Archive for the ‘eclipse awards’ Category

By Ray Paulick
Last week I wrote that if I had a vote in the Eclipse Awards, I’d cast my Horse of the Year ballot for unbeaten Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Zenyatta. Well, I don’t have a vote, and I have no one to blame but myself.

A little more than seven years ago, I resigned from the National Turf Writers Association, one of the voting groups for the Eclipse Awards. The other eligible voters are selected staff members of the Daily Racing Form; chartcallers for Equibase; and racing secretaries at National Thoroughbred Racing Association member tracks. There may be a handful of others, including some Breeders’ Cup employees who have a vote.

I quit the National Turf Writers Association after the 2001 media Eclipse Awards were announced and then-NTWA president Jay Privman of the Daily Racing Form unfairly, in my opinion, questioned the eligibility of a piece written by one of the winners, Laura Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand, author of the best-selling book “Seabiscuit: An American Legend,” had previously won an Eclipse Award in 1998 for an article on Seabiscuit published in American Heritage magazine. Her 2001 award was for an original adaptation from the Seabiscuit book that appeared in Equus magazine.

As I recall, Privman, as NTWA president, sent an email to members criticizing the awarding of a second Eclipse to Hillenbrand and suggesting it was “unseemly” of her to even submit the piece for consideration. It was my understanding he was trying to have her stripped of the award.

I had never met Hillenbrand but admired her work, believing that her treatment of Seabiscuit (which was made into a wildly popular movie) was one of the biggest boosts in positive publicity Thoroughbred racing had received in many, many years. I even wrote that Hillenbrand be given an Eclipse Award of Merit, in part because of her personal circumstances: she was afflicted with chronic fatigue syndrome and often struggled to even sit upright and work on her computer while writing the book.

I was offended by the tone of Privman’s letter to NTWA members and asked several individuals on the board of directors to demand an apology or reprimand Privman for what I felt was an abuse of his office. When they did neither, I quit the organization.

Several years later, I asked an executive at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association if I could qualify to vote under the NTRA’s umbrella. I was told “no,” and remained on the sidelines when it comes to voting for Eclipse Awards, something I did for nearly 20 years.

If I really wanted to vote for the Eclipse Awards, I could put aside my strong disagreement with Privman and the NTWA board and reapply for membership in that organization. I’m just not ready to do that.

But enough about me.

There are many others who should have a vote for Eclipse Awards and do not. They include numerous individuals who cover racing regularly or on a full-time basis for television and radio, including ESPN, TVG and HRTV. They aren’t eligible because they aren’t “turf writers.” This group includes knowledgeable individuals such as Steve Byk of Sirius satellite radio’s “At the Races”; Carolyn Conley, Kurt Hoover and Jeff Siegel (among others) at HRTV; Bob Baedeker, Simon Bray and Todd Schrupp (among others) at TVG. It’s incomprehensible that individuals like these do not have an Eclipse Awards vote. In fact, I think it’s time to bring a public element to Eclipse Award voting in the same manner that Europe’s Cartier Awards have done.

As the ranks of full-time turf writers diminishes, racing should take advantage of the growing list of knowledgeable individuals who make their living covering the sport for non-print media outlets. To ignore this reality is just the latest confirmation that the people who run this sport have their heads buried in a place where the light doesn’t shine.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Although I don’t necessarily buy her conclusion that Rachel Alexandra “must” be elected Horse of the Year for 2009, I can’t disagree with Natalie Voss that we have two very exciting and deserving candidates for the sport’s top honor. Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra are to many in Natalie’s generation what Secretariat, Ruffian, Affirmed or Seattle Slew were to mine, or Seabiscuit was to a previous generation of racing fans.

