Three Added to Racing Museum’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Writers Edward L. Bowen and Ray Kerrison and pioneering photographer Charles Christian “C. C.” Cook have been selected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

Bowen (1942-2025), who was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year as a Pillar of the Turf, enjoyed a prolific career as a racing journalist and historian for more than 60 years. An editor-in-chief of The BloodHorse magazine and the author of 22 books on horse racing, Bowen also served 24 years as president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. He was the chair of numerous committees at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, including the contemporary Nominating Committee for 38 years, beginning in 1987.

“Ed contributed to the betterment of racing in so many ways and the historical record of his outstanding writing will live on forever,” said Brien Bouyea, the Racing Museum’s communications director. “Ed built a reputation on integral reporting and captivating storytelling. He loved horses and horse racing and that passion shined through in his vivid work.”

Cook (1873-1954) was one of American racing’s first and most influential photographers. He worked as a photojournalist for newspapers in Chicago before becoming a freelancer around 1900. His images of animals in the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and the Barnum and Bailey Circus attracted wide attention. Cook began his association with racing photography at Washington Park in Chicago in the late 1890s. He was one of the first photographers in the United States to specialize in horse racing photography, as well as portraits and scenic images at various racetracks. 

When racing was banned in his home state of Illinois, Cook relocated to New York. Beginning in 1906, he worked for New York’s Globe newspaper and later as a staff photographer for The Morning Telegraph, the sister publication of Daily Racing Form. For decades, Cook was a commercial photographer at tracks in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, and New York, among others. He also spent time as the official track photographer at Florida’s Hialeah Park.

Kerrison (1930-2022) wrote for the New York Post from 1977 through 2013, serving the paper as both a news and horse racing columnist. He covered 32 editions of the Kentucky Derby and numerous other major races, including Breeders’ Cup events. He edited the National Star, Rupert Murdoch’s first U.S. publication, in the early 1970s, then was hired by The Post in 1977 to cover horse racing. In his first year at The Post, Kerrison uncovered a racing scandal in which one horse raced under the name of another at Belmont Park. The betting fix involved the switching of the identities of the horses, Lebon and Cinzano. For this reporting, Kerrison was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. A couple of years later, Kerrison and fellow racing writer John Piesen broke the story of the biggest race-fixing scam in New York history. “Racing’s Darkest Hour” was The Post’s headline. Kerrison’s reporting played a key role in uncovering the scandal that led to charges being brought against jockey Con Errico, mobster Anthony Ciulla, and more than 20 others. Along with his racing writing, Kerrison reported on many other major news events during his career, including Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, the first moon landing in 1969, and the Munich Olympics tragedy in 1972.

“Ray was smart, kind, dryly witty, and as committed to his craft as any journalist I’ve ever known,” Bob McManus, The Post’s retired editorial page editor, said after Kerrison’s death in 2022. “He was a man of unshakable principle, which was obvious in his writing, but also a fellow who respected his readers’ intelligence. His goal was to persuade, not to lecture, and while his work could be controversial, it always was honest.”

The National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor was established in 2010 to recognize individuals whose careers have been dedicated to, or substantially involved in, writing about thoroughbred racing (nonfiction), and who distinguished themselves as journalists. The criteria has since been expanded to allow the consideration of other forms of media.