Archive for the ‘eclipse awards’ Category
Monday, January 18th, 2010
The following information was provided by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, detailing the 2009 Eclipse Award winners and vote totals (first place votes only). The first order of business for the NTRA should be to investigate who voted for Icon Project as the older female champion over Zenyatta. That person should not be eligible for future voting. Rachel Alexandra was rightfully selected unanimously in her category as champion 3-year-old filly. (UPDATE: See my comment below this story; the NTRA sent out a press release explaining the Icon Project vote as as "mistake" made by a Daily Racing Form editor. The vote totals have been amended and Zenyatta is now a "unanimous" winner of her division, as was Rachel Alexandra.) – Ray Paulick
Rachel Alexandra was named the 2009 Horse of the Year tonight at the conclusion of the 39th annual Eclipse Awards at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Undefeated as a 3-year-old filly last year, Rachel Alexandra finished ahead of undefeated mare Zenyatta by a margin of 130-99. There were two abstentions and one no vote.
Votes were tallied from members of the three presenting organizations – the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and National Turf Writers Association (NTWA). The votes are tabulated and certified by Strothman and Company.
The complete list of 2009 Eclipse Award winners and voting totals are below.
· Horse of the Year: Rachel Alexandra
· Two-Year-Old Male: Lookin At Lucky
· Two-Year-Old Filly: She Be Wild
· Three-Year-Old Male: Summer Bird
· Three-Year-Old Filly: Rachel Alexandra
· Older Male: Gio Ponti (4)
· Older Female: Zenyatta (5)
· Female Sprinter: Informed Decision (4)
· Male Sprinter: Kodiak Kowboy (4)
· Male Turf Horse: Gio Ponti (4)
· Female Turf Horse: Goldikova (4)
· Steeplechase Horse: Mixed Up (10)
· Owner: Godolphin Racing
· Breeder: Juddmonte Farms
· Jockey: Julien Leparoux
· Apprentice Jockey: Christian Santiago Reyes
· Trainer: Steve Asmussen
The Eclipse Awards
Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon the Thoroughbred horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective divisions. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
Voting Overview
In voting that concluded January 4, 2010, Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system basis with the exception of the Horse of the Year category. This voting established the top three finalists in each division, the names of which were released on Jan. 6, 2010. Eclipse Award winners; however, were determined by first-place votes only.
The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA/Equibase, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers Association.
Voter participation rate: 232/271 = 85.6%
Two-Year-Old Male (Name, First-Place Votes)
Lookin At Lucky, 209; Vale of York, 17; Buddy’s Saint, 2; Noble’s Promise, 2; D’Funnybone, 1; Jackson Bend, 1.
Two-Year-Old Filly
She Be Wild, 171; Blind Luck, 41; Hot Dixie Chick, 17; Awesome Maria, 1; Biofuel, 1; Tapitsfly, 1.
Three-Year-Old Male
Summer Bird, 225; Mine That Bird, 4; Blame, 1; I Want Revenge, 1; No Vote, 1.
Three-Year-Old Filly
Rachel Alexandra, 232.
Older Male
Gio Ponti, 184; Einstein (BRZ), 18; Kodiak Kowboy, 16; Macho Again, 5; Furthest Land, 2; Rail Trip, 2; Well Armed, 1; Voter Abstentions, 4.
Older Female
Zenyatta, 231; Icon Project, 1.
Female Sprinter
Informed Decision, 222; Ventura, 6; Game Face, 1; Indian Blessing, 1; Music Note, 1; Diamondrella, 1.
Male Sprinter
Kodiak Kowboy, 118; Zensational, 54; Dancing in Silks, 43; Fabulous Strike, 9; California Flag, 6; Vineyard Haven, 1; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Male Turf Horse
Gio Ponti, 206; Conduit, 22; Presious Passion, 3; Court Vision, 1.
Female Turf Horse
Goldikova (IRE), 172; Ventura, 41; Magical Fantasy, 7; Midday (GB), 7; Pure Clan, 3; Forever Together, 1; Voter Abstentions, 1;
Steeplechase Horse
Mixed Up, 209; Red Letter Day, 3; Voter Abstentions, 20.
Horse of the Year
Rachel Alexandra, 130; Zenyatta, 99; Voter Abstentions, 2; No Vote, 1.
Outstanding Owner
Godolphin Racing, 61; Mr. and Mrs. Jerome S. Moss, 56; Juddmonte Farms, 40; WinStar Farm, 38; Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, 15; Augustin Stables, 7; Michael Gill, 6; Darley Stable, 3; Zayat Stables, 2; Heiligbrodt Racing Stables, 1; Midwest Thoroughbreds, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.
Outstanding Breeder
Juddmonte Farms, 157; Adena Springs, 44; Dolphus Morrison, 16; Maverick Productions, Ltd., 3; WinStar Farm, 3; Eugene Melnyk, 2; Darley Stable, 1. Voter Abstentions, 6.
Outstanding Trainer
Steve Asmussen, 130; John Shirreffs, 57; Jonathan Sheppard, 19; Bob Baffert,10; Saeed bin Suroor, 5; Bobby Frankel, 4; Jerry Hollendorfer, 2; Hal Wiggins, 2; Todd Pletcher, 2; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Outstanding Jockey
Julien Leparoux, 122; Garrett Gomez,46; Ramon Dominguez, 45; Calvin Borel, 13; Mike Smith, 3; Kent Desormeaux, 2; Russell Baze, 1.
Apprentice Jockey
Christian Santiago Reyes, 93; Luis Saez, 48; Luis Batista, 47; Inez Karlsson, 8; Michael Straight, 4; Omar Moreno, 3; Jose Vega, 3; Tony Maragh, 2; Casey Papineau, 1; Angel Serpa, 1; Voter Abstentions, 21, No Vote, 1.
Award of Merit and Special Award
The winner of the Award of Merit, voted on by a panel of representatives from the three presenting organizations and previously announced, is William S. Farish of Lane’s End Farm. The Award of Merit is presented to honor outstanding lifetime achievement in the Thoroughbred industry.
The winner of the Special Award, voted on by a panel of representatives from the three presenting organizations and previously announced, is Monique Koehler, founder of race horse rescue programs. The Special Award is presented to honor outstanding individual achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of Thoroughbred racing.