A University of Kentucky Equine Communications student, Natalie joined the Paulick Report earlier this year as an intern. This, her first published piece for us, reflects both her enthusiasm for Thoroughbred racing as well as her burgeoning knowledge of the sport. But most importantly, as we look to expand our audience in the future, it is imperative that we listen to the voices of the next generation. — Ray Paulick

By Natalie Voss
Right before this year’s Breeders’ Cup, the Paulick Report posted a handful of editorials and news articles taking the view that Zenyatta could not beat the males in the Breeder’s Cup Classic. The Europeans were too tough, it was too big a test for her first try against boys, Summer Bird was a sleeper sitting on a big performance: the reasons were various and valid. I’ll admit that if you had asked me, I would have pointed out all these things, particularly because although Zenyatta has a tremendous lifetime record of victories, she hadn’t blown away any of the fields she’d beaten.

On these points I’ll admit I was proven conclusively wrong. For perhaps the first time in her career, Zenyatta was forced to overcome adversity and did so with ease. The loading debacle before the race, her slow start and spotting 12 lengths to the leaders early made me shout in disappointment ”She’s done” as the field moved down the backstretch. I gave my television set a round of applause right along with the Southern California crowd when we realized she had fought through to the lead coming to the wire. It was a truly incredible race.

But now the party is over, and we are left to all put our two cents in on which horse will be forever associated with this season by carrying the title “Horse of the Year 2009,” and here are mine: as incredible as Zenyatta’s win was this weekend, the title still must go to Rachel Alexandra.

There have been, and will continue to be a flurry of editorials on the Paulick Report and elsewhere from various handicapping experts and journalists voicing their (sadly, ultimately irrelevant) opinions on which of the two fillies should go home with this honor. Mine may perhaps be less relevant than any of them, as I am just starting out in the racing industry, a mere college intern for the Paulick Report, but for what it’s worth here are my assertions:

– Zenyatta has faced and beaten stakes company males once. Rachel has done it three times, with many (although not all) of the horses she beat also appearing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Both fillies ran against and defeated many top fillies and mares this year. In short: they have faced almost all of the same opponents.

– Considering the above, Zenyatta does just enough work to win, weighing in with an average margin of victory of two lengths. That is what a winning racehorse is supposed to do–just enough to get the job done. But a champion is a horse who smashes their competition impressively, particularly in the face of adversity. Rachel’s 20 length margin over her peers in the Oaks, her crushing six-length margin in the Haskell, and even her hard-fought length victory in the Preakness, so soon after the Oaks and despite her dislike of the Pimlico surface, all make her victories more impressive than Zenyatta’s.

– Zenyatta had a relatively easy season, in my opinion, only running five times this year while Rachel has run nine times, each time facing harder competition and setting five stakes records along the way. Zenyatta set one.

– Rachel’s exciting victories made a splash in the sports world at large, which the racing industry so desperately needs. Granted the attention of the “non-equine world” is not a great indicator of what events in racing are most relevant, but name me a horse that has captured more (positive) attention from casual fans this year, or even within the last ten years. We need a horse like her. And now that we have one, we need to reward her for what she’s done for the industry: she’s given us a great athlete to point to when people ask us to explain why this sport is great.

Whoever wins the award will be deserving. The most remarkable aspect of the debate to me is that, for the first time in my young memory we are choosing between two females for Horse of the Year. Looking back at the list of past winners, I have always become immediately jealous of other generations that they have lived to see such greats as Secretariat, Affirmed and Ruffian, while as a loyal fan since 1995 the greatest season I can boast witnessing is Silver Charm’s in 1997. Now I think finally, we are all privileged to have seen something truly, timelessly great for the first time in years and that is a pair of horses who should both be remembered through history for their accomplishments…and perhaps that is the greatest reward of all.

By Ray Paulick
I make no apologies for my dissent with Eclipse Award voting results in the outstanding breeder category on at least three different occasions in the years since the vote was taken away from a six-member committee and given to the larger group of voters that determine the other Eclipse Award winners–members of the National Turf Writers Association, Daily Racing Form staff and racing secretaries at National Thoroughbred Racing Association tracks and select Breeders’ Cup employees.

When that decision was made earlier this decade, the NTRA might as well have said it would give the annual award to the breeder whose horses earned the most money. It’s gone to Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm each of the last five years, whether the operation had a truly good year or not, simply because he dominated the money standings by breeding the most horses and winning the most money. I’m not knocking Stronach, who has built a breeding empire and deserved the Eclipse Award in years that he produced champions and a number of high-quality, graded stakes-winning racehorses. His success in those years didn’t happen by accident or through sheer numbers. Adena Springs has been a top-class operation, and it’s something for which Stronach should be proud.

