of the disqualification of first-place finisher Dancer’s Image in the 1968 Derby. The article also looks at how legal strategies used in the Dancer’s Image case, although ultimately unsuccessful, laid the groundwork for the challenge to Medina Spirit’s positive drug test.
“¡Viva Cañonero!: Unlikely story of Venezuelan superstar who won Derby, Preakness still amazes,” the runner-up article, appeared in the May 2021 issue of Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred. ¡Viva Cañonero! celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the colt’s victories in the 1971 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes that made him the favorite to capture the first Triple Crown since Citation. A crushing defeat in the Belmont Stakes, on a day when Cañonero clearly was not at his best, denied him the Triple Crown. To this day, he remains a national hero in Venezuela.
Founded in 2013 by Lisa Diersen and currently co-organized by Diersen and Diana De Rosa, the EQUUS Film & Arts Fest opened its doors in the historic Arcada Theater in the quaint town of St. Charles, Illinois. The event moved to New York City in 2014, and in 2019 shifted to the Kentucky Horse Park. After virtual events in 2020 and 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic, the Film & Arts Fest will be live in Ocala, Florida, in 2022. The event is the world’s premier showcase for domestic and international feature films, documentaries, and shorts, plus literary, artistic, and photographic works in which the horse is center stage.
Milt Toby has won multiple awards for his writing, including the Dr. Tony Ryan Award for the best book about Thoroughbred racing, several American Horse Publications literary awards for books and magazine articles, and an American Society of Journalists and Authors award for the best article published in a trade journal. Milt is a member of American Horse Publications, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and a former president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Contact: Milt Toby
milt.toby@miltonctoby.com