Media Eclipse Awards also are given in the categories of photography, audio and multi-media Internet, news/commentary writing, feature/enterprise writing, local television, national television–feature and national television–live racing programming to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. The 2009 Media Eclipse Awards winners, determined by a judges’ panel for each category and previously announced, are:
· Photography - Jeff Taylor, The Winchester Star, “Rider Thrown”; March 9, 2009.
· Writing – Feature/Enterprise: Joe Drape, The New York Times; April 30, 2009.
· News/Commentary – Sean Clancy, The Blood-Horse, “Life’s Work”; January 3, 2009.
· National Television - Live Racing: ESPN, The Belmont Stakes on ABC; Mike McQuade, Producer; June 6, 2009.
· National Television - Feature: NBC Sports, “The Story of Mine That Bird, 50-1”; Rob Hyland and Jack Felling, Producers; May 16, 2009.
· Local Television – WLKY-TV- Louisville, Ky. “Tom McCarthy”; John Boel and Scott Eckhardt, Producers; April 29, 2009.
· Audio and Multi-Media Internet – ESPN Radio, The 2009 Kentucky Derby; John Martin, Producer; May 2, 2009.
-30-
Tags: 2009 eclipse awards, eclipse awards, Paulick Report, Rachel Alexandra, Ray Paulick, zenyatta
Posted in Rachel Alexandra, eclipse awards, zenyatta | 15 Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
By Ray Paulick
The big question on my mind has nothing to do with Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta as the luminaries start to arrive at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., and TVG begins its four hours of coverage of the 39th annual Eclipse Awards recognizing Thoroughbred racing’s champions of 2009. Though I have my suspicions about who will win Horse of the Year (and BetFair, which lists Rachel Alexandra as the 1-2 favorite, with Zenyatta at 8-5, confirms my belief), we’ve got nearly three hours of waiting before getting the official word.
So what piqued my curiosity was the batting order posted on TVG for the awards, and the inclusion at some point in tonight’s program of a "special celebrity appearance." Back in the day, celebrities used to host this event: debonair actor John Forsythe was the longtime emcee, and others have included comedian Tim Conway and TV star Jerry O’Connell. This year’s host is sportscaster Kenny Rice, a nice enough guy but no John Forsythe (and Kenny, I’m sure, would be the first to admit that).
So who will be making this "special celebrity appearance"?
I’d have to make horse owner and wise guy actor Joe Pesci the favorite at about 9-5, but the NTRA sprung aging actress Angie Dickinson on us a few years back, so you never know. There’s always the possibility of Jack Klugman (co-owner of Sunday’s El Encino Stakes winner Pretty Unusual), Dick Van Patten (he never met a favorite he didn’t like), or singer David Cassidy (if the teen idol from the 1970s still qualifies as a celebrity).
Who am I leaving out in the ranks of celebrity racing fans?
Meanwhile, TVG hosts Todd Schrupp and Simon Bray along with Kenny Rice seemed a little bit grumpy about not having a vote in the affair (they aren’t members of the National Turf Writers Association, which excludes television and radio commentators unless they also have written material published). Join the club, fellas. When I quit the NTWA nearly 10 years ago because of the actions of then NTWA president Jay Privman in trying to shame best-selling author Laura Hillenbrand into giving up an Eclipse Award for writing, I gave up my right to vote. The TV and radio people deserve a vote, especially since the number of "writers" covering the sport is in sharp decline.
Bray complained that 39 of the 271 individuals who received a ballot failed to vote, or 14%. That’s still a much better percentage than the Americans who exercise their right to vote for president every four years–so the sponsoring and voting bodies (the NTWA, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers Association) have got that going for them…which is nice.
8:00 p.m. … On with the show…
A very fitting opening, featuring Daily Racing Form’s "other Jay," executive columnist Jay Hovdey (himself a multiple Eclipse Award winning writer), reading a tribute to the late Hall of Fame horseman Bobby Frankel and announcing that this year’s awards are held in memory of the five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer whose horses won 11 Eclipse Awards.
8:05 p.m. … With the introduction of Kenny Rice, the thought occurred to me that if this was being held in San Francisco his theme song could be the old "Rice-a-Roni" song. I’m also wondering, as Rice tries to tell a few jokes, whether or not the microphone is working.
8:10 p.m. … Northern California Congressman Dennis Cardoza tries to tell a few jokes about the weather. They don’t go over very well, either. Other politicians are introduced, including the Los Angelesl mayor, whose name is too hard for me to spell and some other congressman who got polite applause. Cardoza gets to annouce the 2-year-old male and female Eclipse Award winners. Couldn’t they get the former congressman from Palm Beach, Florida, to talk about juveniles?
8:13 p.m. … As expected, Lookin At Lucky wins the juvenile male division. Paul Weitman, co-owner of Lookin at Lucky, accepted the award on behalf of co-owner Mike Pegram and Karl Watson, forgot the last name of trainer Bob Baffert’s key assistant, Jimmy Barnes. Weitman, by the way, doesn’t seem likely to be a candidate for the first annual Golden Stopwatch Award for brevity at the Eclipse Awards. He won’t be the worst on the night, but something tells me we’ll have shorter acceptance speeches.
8:18 p.m. … She Be Wild wins the juvenile filly division for Nancy Mazzoni, the filly’s owner and breeder. She thanked all the right people, did so with class, and kept her comments under one minute!
8:20 p.m. … Here comes the show stopper. NTWA president Tom Law presents all the media awards (and there are many). I have been a proponent of moving these awards to another venue–perhaps the annual Turf Publicists of America lunchon. The Oscars don’t waste part of their telecast giving awards to the best movie reviewers, and I don’t think the media awards belong on this night, either. (And just so you don’t think it’s sour grapes on my part, I haven’t submitted anything for an Eclipse Award for writing in more than 15 years. I don’t have a dog in this fight.)
To get away from the usually dreadful media acceptance speeches, the NTRA tried something different this year, with Kenny Rice asking each recipient a question. Please go back to the drawing board for 2011.
8:30 p.m. … In lieu of a defibrillator after those media awards, the committee wisely put together a Rachel Alexandra video to wake the audience up. Someone there is thinking…
8:32 p.m. … I like Todd Schrupp, even though he gets a little rah-rah now and then. He and Simon Bray are brought up to announce the winner of the turf categories.
