"Get in the Gate"

Photo by Bryan Smith, NY Daily News

A photograph of a recalcitrant racehorse being muscled into the gate at Saratoga Race Course has taken top honors in the New York Press Photographers Association’s annual contest.

The New York Daily News’ Bryan Smith snapped the award-winning photo at Saratoga this past summer as Jacobson Racing Stables’ Pangburn was being loaded into the gate for a mile and one-eighth claiming race on the main turf course on August 2. Entitled “Get in the Gate,” the photo won first place in the sports feature category.

“I was fortunate that my photo editor, Michael Lipack, gave me the assignment to go to Saratoga for the entire meet,” said Smith, 35, who grew up in Saratoga Springs and now lives in Manhattan. “The people at NYRA gave me wonderful access, and I had befriended the starting gate crew – those guys are total pros. I was coming up with every angle to shoot a summer at Saratoga.

“For that shot, I was in the infield. I’d seen this horse giving the starters problems before and I was hoping the moment would come together … and it did. It’s not your generic racing photo.”

Two other Saratoga photos by Smith took honorable mention in the sports feature and sports action categories in the NYPPA contest. Founded in 1915, the organization judged photos from more than a dozen newspapers and news organizations in New York and New Jersey. The winners can be viewed online at www.nyppa.org.