However, I disagree that the breeder who wins the most money should automatically win the Eclipse Award in that category, something that is now occurring routinely. Voters have done a great disservice in recent years to individuals who have had incredible success with a far smaller number of mares.

Full disclosure: I served on that six-member Eclipse Award outstanding breeder committee as editor of Blood-Horse magazine, as did Mark Simon, editor of Thoroughbred Times, along with two editors with expertise in bloodstock matters at Daily Racing Form and two representatives of the NTRA or its Eclipse Awards-sponsoring predecessor, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America. The committee would be presented with a wide array of breeding statistics, have the opportunity to study them, then meet via teleconference to discuss the merits of the leading candidates before taking a vote. In my opinion, the committee got it right far more often than the general Eclipse Award electorate has when determining outstanding breeder.

The committee tended to discount breeders who had simply led the money list. That cost the late Harry T. Mangurian an Eclipse Award several years when he or his Florida-based Mockingbird Farm led the list by earnings from 1999-2002. When some Floridians cried “foul,” the Eclipse Award steering committee gave Mangurian an Eclipse Award of Merit at the 2002 Eclipse Awards dinner. Shortly thereafter, the vote went from committee to the larger body, which I think was a mistake.

Why was it a mistake? Twice in the last seven years, breeders who produced two of the 10 Eclipse Award champions—with a small number of broodmares—didn’t even get enough votes to be among the three finalists as outstanding breeder, much less win the Eclipse Award. That happened in 2002, when Virginia Kraft Payson bred champions Farda Amiga and Vindication and wasn’t a finalist, and again in 2004 when Aaron and Marie Jones bred champions Speightstown and Ashado and were ignored by the voters.

Think about that for a minute. You are a breeder with a relatively small group of mares and produced two out of the 10 Eclipse Award champion horses. Yet you weren’t even recognized as one of the three outstanding breeders in North America. That is an insult to all breeders who work hard to produce a good horse. Eclipse Award voters really should be ashamed for their ignorance or lack of interest on breeding matters.

Last year, Adena won its fifth consecutive Eclipse Award as leading breeder by a wide margin—receiving 139 votes, more than twice as many as runner-up Stonerside Stable. Adena won the most money, by far, $19.2 million, but produced no champions. With far fewer runners, Stonerside-bred horses earned $8.5 million but included 2-year-old male champion Midshipman and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Raven’s Pass.

That brings us to this week’s spotlight on leading breeders on our weekly feature, American Graded Stakes Standings, brought to you by Keeneland. Stonerside–the Paris, Ky., operation founded by Robert and Janice McNair and sold last year to Sheikh Mohammed when Robert McNair said he needed to spend more time on his Houston Texans of the National Football League team–is the leading breeder of American graded stakes winners, with five, led by Grade 1 winner Santa Teresita. The others are Grade 2 winners Tizaqueena, Skylighter and Cowboy Cal, along with Grade 3 winner Stormalory.

Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley, Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, and Edward P. Evans are next in the list of breeders of American graded stakes winners, with three apiece.

Stronach’s Adena Springs, which is the leading breeder by money won so far this year, with $7,054,476 earned from 2,322 starts, has bred just one graded stakes winner, the Grade 3 winner My Princess Jess. Stonerside has had 481 starts and earnings of $3,252,001, ranking fifth by money won. Evans has had 360 starts and ranks sixth with earnings of $2,936,973; Juddmonte is 18th with $1,948,227 from 175 starts; and Darley is 19th with $1,943,075 from 328 starts.

In terms of money won per start, which I think is a good overall indication of quality, of those listed above, Juddmonte is the leader, with $11,323 earned for each start; followed by Evans, $8,158/start; Stonerside, $6,760/start; Darley, $5,924/start; and Adena, $3,038/start. Those statistics include international racing. The lists presented below strictly represent American graded stakes, those approximately 500 races designated by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s American Graded Stakes Committee as the best races in the United States.