8:35 p.m. … Gio Ponti is the male turf winner. Shane Ryan of Castleton Lyons Farm accepts. Shane makes a reference to Gio Ponti’s fans on Facebook, and half the audience furrows their brow and wonders what the hell he is talking about. Shane looks like he might have been just as comfortable accepting at the Golden Globe Awards. The tribute to his late father, Dr. Tony Ryan, the founder of Castleton Lyons, was quite touching.
8:40 p.m. … No suspense here. Two-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova wins the Eclipse Award (and not for the second year in a row as originally written; thanks for the correction, Byron Rogers). California trainer Richard Mandella accepted on behalf of the Werheimer family, talked of this being the family’s 100th year in Thoroughbred racing and breeding, and he even took the time to tell a quick self-deprecating joke–all in 45 seconds. That makes Mandella the frontrunner for the Golden Stopwatch Award. There could be a steward’s inquiry if he is the winner, since he was not an official Eclipse Award winner.
8:45 p.m. … Eclipse Award winning writer and former steeplechase jockey Sean Clancy presents the steeplechase award to Mixed Up, Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard accepts for, what, the 25th time or so in this category? He’s had an amazing career on both the jumps and flat.
In other news, I’m batting 1,000 so far in my Eclipse Award prognostication made earlier today, but it’s like being alive in the Pick Six after the first few races were won by odds-on favorites.
8:48 p.m. … Clancy also presents the outstanding breeder award, which goes to Juddmonte Farms, with Dr. John Chandler accepting on behalf of Saudi Arabian Prince Khalid Abdullah. The voters got it right, I’m very happy to say. Chandler acknowledged all the right people and saved the best for last, recognizing (after almost forgetting) the late Bobby Frankel for his longstanding contributions to Juddmonte’s success.
8:55 p.m. … William Farish is given the Award of Merit from Nick Nicholson, president of Keeneland, where Farish heads the board of trustees, following a brief video. He will not be the recipient of the Golden Stopwatch Award. Farish got some props for saying he hopes Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta face each other on the track in a way that is as exciting as the long ago match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Unfortunately, the speech ended with what sounded like some heckling from the cheap seats.. What the hell was that? Was the cocktail hour too long, or did Bertha Wright make her second Eclipse Awards apperance?
9:05 p.m. … No heckling of the "handicapper of the year," who was actually quite entertaining in his remarks, which he mercifully kept to just a couple of minutes. Steven Crist of Daily Racing Form presented that award, as well as the Special Eclipse Award to Monique Koehler, the founder of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. It’s too bad the NTRA’s Alex Waldrop didn’t present the award to her; she might have knocked some sense into him about his embarrassing "non-position" on the issue of slaughter of Thoroughbreds.
It sounded as though Monique got the biggest ovation of the evening–so far. She deserved it. She also threw out one of the best lines of the night: "I wished you’d have given me a year’s notice so I could have gone on a diet!"
9:15 p.m. … Videotape of Zenyatta gets a rousing hand from the audience, particulary the UN BE LIEVE ABLE Breeders’ Cup Classic as called by Trevor Denman.
9:20 p.m. … Informed Decision wins female sprinter, and George Strawbridge, better known as the owner and breeder of steeplechase or long-fused runners, expresses his surprise at owning a champion sprinter. He also paid tribute to Jonathan Sheppard for his horsemanship and for taking care of the horses and not just trying to win at all costs. Strawbridge remains one of the sport’s great class acts.
9:22 p.m. … Male sprint champion is Kodiak Kowboy. Tom Ludt accepts on behalf of Vinery and Foxhill Farm and gives the first "I had a dream" shout-out to Martin Luther King on the MLK holiday, saying the Simon family had a dream when it bought Vinery 10 years ago and is now realizing part of that dream with an Eclipse champion.
It’s been completely formful so far…all of my predicted winners have won.
9:25 p.m. … Tom Durkin, who would have been an entertaining host, is brought up to give out the awards to the 3-year-old champions, for which there will be no surprises. Summer Bird wins the male award, with the doctors Jayaraman, his breeder and owner, accepting. Tim Ice also said a few reassuring words, confirming that the son of Birdstone would race as a 4-year-old.
9:30 p.m. … A little dark humor from Durkin, who said in trying to come up with a term for Rachel Alexandra’s domination this year, the best he could find was "dominatrix." Then he added, "but that’s just me." Rachel Alexandra wins the 3-year-old filly Eclipse, and I hope that it was unanimous.
Accepting was Jess Jackson, who said he hopes this is the year that Thoroughbred racing begins to turn around in a positive way. Best line of the night was when Jackson said he first wanted to introduce his "mother…I mean my wife, Barbara Banke"–admitting that it might have been a Freudian slip. Did he mean Oedipal? After five minutes, I’m wondering how long his Horse of the Year speech will be, or does
he know something and he’s milking this because it will be his only time in the spotlight tonight?
There are those magic words…"in conclusion"….but he’s still going. "Rachel and Zenyatta will prove who is the better in the long term….but neither filly will be a loser tonight." Seven and a half minutes: I would have taken the unders.
9:42 p.m. … Bathroom break everybody.
9:45 p.m. … Hank Zeitlin of Equibase presents the outstanding owner Eclipse Award to Godolphin Racing. Jimmy Bell accepted on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed’s operation to what I would have to say was less than rousing applause. I think the sentiment in the room at the Beverly Wilshire tilted toward Jerry and Ann Moss, but it says here that Godolphin was the most deserving of the finalists (though I finally got one wrong in my predictions…I expected the Mosses to win). The margin was 61 for Godolphin to 56 for the Mosses.
9:50 p.m. … Steve Asmussen wins his second consecutive Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer after being credited for 650 winners. The Asmussen family and Scott Blasi stand as a perfect group onstage as if they’ve rehearsed it–something that wouldn’t surprise me, given Asmussen’s penchant for preparation. He gives the award to his assistants, notably Blasi.
9:55 p.m. … Was actress and CHRB commissioner Bo Derek dressed as a dominatrix? The boots look good. She and Breeders’ Cup president Greg Avioli presented the older female (how insulting!) and older male award.
Gio Ponti wins as champion older male, making him a two-time Eclipse Award winner on the night after his earlier turf male division award. Shane Ryan accepts again, bringing up the memory of John Henry, who won the 1981 Eclipse Awards as older male and champion turf horse–the last time that’s happened.
