From the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) this afternoon:

At a breakfast meeting of the IMG World Congress of Sports in New York City today, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that NBC received a nomination for the 28th Annual Sports Emmy Awards for its coverage of the 131st Preakness Stakes,

NBC’s telecast of last year’s Preakness, in which Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was injured shortly after the start, was produced by Sam Flood and among the on-air talent was Gary Stevens, another Hall of Fame jockey who began his first full year as a network sports analyst in 2006. Other members of the NBC on-air team for the Preakness were Bob Costas, Tom Hammond, Mike Battaglia, Tom Durkin, Bob Neumeier, Kenny Rice and Donna Brothers.

NBC’s 2006 Preakness telecast was one of five nominees in the category of Outstanding Live Sports Special. Others nominated in this category are ABC for the 2006 FIFA World Cup; FOX for MLB on FOX’s postseason coverage; CBS for the Pittsburgh-Indianapolis NFL Divisional Playoff telecast; and CBS again for its coverage of the 2006 Masters.

Former jockey Jerry Bailey also received an Emmy nomination as an on-air personality; Bailey is associated wtih ESPN’s racing broadcasts and will be working on camera for this weekend’s Lane’s End Stakes on ESPN.

Bloggger’s note for non-sports fans: FIFA is acronym for the world governing body of soccer and I think that MLB in this instance is Major League Baseball; NFL is the National Football League: “Masters” in this case refers to a golf tournament held in Georgia, not the Spruce Meadows jumping event.

The NBC list of on-air team members unfortunately did not include Dr Larry Bramlage of the AAEP’s On Call program; I think that Dr. Bramlage’s comments while Barbaro was on the track and when he was vanned away were key to the impact (and success) of that broadcast. It is not easy to think on your feet and provide credible information while you are watching a tiny monitor showing a horse standing in the middle of the track, and you are listening to input through your earbuds that you have to convey in simple English to millions of racing fans. He would get my Emmy!