We hope that by focusing each week on the leading breeders, owners, trainers, sires, sale companies and consignors of the winners of American graded stakes, which define the best races in the United States, Eclipse Award voters might start to look beyond the simple exercise of seeing which breeder earned the most money in a given year.

 

 

                   

By Ray Paulick
The National Turf Writers Association has released its list of how individual members of the organization voted in 2008 Eclipse Award balloting, helping solve such mysteries as who voted against 2-year-old filly champion Stardom Bound or 3-year-old male champion Big Brown. The NTWA is the only one of the three voting organizations that discloses how its members vote, the other groups being editorial and handicapping staff members of Daily Racing Form and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Racing secretaries at member tracks and Equibase chartcallers make up the NTRA vote.

Three individuals voted against Stardom Bound: Bill Doolittle voted for Rachel Alexandra, Paula Rodenas chose Sky Diva, and Rick Snider voted for Springside. In the 3-year-old male category, there were eight votes against Big Brown.

Click here to see the list of NTWA voters.

Steven Crist, publisher of Daily Racing Form, said in an email to the Paulick Report he doesn’t see any benefit to disclosing how individuals vote. “I think all of our people take the process seriously,” he said, “and publishing their votes would not serve any particular purpose, though our writers are free to (and often do, as do I) choose to do so in columns and notebooks.

“As for publication making people accountable,” Crist added, “that hardly seems to work, given the incomprehensible published votes of NTWA members who voted for Sky Diva or Tale of Ekati as Eclipse champs.”

Crist said when he was part of the group that bought the Form about 10 years ago, there were over 100 voters at the publication, including secretaries and advertising sales people. “We immediately cut the number of our voters in half and now only give ballots to people actively engaged in writing, editing and handicapping,” he said.

“Personally, I think the NTWA has way too many voting members, some of them admitted with very skimpy credentials,” Crist said. “When I suggested this to the organization more than a decade ago, I was denounced as an elitist if not a eugenecist.”

Keith Chamblin, senior vice president of NTRA, said he intends to poll NTRA voters to “gain an understanding of their views on making their votes public.”

“Generally, I am in favor of transparency and we do expect racing secretaries to take their vote seriously,” he said. “We will not disclose the votes from this past year due to the fact that we did not inform voters in advance that their ballots would be made public.”

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world.

Hank Aaron hits number 715…Secretariat wins the Belmont by 31 lengths…Brett Favre starts 269 games in a row at QB…and now Ray Paulick liveblogs from the Eclipse Awards without a computer! That’s right, Ray will be entering the pantheon of the unlikely as he attempts to bring you the Paulick Report reader unprecedented coverage of tonight’s awards ceremony. We will be operating here at Paulick Report Command Central giving the play by play results of tonight’s event while Ray will be the color commentary via text message.

What are the stars wearing? (We knew Larry Jones would be in his black-tie cowboy get-up, but were taken aback by the Scottish fellow in kilts standing nearby — pictured below.) How many people are sporting Zenyatta for President T-shirts? How many licks does it take to get to the candy center of a Tootsie-Pop? These and other questions will be answered below. Enjoy and keep the comments flowing!

6:56CC…Alright folks, Brad here at Command Central. I will be receiving messages from Ray throughout the night and keeping up to date with the things you won’t be privy to on the telecast. My comments will have a CC for Command Central after the time and the ones from Ray will have a RP after the time.

6:58RP…closest thing to a celebrity I’ve met so far is former WI Gov. Tommy Thompson, who has been hired by the NTRA to oversee the health and safety alliance. Tommy seemed happy to hear that I grew up on the Illinois side of the Wisconsin border.

7:00CC…and the telecst begins. Something about Frank Sinatra and a cocktail party.

7:01RP…Many of the guests were lamenting the passing of Joe Hirsch, the longtime executive columnist of the DRF. The PR learned that NYRA is preparing a memorial for Hirsch the week of the Belmont Stakes in June.