10:00 p.m. … Zenyatta is announced as the older female champion…."My favorite horse of all…Zenyatta," says Derek.
Here’s the surprise celebrity appearance. Sting, the singer, by video tape, talks about going to the races with Jerry Moss and how happy is to have been part of Zenyatta (she is named after one of the albums by Sting’s group, the Police) and Giacomo, the Derby winner named after one of Sting’s kids.
Jerry Moss then gave a relaxed and gracious speech, recognizing all the right people from Zenyatta’s breeder to her jockey and trainer and everyone in between. Of course, Moss is a Hollywood kind of guy, and it shows at moments like this.
10:05 p.m. … I don’t speak Spanish so I have no idea what Eclipse Award winning apprentice Christian Santiago Reyes said except "gracias." I could understand a little bit of what his agent Tony Matos said, though his English hasn’t improved that much in the 25 years I’ve known him.
10:15 p.m. … Julien Leparoux gets the Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey. I don’t speak French, either. Leparoux congratulates fellow finalist Garret Gomez for winning the money title but says he didn’t regret taking off the month of December to visit family in France, a move that allowed Gomez to catch him on Dec. 31. He seems like a classy guy, and what a bright future he has. Leparoux dominated the voting, getting 122 votes to 46 for Gomez and 45 for Ramon Dominguez.
10:20 p.m. … Horse of the Year goes to … Rachel Alexandra.
Did Jess Jackson really say "I’m almost speechless"? He then acknowledged Calvin Borel, something he apparently forgot to do in his earlier monologue. He then said that jockeys have an "unenviable job" because of its dangers. Not sure that was the right term, but I get the point.
Jackson, winning his third consecutive Horse of the Year title (Curlin won in 2007 and 2008) thanked Jerry and Ann Moss for the "grace and charm of the Zenyatta team. … It couldn’t be arranged that they could meet last year," Jackson added about the two females, hoping the two could race against each other in 2010. "Maybe we can talk," he said, as Moss sat tightlipped at his table.
For such a great racing season, one that featured a spectacular Breeders’ Cup Classic won by Zenyatta, a race where Rachel Alexandra sat on the sidelines, it ended without fans getting what they wanted: a race between these two great champions. If they don’t race head to head this year while remaining healthy, it will be an even greater disappointment.
For the record, the vote for Horse of the Year went like this: Rachel Alexandra got 130 first-place votes compared to 99 for Zenyatta. After all the hype, it wasn’t that close.
The following comments from Jess Jackson and Jerry Moss were supplied by the NTRA:
Jess Jackson
“Together Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta won nine Grade I races. Together they conquered four of the best groups of males that were running last year. If you think about their achievements individually or collectively, there has never been another year like this for fillies. I want to thank Jerry and Ann [Moss] for being so gracious all through the year, and we supported each other. You wouldn’t know that but occasionally we talked and we sent congratulations to each other, and I really appreciated the grace and charm and ability of the Zenyatta team, and particularly Jerry and Ann Moss. It couldn’t be arranged that they would meet last year. We’re hoping that each horse, taking its course, may win their way to an ultimate match, and maybe we can work toward that.”
Jerry Moss
“Zenyatta’s never lost. She’s perfect. Nobody’s beaten her on the racetrack. So they beat her by proxy as far as I’m concerned. This doesn’t take away anything from the just enormous job done by [trainer] John [Shirreffs]. I can’t say enough about what he and his barn have done. I obviously congratulate Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Jackson. They have a great horse. Someday we’ll meet, and we’ll decide at that time who is the best. Frankly I wouldn’t trade with anybody. I’m looking forward to the encounter.”
Click here to view the vote totals for all categories.
11:30 p.m. … That’s it for this year’s Eclipse Awards from the Paulick Report.
Tags: 2009 eclipse awards, eclipse awards, kenny rice, Paulick Report, Rachel Alexandra, Ray Paulick, tvg, zenyatta
Posted in Live Blogs, eclipse awards | 181 Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
By Ray Paulick
Just down the road from the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel, site of tonight’s Eclipse Awards dinner, is beautiful downtown Burbank and the world-famous studio where the “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” was produced for many wonderful years after Carson and his entourage moved West from New York City. (I’ll bet NBC executives wish Johnny were still around today, given the problems the network is currently experiencing with the “Tonight Show” franchise.)
One of the most famous “Tonight Show” characters was Carnac the Magnificent, the all-knowing soothsayer and divine psychic who provided answers to questions contained in "hermetically sealed envelopes kept in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnalls porch since noon that day."
I’m no Carnac, and I’m far from magnificent, but I do know where Funk & Wagnalls live. So, after peering into the mayonnaise jar, here are my fearless predictions for tonight’s Eclipse Awards:
SLAM-DUNK WINNERS
- Lookin At Lucky, 2-year-old male
- Summer Bird, 3-year-old male
- Rachel Alexandra, 3-year-old female
- Zenyatta, older female
- Informed Decision, female sprinter
- Gio Ponti, turf male
- Goldikova, turf female
- Mixed Up, steeplechase
- Steve Asmussen, outstanding trainer
I suppose it’s a bit of a risk to say that Gio Ponti is a slam dunk in the male turf category, given the fact the defending champion and two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Conduit will get considerable support, especially from those who voted for Gio Ponti in the wide-open older male (all surfaces) category. But I think Gio Ponti’s four Grade 1 victories at Santa Anita, Arlington and Belmont Park will get him the necessary votes to defeat Conduit.
PRETTY, KINDA SURE WINNERS - She Be Wild, 2-year-old female
- Kodiak Kowboy, male sprinter
- Juddmonte Farms, breeder
I think the best performance of 2009 by a 2-year-old of either sex came from Blind Luck in her explosive victory in the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes on Dec. 20, but the National Thoroughbred Racing Association staff was in such a rush to start their Christmas holiday they didn’t include this race (or the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity for colts) in the past performances distributed in the mail to voters. Too bad. Blind Luck had previously finished third after a troubled trip in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, beaten three-quarters of a length by the likely champion, the once-beaten She Be Wild.
