Longtime Horse Racing Writer Passes Away at 66

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Paul Moran, 66, died Saturday afternoon in Saratoga Springs, surrounded by his brother James and friends, after a battle with lung cancer. Moran was born on July 20, 1947 and became a prominent turf writer, who wrote for Newsday from 1985-2007. He attended SUNY Buffalo in his hometown and served as an Air Force sergeant in Vietnam and the Middle East, then covered sports for the Buffalo News and the Tonawanda News. He joined Newsday in 1985 after 10 years at the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel (1975-1985) and he covered his first Kentucky Derby in 1973 before covering the following 35 Triple Crowns. He was also the co-author of “Crown of Jewels of Thoroughbred Racing” and contributed to many articles in magazines. He won two Eclipse Awards for “outstanding coverage of thoroughbred racing,” as a writer for Newsday, profiling Daily Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch in 1985 and re-capturing the fatal breakdown of champion filly Go for Wand in the Breeders’ Cup at Belmont in 1990. He also won the Red Smith Award for his Kentucky Derby coverage, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1990 and the Distinguished Sports Writing Award from the New York Newspaper Publishers Association in 1992. Moran served on the board of directors of the National Turf Writers Association from 1987-1990 and was president of the New York Turf Writers Association from 1990-1992. Moran retired to Saratoga Springs in 2008, but continued to write for ESPN.com and worked six Saratoga meetings for The Associated Press. He also owned several New York-bred horses that were trained by James Bond. Five days before his death, he sent a group email expressing resignation: “All fights end, and you always lose the last one. I have enjoyed a wonderful life full of great people, places and animals. Everything else is secondary to the places I’ve seen, the horses I’ve covered and the moment’s I’ve witnessed.” In addition to James, of Hardwick, Massachusetts, survivors include his mother, Frances, of Buffalo; three brothers, David and Francis, also of Buffalo; and Robert, of Stewartsville, New Jersey; three nephews, two nieces and a grandnephew. Moran wished to be cremated and for his ashes to be scattered over Go for Wand’s grave in the infield at Saratoga.