7:04CC…Interviewing Jerry and Ann Moss, they ask if they think Zenyatta could pull Horse of the Year. Gives a solid if not predictable answer.

7:05RP…Good line from Cot Campbell during the blustery cocktail hour outside of the Fountainbleu Hotel. "My hair’s getting all messed up," Campbell said patting down his gray locks. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the shiny pate of Mike Smith and commented, "Mike’s in pretty good shape with the wind."

7:06CC…Who thinks Eight Belles should win 3 year old filly? I’m a Proud Spell guy myself.

7:07CC…Iavarone looks shiny. And the interviewer mispronounced his name. Thinks that it’s the competition was so strong and that’s the reason Big Brown isn’t going to win the HOY award. Either that or maybe it’s because he finished last in the Belmont and bowed out of the BC Classic.

7:10CC…Frank Stronach isn’t there. Wonder why?

7:15CC…Asmussen being interviewed. Sure, it’s good to hear from him but I wonder what his facial hair has to say. And he looked a little scary on screen. Just saying.

7:16CC…announcer just made an interesting observation. Asmussen has more wins than Dutrow and Frankel combined.

7:19CC…I don’t know about you but nothing is more interesting than insurance talk…

7:20RP…Dinner is served! Ceremonies starting soon.

7:22CC…just pushed the new Jockeys show on Animal Planet. Said it was The Hills or Real Housewives of Orange County only with jockeys. Decided jockeys have more drama. Scandalous!

7:24RP…Jess Jackson is here with a new look…a nifty goatee. (Only two bodyguards according to an associate. I don’t have a count yet on the number of bodyguards for Iavarone of IEAH…see earlier post on Eclipse predictions for further explanation)

7:26CC…NTRA Moment of the Year of course is Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup. Sounded like six people clapped for the clip.

7:28CC…TWO MINUTES TO POST!!!

7:29CC…Darby Dan with a big ad buy during the break. I hear there’s a website that’s much cheaper than what TVG charges…

7:30CC…Privman starts off the ceremony with a Joe Hirsch memorial.

7:33CC…Faith, I’m efforting a response on your important request…

7:33RP…Nice touch to dedicate the awards to Joe Hirsch. There are several hundred folks here tonight and I’d be hard pressed to find one person who didn’t love Joe.

7:35RP…(FAITH UPDATE) The vine ripened tomato salad was excellent, the seared tenderloin tender (tho a bit overcooked) and the roast garlic shrimp outstanding. I could have used a bit more of the curried sweet potatoes, but I did just squeeze into my tux pants.

7:37RP…Kenny Rice don’t give up your day job to become a stand up comic

7:38CC…and our first technical glitch of the evening!

7:39CC…first (non) surprise of the night, Midshipman wins 2 year old male

7:40RP…more food update…Kendall-Jackson wine is being served to all (whether or not they supported Curlin)

7:41RP…A dinner companion staying at the Fountainbleu rated the dinner "four stars" compared to other restaurants at the hotel

7:42CC…and now 2 year filly goes to…

7:42CC…Stardom Bound!

7:44RP…Even though IEAH now owns Stardom Bound, the award was rightly given to Charles Cono. Fifteen years ago when Kotashaan won HOY, the Eclipse wasn’t given to his longtime owners, the Werthemer brothers, but to the Japanese stud farm that bought him to run in his final start, the Japan cup. They got it right this time.

7:47RP…Bob Baffert isn’t at the awards. Times are tough. He tells me he can’t afford to fly his family from LA. Guess Baffert doesn’t get those Southwest Airlines special fare emails.

7:50CC…John and Brad Henegan from First Saturday in May accept the award they already got.

7:51RP…From one of the Hennegan brothers the first ever Eclipse award shout out to Payless Shoes.

7:54CC…Did you know that WAVE 3 TV won a media Eclipse Award? You did? Oh, I must have slept in that day.

7:54RP…They need more journalism awards…you think? That’s my favorite part of the Academy Awards…best movie review!