Kodiak Kowboy and Zensational each won three Grade 1 races in 2009, though two factors are going against Zensational: 1) the suspicion is that he beat up on the same horses in all three races; and 2) he was not really a factor in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, his biggest test of the year. Kodiak Kowboy was forced to miss the Sprint after getting sick before the race, but he bounced back with a strong win in the Cigar Mile Handicap later in November. But is a one-turn mile really a sprint?
I’m going against my best judgment in picking Juddmonte, since it is the most deserving candidate among the three finalists as outstanding breeder. Voters usually don’t get this one right, but I’m counting on this year being an aberration.
TOSS-UP CATEGORIES
- Gio Ponti, older male
- Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Moss, outstanding owner
- Ramon Dominguez, outstanding jockey
- Luis Saez, outstanding apprentice jockey
Where is Carnac when I need him?
Eclipse Award voters don’t like giving the older male championship to turf horses or sprinters, but I think the addition of synthetic surfaces over the last few years has blurred the distinction somewhat. Gio Ponti clearly had the best year of the three finalists (Einstein and Kodiak Kowboy are the others), but I think he is still thought of as a turf horse, so there is a built-in resistance against him by some voters. But Einstein’s two victories were turf and synthetics, so he’s not a “dirt” horse, either, and Kodiak Kowboy’s wins were all at a mile or less. If there was ever a year to not give out the award in this division, this might be it.
I’ve written about the split personality that Eclipse Award voters have shown in the outstanding owner category, sometimes giving the award to the owner with the most wins and money won and occasionally to the owner with one “big horse.” There is no definition. In my opinion, the outstanding owner of 2009 was the Godolphin/Darley entity of Sheikh Mohammed, but I think I’m in the minority here, and voters are likely to go with the feel-good story of the year and support Zenyatta’s owners, Jerry and Ann Moss.
Handicapping the jockey race is more about handicapping the voters. New Yorkers and East Coasters will vote en masse for Ramon Dominguez, Midwesterners for Julien Leparoux and Californians for Garrett Gomez. Any of the three are deserving, but I’ll give the slight edge to Dominguez. On the apprentice front, I don’t have a clue, and the information provided voters is so useless there should be consideration given to eliminating this category.
AND FINALLY, HORSE OF THE YEAR GOES TO … People who are looking for brevity in the Horse of the Year acceptance speech are pulling for Zenyatta and the Mosses. Jess Jackson can be expected to give his “state of the industry” speech if Rachel Alexandra wins, and no one there will have the nerve to give him the hook after 10 minutes of lecturing us on what we need to do to turn things around. (But, hey, someone struck up the band when Frank Sinatra went on for too long when getting a lifetime achievement award at the Grammy’s one year, so there’s always hope!)
But back to the issue at hand. Rachel Alexandra will win Horse of the Year because of her historic campaign that had her beating members of her own age and sex by a furlong; taking the Preakness over the Kentucky Derby winner; taking the Haskell Invitational over the Belmont and eventual Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner; and beating older horses in the Woodward. It was a remarkable campaign. I don’t think the vote will be that close, either.
My vote would have gone to Zenyatta, however, despite everything Rachel Alexandra did. I believe in the Breeders’ Cup being the most definitive event in determining champions, and think that what Zenyatta did in beating a world-class field of males at a mile and a quarter in the Classic trumps Rachel Alexandra – barely.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the 2010 Horse of the Year title is settled on the racetrack.
I hope you’ll check back tonight, for my live blog of the Eclipse Awards telecast from Beverly Hills. If you decide not to, as Carnac would say: "May the fleas of a thousand camels nest in your shorts."
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Tags: carnac the magnificent, eclipse awards, garrett gomez, gio ponti, goldikova, Informed Decision, jerry moss, juddmonte farm, julien leparoux, kodiak kowboy, lookin at lucky, Luis Saez, Mixed Up, Rachel Alexandra, ramon dominguez, She Be Wild, steve asmussen, Summer Bird, Zensational, zenyatta
Posted in Rachel Alexandra, eclipse awards, zenyatta | 18 Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Later today, Ray will have an Eclipse predictions column followed by our second annual Eclipse live blog. In the meantime, Tom Law of the Thoroughbred Times has a strong analysis of the much talked about Horse of the Year race that will be one of the few categories up for grabs tonight.
Click here for the Thoroughbred Times story
Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think
- Bradford Cummings
Tags: bradford cummings, eclipse awards, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, thoroughbred times, tom law
Posted in eclipse awards | 4 Comments »
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
As we run up to the 2009 Eclipse Awards, Jon White of HRTV gives us a very interesting perspective on the ballot process. What if we awarded all-time Eclipse winners in each category? White’s ballot has a nice mix of new and old, respecting the recent accomplishments of Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra while ultimately siding with great horses like Man o’ War and Secretariat and great jockeys like Shoemaker and Arcaro.
Click here for Jon White’s entire ballot
Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think
- Bradford Cummings
Tags: bill shoemaker, bradford cummings, eclipse award, Eddie Arcaro, HRTV, Jon White, man o' war, Paulick Report, Rachel Alexandra, secretariat, zenyatta
Posted in eclipse awards | 9 Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
By Ray Paulick
Eclipse Award voters can be unpredictable when it comes to the outstanding owner category. Since there is no definition for the awards, voters can choose between owners whose stables were deep in talent, winning major races throughout the year; those who piled up wins and purses in lower level races with massive operations; or endearing owners with one big horse.
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Klein in the 1980s, Allen Paulson in the 1990s, and Juddmonte Farms in the current decade represent the stables that competed at the top level with multiple stakes horses. Dan Lasater in the 1970s, John Franks in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and Richard Englander and Mike Gill since 2000 were voted Eclipse Awards by winning a bundle of money and races. Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Firestone (Genuine Risk, 1980), Dotsam Stable (John Henry, 1981), Francis Genter (Unbridled, 1990), Carolyn Hine (Skip Away, 1997), and Lael Stables (Barbaro, 2006) picked up Eclipse Awards as outstanding owner by virtue of one big horse.
The finalists for outstanding owner of 2009 represent two of those three types of stables. Godolphin and Juddmonte were among the leaders in American Graded Stakes victories, while Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Moss raced Horse of the Year finalist Zenyatta (they also campaigned a Grade 2 and Grade 3 winner).
It’s interesting that the Mosses were finalists as the owners of Zenyatta, but not making the top three in balloting was Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stable, which owns Zenyatta’s chief rival in Horse of the Year voting, Rachel Alexandra, in partnership with Harold McCormick.
