Posts Tagged ‘Life is Sweet’

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.

There are some big races at Saratoga, Arlington Park and Del Mar this weekend, highlighted by Commentator’s bid for a third consecutive Whitney Handicap at Saratoga on Saturday, the International Festival of Racing the same afternoon featuring the trio of Grade 1 races–the Secretariat Stakes, Beverly D. and Arlington Million–and unbeaten Zenyatta’s bid for a 12th consecutive win in Sunday’s Grade 1 Clement Hirsch at Del Mar.

ESPN will be televising the Beverly D and Million from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Eastern, while HRTV will provide live coverage of the Secretariat. This year’s fields emphasize the international aspect of the Arlington  Festival, with Aidan O’Brien sending Black Bear Island over from Europe for the Secretariat and the Beverly D and Million each attracting three foreign runners. The invaders may have the upper hand in the Beverly D; horses trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, Dermot Weld and Criquette Head are always dangerous. The Million will be a test to see how good Christophe Clement-trained Gio Ponti really is. The son of Tale of the Cat is coming off three consecutive Grade 1 wins at distances ranging from a mile to 1 3/8 miles, and he has shown a devastating closing kick.

The 8-year-old gelding Commentator only has one way of going, on the front end, and there appears to be only one horse in the field of seven—the allowance winner Tizway—who might put early pressure on Commentator.  The Argentine horse Asiatic Boy figures to be very tough in the Whitney for Kiaran McLaughlin. Both TVG and HRTV will be showing the Whitney (post time at 5:47 p.m., just five minutes after the Arlington Million. The Test Stakes for 3-year-old fillies a half-hour earlier gives Saratoga its second Grade 1 race of the afternoon. Unbeaten Cat Moves (another by Tale of the Cat) will be very tough in there.

Out West, Del Mar will pack ‘em in to see Zenyatta try to defend her crown in the Hirsch. She won the race last year (when it was a Grade 2 event) by only a length, turning in her patented stretch run to get the job done easily enough. The daughter of Street Cry hasn’t scared anyone off though, as there will be a field of 10 for the 1 1/16-mile race. Life Is Sweet, second in Zenyatta’s 2009 debut, the Milady at Hollywood Park, could be the biggest threat to end her remarkable streak.

The Clement Hirsch goes at 7 p.m. Eastern and is shown exclusively on TVG and the various sports channel that pick up the racing channel’s big race broadcasts.