7:56RP…The podium reminds me of a Barack Obama press conference when several women advisers were introduced to the media and only the top of their heads showed. Same with the jockeys and Jennie Rees of Courier Journal

7:58CC…the photog award is so embarassing with that misspelled background. Junenile…unreal

8:00CC…Vinnie Perrone just asked for a step stool. No, actually, he demanded one and asked "what kind of operation are you running here?"

8:01CC…and this is why

8:03RP…Anyone remember the Grammys when the band started playing because Sinatra went on too long…Sinatra!!!

8:04CC…And he’s finally finished. Four minutes later. Did anyone not tell him to keep it pithy? I mean, he seems like a nice guy, but honestly everyone is here for things besides Vinnie’s award.

8:07CC…Kenny Rice just bombed like three jokes in a row. Literally no response from the crowd. Love it!

8:09CC…Oooh! An award I’m not 100% sure of the outcome on! Male Turf

8:10CC…The winner is Conduit.

8:11CC…More importantly, this just came in from Ray. Dessert!

8:13CC…Female Turf goes to…

8:14CC…Forever Together

8:15RP…George Strawbridge defines grace and class. He gave a very elegant acceptance on behalf of Forever Together.

8:15CC…If you are watching both the TVG telecast and this blog, apparently Ray is in the future. That’s why he already knew about Strawbridge’s speech.

8:17CC…Apparently Ray was still hungry

8:18RP…Dessert was outstanding…my first roast hazelnut praline, chocolate terrine, coconut bavaroise

8:19CC…Standing ovation for Alice Headley Chandler

8:19RP…Tommy Thompson left his table…I think the media awards got to him

8:20CC…Hopefully Alice will run into Vinnie Perrone in the hallway and talk to him about speech length. That was a perfect acceptance speech.

8:22RP…Weird observation…some people who are seated near the stage are watching the large screen monitor instead. Kind of like the racetrack  where we watch the TVinstead of the horses in front of us.

8:23CC…Steeplechase winner Good Night Shirt

8:25RP…Steeplechase owner..time’s up. Where’s the band when you need them? Hostage taker.

8:28RP…Although the acceptance was about as long as a jump race.

8:29CC…And now for Breeder, Adena Springs, Stonerside and WinStar

8:30CC…Adena Springs wins News at 11

8:31RP…Barbara…I saw Steve Asmussen up close and personal and I found him not the least bit scary looking. But he did growl at me

8:32RP…And I did eat the holy cross on the dessert. Yum!

8:32RP…Love the lecture from the handicapper of the year. He’s really good.

8:33RP…Random thought. Chantal Sutherland is mesmerizing Here she is, sitting with Mike Smith while no doubt catching up on my live blog!

8:35RP…I think Steven Crist wishes he had a hook to yank the handicapper off stage

8:37RP…Now I wish I had a hook for this guy. I take my earlier comments back.

8:39CC…and still going….

8:41CC…like the Energizer Bunny. Seriously.

8:43RP…Dayyam. I missed the Conduit wardrobe malfunction. Had my head down thumbing away

8:44RP…What’s with the Joan Rivers remark? No facelifts for me.

8:45RP…The vets do a great job with the on call program but they are making me feel like I’m at a funeral service. How about a little joke fellas?

8:48RP…Rep Cardoza…pandering for votes and political contributions.

8:53CC…and Benny the Bull wins Male sprinter

8:49RP…Wow…Michael Iavarone is redder faced than me after I spent five hours on the beach

8:51RP…Good news from Iavarone that Benny the Bull will race in 2009…

8:56CC…And now Female Sprinter…

8:57CC…Indian Blessing. I love this horse

9:00RP…I doubt many trainers worked harder than Steve Asmussen in 2008. It really was a remarkable year he had. And he’s got the cutest family in the room…hands down.

9:01CC…For those of you watching on TVG, Ray is quite a bit ahead of us (tape delay). If you don’t want to know before the telecast, look elsewhere.

9:03CC…Which is why you already knew that Asmussen won the award. Barbara, thanks. I was starting to feel sorry for myself. Hopefully Asmussen and Iavarone know it was all in fun!

9:05CC…Well, apparently Stonach won for owner.