Does that suggest Zenyatta is favored to win Horse of the Year over Rachel Alexandra? I don’t think so. In my opinion, the Mosses are more popular among voters than Jackson, who thumbed his nose at the Breeders’ Cup because it was run on a synthetic track at Santa Anita Park. Zenyatta not only ran in the Breeders’ Cup (admittedly it was at her home track), but took on colts in the Classic and became the first filly or mare to win that race. Earlier in the year, however, Jackson took some calculated risks with his star 3-year-old filly, running her against colts on three occasions, including the Woodward against older horses in her eighth and final start of the year.
Voters failed to make Jackson a finalist in 2007 or 2008, either, when Curlin was voted Horse of the Year. Do I see a trend here?
Interestingly, Dolphus Morrison, the breeder of Rachel Alexandra, is a finalist in the outstanding breeder category (along with Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs and Juddmonte Farms), despite her being the only American Graded Stakes winner of 2009 that he bred.
I make Rachel Alexandra a slight favorite to win Horse of the Year over Zenyatta.
Based on numbers, Godolphin should be favored to win the outstanding owner Eclipse. Sheikh Mohammed has won one previous outstanding owner award in 2006, sharing it with Lael Stables after they each received 110 votes.
Of course, I would have made IEAH the favorite to win the 2008 outstanding owner Eclipse Award, but Stronach Stable won by a single vote even though IEAH far outpaced Stronach in American Graded Stakes wins.
Godolphin was represented by nine American Graded Stakes winners of 2009, including six Grade 1 winners. Juddmonte had four American Graded Stakes winners, three of which won Grade 1 events. Juddmonte far outpaced Godolphin by money won ($6,525,818 to $3,768,896), finishing second in the money standings behind Mike Gill, who operates a large claiming stable. Juddmonte had 116 starters in 2009 compared with 67 for Godolphin. Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stable earned $4,977,513 in purses from 343 starts, so the combination of Godolphin and Darley won $8.7 million.
There is a scenario for the Mosses to win as outstanding owner. Perhaps the voters who cast their ballot for the owner who had the best year winning big races will be divided between Godolphin and Juddmonte. Those who in the past have supported the owners of one big horse may align themselves behind the Mosses.
Stranger things have happened.
Tags: allen paulson, American Graded Stakes Standings, Barbaro, bertram firestone, Carolyn Hine, Curlin, Dotsam Stable, eclipse award, Eugene Klein, Francis Gentner, genuine risk, godolphin racing, harold mccormick, Jerry S. Moss, jess jackson, John Franks, John Henry, Juddmonte Farms, Keeneland, lael stables, mike gill, Paulick Report, Rachel Alexandra, Ray Paulick, Richard Englander, Skip Away, Stonerside Stable, Unbridled, zenyatta
Posted in Rachel Alexandra, eclipse awards, zenyatta | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
It’s finalist day for the 2009 Eclipse Awards. With perhaps the exception of Dolphus Morrison as a finalists for breeder, no real surprises among the list of candidates. Headlined by Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta as the only two listed in the Horse of the Year category, the complete list of the finalists are listed below.
- Bradford Cummings
Female superstars Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta lead an all-star cast of finalists for the 2009 Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing. Winners in all categories will be announced at the 39th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony, to be held Monday evening, January 18, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The announcement of the finalists was made today by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers Association (NTWA) and Daily Racing Form (DRF), the three presenting organizations of the Eclipse Awards.
The three-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra, winner of all eight of her starts in 2009, including the Preakness Stakes; and the five-year old mare Zenyatta, who won all five of her races last year and culminated her undefeated career by becoming the first female to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, are the two candidates for Horse of the Year. Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta were the only two horses to receive votes in the Horse of the Year category.
The Eclipse Awards finalists (in alphabetical order) are:
· Horse of the Year: Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta
· Two-Year-Old Male: Lookin At Lucky, Noble’s Promise, Vale of York (IRE)
· Two-Year-Old Filly: Blind Luck, Hot Dixie Chick, She Be Wild
· Three-Year-Old Male: Mine That Bird, Quality Road, Summer Bird
· Three-Year-Old Filly: Careless Jewel, Flashing, Rachel Alexandra
· Older Male: Einstein (BRZ), Gio Ponti, Kodiak Kowboy
· Older Female: Life Is Sweet, Music Note, Zenyatta
· Male Sprinter: Dancing in Silks, Kodiak Kowboy, Zensational
· Female Sprinter: Informed Decision, Music Note, Ventura
· Male Turf Horse: Conduit (IRE), Gio Ponti, Presious Passion
· Female Turf Horse: Goldikova (IRE), Midday (GB), Ventura
· Steeplechase Horse: Mixed Up, Red Letter Day, Spy in the Sky
· Owner: Godolphin Racing, Juddmonte Farms, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome S. Moss
· Breeder: Adena Springs, Juddmonte Farms, Dolphus C. Morrison
· Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, John Shirreffs
· Jockey: Ramon Dominguez, Garrett Gomez, Julien Leparoux
· Apprentice Jockey: Luis Batista, Christian Santiago Reyes, Luis Saez
The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
The 2009 Eclipse Awards ceremony will be held on January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., and televised live on TVG.
Tags: adena springs, blind luck, Bob Baffert, Careless Jewel, Christian Santiago Reyes, conduit, Dancing in Silks, Dolphus C. Morrison, eclipse awards, einstein, Flashing, garrett gomez, gio ponti, Godophin, goldikova, Hot Dixie Chick, Informed Decision, Jerome S. Moss, john shirreffs, Juddmonte Farms, julien leparoux, kodiak kowboy, Life is Sweet, lookin at lucky, Luis Batista, Luis Saez, Midday, mine that bird, Mixed Up, music note, Noble's Promise, Presious Passion, Qualirty Road, Rachel Alexandra, Racing, ramon dominguez, Red Letter Day, She Be Wild, Spy in the Sky, steve asmussen, Summer Bird, Vale of York, ventura, Zensational, zenyatta
Posted in Rachel Alexandra, eclipse awards, zenyatta | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
NTRA PRESS RELEASE
December 30, 2009
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association today announced that the Monique Koehler, whose tireless work saving retired racehorses through Thoroughbred retirement programs, will be honored with the 2009 Special Eclipse Award. The Special Eclipse Award, honors outstanding individual achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of Thoroughbred racing.
Koehler will receive her award at the 39th annual Eclipse Awards on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A former advertising executive, Koehler, who resides in Middletown, N.J., became interested in the plight of racehorses that did not have “second careers” or could not be used for breeding after they were retired from racing. She founded the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in 1982 and helped to transform it into the largest retired equine rescue program in the nation with more than 1200 horses in its care. Since its inception, the TRF has been providing lifetime care, retraining and adoption for retired Thoroughbreds at TRF-operated farms in Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vermont, Massachusetts, Indiana, Tennessee and New York.
In the early stages of or the organization, Koehler negotiated a milestone agreement with the State of New York Department of Correctional Services. In exchange for land use and labor at the state’s Walkill Correctional Facility, the TRF would design, staff and maintain a vocational training program in equine care and management for inmates.
The prison program was recently expanded at Wallkill and has been replicated at TRF farms located at the Blackburn Correctional Facility in Kentucky, the Marion County Correctional Facility in Florida, Wateree Correctional Facility in South Carolina, Putnamville Correctional Facility in Indiana, James River Work Center in Virginia, Sykesville Correctional in Maryland and the Plymouth County Jail in Massachusetts.
“I am very honored and humbled to have been selected as a recipient of this year’s Special Eclipse award,” said Koehler, who is board chairman emeritus of TRF. “When I established the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation nearly three decades ago, it was out of my personal concern for these noble animals and for humane causes in general. I was not involved with racing in any way except as a casual fan. However, as the years went by, the success of my personal mission became inexorably linked to that of dedicated members of the racing community including Penny Chenery, Allaire DuPont, Skip & Mary Shapoff, and many others. Without their support, understanding and guidance, my goals and those of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, could never have been accomplished. Through this award, I firmly believe that the Committee is recognizing all of us who have taken part in this life-enriching, life-saving quest.
“It has been a wonderful and fulfilling journey and I am able to take a large measure of satisfaction in what the TRF has been able to accomplish, and the thousands of horses we have saved, the many thousands more whose rescue, rehabilitation or adoption we have facilitated, and the men, women and children whose lives we have changed for the better through our pioneering vocational training programs.”
“I can think of no better honoree. Monique took a huge ugly problem and turned it into a life affirming, positive program in which racing, through its support and its horses, gives back to society”, said Diana Pikulski, executive director of the TRF and a volunteer for the organization since 1980. “Only someone as astute and resolute as Monique could accomplish this especially when she was so far ahead of the industry in her vision. I am thrilled for her and for the TRF.”
The Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements in North America have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
The 39th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards ceremony reservations, contact Michele Ravencraft at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail mravencraft@ntra.com.
Tags: allaire dupont, daily racing form, diana pikulski, eclipse awards, Horse Racing, mary shapoff, Moniqiue Koehler, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, national turf writers association, NTRA, penny chenery, skip shapoff, special eclipse award, thoroughbred retirement, thoroughbred retirement foundation, trf
Posted in People, eclipse awards | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
NTRA PRESS RELEASE
December 29, 2009
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association today announced that William S. Farish, owner of Lane’s End Farm and a pre-eminent industry leader of multiple organizations and causes, will be honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in Thoroughbred racing.
Farish will receive the Eclipse Award of Merit on Monday, January 18 at the 39th Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“I am so honored to have been selected for a sport which has given me and my family so much pleasure and enjoyment for the past 35 years,” said Farish, who resides in Lexington, Ky. “I am humbled to be chosen to join this list of outstanding people who have received this Award of Merit, many of whom have been long time friends.”
A successful owner and breeder who has served the Thoroughbred industry in a number of high-profile positions, Farish is one of the world’s most well-known and influential horsemen. He is a steward and vice chairman of The Jockey Club, a director and former chair of the executive committee of the Breeders’ Cup (for which his son, Bill, currently serves as chairman of the board), a member of the board of directors of the Keeneland Association, and a Keeneland trustee. He was chairman of the board of Churchill Downs from 1992-2001, where the company grew from a single race track to a multi-track corporation.
“Will Farish is deeply involved in every phase of the Thoroughbred Industry,” said Keeneland president Nick Nicholson. “If you follow the life cycle of the Thoroughbred each stage from mating, breeding, raising, registration, sales, training, racing, and then back to the farm for breeding, Will has positively impacted each step along the way. His knowledge, passion and willingness to give of his time for the betterment of the Industry and the sport have meant so much for the modern Thoroughbred world. We are grateful to have him serve as a trustee of Keeneland and appreciate his advice and counsel.”
In June, the William Stamps Farish Fund donated $1 million to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). As a member of the PDJF board, and working with its executive director, Nancy LaSala, Farish is helping to raise some $10-12 million to endow a fund that will provide continuous support for disabled riders. “The more I explored the situation,” said Farish, “the more I realized that a sustaining pool of monies was necessary. I feel that everyone who is associated with our sport realizes that a permanent source of funding is needed improve the lives of these disabled riders.”
Farish was born in Houston, Texas and is the grandson of the late William S. Farish II, the founder of Humble Oil and Refining and chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey. Farish’s grandfather founded the famed Lazy F Ranch in Texas, which campaigned three-time Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Forego in the mid-1970s.
Will Farish purchased his first Thoroughbred in 1963. In 1972, he campaigned Preakness Stakes winner Bee Bee Bee. In 1979, Farish founded Lane’s End, a stallion and breeding farm and public sales operation that covers more than 3,000 acres near Lexington, Ky. Among the 22 stallions currently standing at Lane’s End are 1992 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year A.P. Indy; 2003 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Mineshaft, which Farish campaigned; leading sire Smart Strike; and Smart Strike’s sons Curlin, Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and English Channel, 2007 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Male. With the late Warner L. Jones Jr., Farish bred Seattle Dancer, who set the world-record price for a yearling when he was sold for $13.1 million in 1985. Farish is a two-time recipient of the Eclipse Award as leading breeder, including in 1999 when he and his partners bred the winners of all three Triple Crown races that year. Farish has raced more than 150 stakes winners in his name or with various partners.
From 2001-2004, Farish served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, and the Farishes have hosted Queen Elizabeth II on her visits to Kentucky, most recently to attend the 2007 Kentucky Derby.