9:06RP…I wonder how many racing secretaries that work for Frank Stronach voted for him as leading owner and breeder. I’d imagine they might be more inclined to vote against him.

9:07RP I also wonder how many Breeders’ Cup employees vote and how they voted? Seems they have a vested interest.

9:08RP…Racing secretaries and Breeders’ Cup employees have been part of the NTRA voting members.

9:10RP…and Zenyatta wins. Jerry Moss couldn’t drag trainer John Shirreffs on stage to help him accept Zenyatta’s Eclipse Award.

9:11RP…Moss is the west coast version of George Strawbridge…full of class, extremely articulate and one of the game’s very best. Wish we had more like both of them.

9:13CC…Curlin wins older male. in related news, grass is green and the sky is blue.

9:15RP…Good comment by Jess Jackson saying that older horses can race and also make good sires.

9:16CC…Turk, I’m with you. Why wait when you can hear it from Ray first.

9:17RP…His comment about the industry’s movement to eliminate drugs and become more transparent was well received.

9:18RP…"Keep the horse first, and the horse will take care of you." Well said Jess Jackson

9:19CC…Time for a photo. The Jackson clan.

9:21RP…Curlin wrote a note saying he liked racing but likes his new job even better.

9:22RP…Jerry Moss gets a do-over to thank Mike Smith..this could be a first. Told you he was a class act.

9:23RP…I wonder if Mike stormed off. (Just kidding…there isn’t a more humble guy in the jockey’s room)

9:24CC…Apprentice jockey coming up soon.

9:27CC…Faith, I thought he sent it in Horse Code. (I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist)

9:28RP…Winner is Paco Lopez

9:29RP…Someone wrote to say Jess Jackson looks like Don Rickles. That’s not nice you hockey puck!

9:31CC…And now for outstanding jockey, the Eclipse goes to Garrett Gomez.

9:32RP…Garrett Gomez is one tough dude. I said his smile looked pretty good before dinner and he said all his front teeth were temps. Lost em in an ugly spill and he still has a knot on his hand from that spill. To think he was back in the saddle a few days later.

9:34CC…3 year old male goes to…Big Brown

9:35RP…Cash Asmussen presenting with Todd Schrupp of TVG. Hard to believe Cash was a jockey all those years. So tall.

9:36RP…Interesting comment from Anne Campbell about Michael Iavarone. "He looks like Jerry Lewis (a young Jerry Lewis)."

9:39RP…Schrupp gave a very nice tribute to Larry Jones before introducing the 3 year old filly finalists. Second standing ovation of the night.

9:40RP…It was to thank him for facing the media so tirelessly after the death of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby. Well done.

9:41RP…But Proud Spell won

9:42RP…Second politicians of the night at the podium, former KY Gov Brereton Jones owner and breeder of Proud Spell. Jones says organizers can forget about the one minute rule for acceptance speeches, acknowledging his political past.

9:44CC…picture time again, featuring the Iavarone party

9:46RP…Jones acknowledged the many great trainers in the room but said no one was greater than Larry Jones, who also trained Proud Spell.

9:47RP…Horse of the Year next…

9:48RP…Alex Waldrop to present Horse of the Year.

9:49RP…Alex said someone in the room was live blogging…"so be careful what you say." Wonder who he’s talking about…

9:50RP…And the winner is…CURLIN!!!

9:51RP…Jess Jackson high fives the table.

9:52RP…Jerry Moss picks up his wine glass raises in the air and thanks John Shirrefs for a great year

9:53RP…The other two nominees were Zenyatta and Big Brown

9:55CC…And the Horse of the Year picture

9:56RP…Jess Jackson says Curlin still wants to run…but will enjoy his new job

10:04RP…After the awards closed Brereton Jones said he was more nervous accepting the award than he had ever been giving any political speech. I guess that sums up what the Eclipse Awards mean to horse people.

10:05RP…Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to our hosts, Cot and Anne Campbell of Dogwood Stable and to the dinner companions I wasn’t able to spend enough time talking with.

That’s it from Miami Beach…

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