“In his many leadership roles over the years, Will Farish has been an immensely important contributor to the sport and business of Thoroughbred racing,” said D.G. Van Clief, Jr., former president and CEO of the Breeders’ Cup and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. “Whether serving as an Epsom Oaks-winning U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, the chairman of Churchill Downs, a trustee of Keeneland or the master of Lane’s End Farm, his presence has ensured progress and success. I know firsthand that Will’s service as the chairman of the Breeders’ Cup executive committee was instrumental to its successful launch and subsequent growth as a world championship. Without him it would not be the globally respected event it is today. Wherever Will Farish has applied his personal brand of leadership the sport has benefited, and there is no more deserving recipient of this award.”
The Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements in North America have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
The 39th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards ceremony reservations, contact Michele Ravencraft at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail mravencraft@ntra.com.
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Tags: churchill downs, D.G. Van Clief Jr., daily racing form, eclipse award of merit, eclipse awards, farish, Keeneland, Lane's End, national turf writers association, nick nicholson, NTRA, pdjf, permanently disabled jockeys fund, Will Farish, William S. Farish
Posted in People, eclipse awards | 3 Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2009
While Ray is traveling back from Osaka (hopefully we won’t have to hear too much about jet lag once he returns to the United States), he wanted to reignite the debate over Horse of the Year. The following piece was submitted by Jeff Shapes, a marketing communications consultant, freelance writer and horse racing enthusiast, not necessarily in that order.
By Jeff Shapes
There’s one overriding reason Zenyatta should win the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year over Rachel Alexandra, and it has nothing to do with their comparative records on the racetrack. No, Zenyatta has earned the honor because her electrifying performance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic flew in the face of the general negative assessment of her chances to win the event, while at the same time capping off a brilliant, undefeated career that put her into the discussion of who is history’s greatest female race horse. Now, if that doesn’t make her Horse of the Year, they might as well retire the award.
Yes there had been speculation that if Zenyatta ran in the Classic and won, there’d be a Horse of the Year debate. But in their heart of hearts, not to mention their racing opinions, those speculators, whether in public or not, didn’t believe Zenyatta had what it took to beat the “big” boys in the big race. Indeed, there were some who said she shouldn’t even run in the Classic, since there wasn’t really anything to gain. Better to protect her legacy as an undefeated champion with another romp in the Ladies’ Classic, than to go out with a loss chasing an unattainable goal.
Need some proof of how little regard the experts had for Zenyatta in the run up to the Classic? Despite being tabbed the pre-race wagering favorite, not one of the 11 media members whose selections were published by USA Today in its Breeders’ Cup preview picked Zenyatta to win. And east coast bias wasn’t in play. Joining writers from the New York Daily News, New York Post, Lexington Herald-Leader and Albany Times-Union in giving Zenyatta the thumbs down were the national correspondent of the Daily Racing Form, horse racing writers from the Associated Press and USA Today, an editor of the Thoroughbred Times, an on-air personality from HRTV and racing writers from the Los Angeles Daily News and San Diego Union-Tribune, in whose backyard Zenyatta ran all except one of her career races.
Want to bring in some more exulted names? Joe Drape of the New York Times did not pick Zenyatta, and neither did Steven Crist of the Daily Racing Form. The Washington Post’s Andy Beyer, inventor of the Beyer Speed Figure, the acknowledged statistical method for comparing racetrack performances under different race conditions? He labeled Zenyatta a throw out.
Luckily, Zenyatta’s connections had much greater faith in their magnificent mare than the experts. Questioned for not shipping Zenyatta to a traditional dirt track to take on Rachel Alexandra head-to-head, team Zenyatta stuck to their guns of getting her ready for the Breeders’ Cup the best way they thought how. If that meant staying in Southern California and competing exclusively on synthetic surfaces, well that’s how it would be done. And though they never stated it, the guess here is that winning the Classic as a finishing touch on a Hall of Fame career, not to mention the historical achievement such a win would represent, was probably the long-range goal of those who guided Zenyatta’s career.
Of course, Rachel Alexandra’s connections, like most others in the racing world, assumed their filly had a stranglehold on Horse of the Year when she concluded her 2009 season with a win in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in early September. It was Rachel’s eighth victory in eight races, accomplished at seven racetracks in six states, with three coming over male competitors. Her campaign encompassed eye popping performances in such keystone events as the Kentucky Oaks, Preakness Stakes, Mother Goose Stakes, Haskell Invitational and the aforementioned Woodward, and was highlighted by either record breaking victory margins or historical firsts just about every time she left the starting gate.
With such a resumé, who could blame Jess Jackson for putting Rachel away for the winter, especially since she probably needed a rest after an exhausting year (visible in the Woodward). But, had the Breeders’ Cup Classic not been held on a synthetic surface, there’s little doubt Rachel would have continued her season and run at least one more race to conclude a campaign for the ages. After all, it was Jackson himself who announced his intention to run Rachel in next year’s Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs at the same time he said he would not run her this year on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride because of his distaste for synthetic surfaces (or plastic as he labeled them).
Can we know how a Zenyatta-Rachel Alexandra showdown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic would have played out? Is there a certainty that had Rachel been entered in the race, Team Zenyatta would have taken her on? Would Rachel have performed as poorly on the synthetics as last year’s Horse of the Year, Curlin, and as other “dirt” horses seem to? These questions can never be answered. But what is fact is that Zenyatta showed up on Championship Saturday and won the most important North American race that’s open to all Thoroughbreds regardless of age or sex. This was no Raven’s Pass swooping in and leaving nothing behind but a few footprints.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Albany Times-Union, Andy Beyer, Associated Press, breeders' cup classic, churchill downs, daily racing form, eclipse award, haskell invitational, horse of the year, HRTV, Jeff Shapes, jess jackson, Joe Drape, kentucky oaks, ladies' classic, lexington herald-leader, Los Angeles Daily News, Mother Goose Stakes, New York Daily News, new york post, new york times, Osaka, Paulick Report, Preakness Stakes, pro-ride, Rachel Alexandra, raven's pass, Ray Paulick, San Diego Union-Tribune, santa anita, saratoga, steven crist, thoroughbred times, USA Today, Washington Post, woodward stakes, zenyatta
Posted in Rachel Alexandra, eclipse awards, zenyatta | 94 Comments »
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