2017 Eclipse Award Ballot & Discussion
 

My 2017 Eclipse Awards Ballot

Horse of the Year: 1st - Gun Runner, 2nd - Arrogate, 3rd - World Approval

Two-Year-Old Male: 1st - Good Magic, 2nd - Bolt d'Oro, 3rd - Solomini
Two-Year-Old Filly: 1st - Rushing Fall, 2nd - Caledonia Road, 3rd - Moonshine Memories

Three-Year-Old Male: 1st - West Coast, 2nd - Always Dreaming, 3rd - Battle of Midway
Three-Year-Old Filly: 1st - Abel Tasman, 2nd - Elate, 3rd - It Tiz Well (Unique Bella)

Older Dirt Male: 1st - Gun Runner, 2nd - Arrogate, 3rd - Collected
Older Dirt Female: 1st - Forever Unbridled , 2nd - Stellar Wind, 3rd - Vale Dori (Songbird)

Male Sprinter: 1st - Roy H., 2nd - Mind Your Biscuits, 3rd - Imperial Hint
Female Sprinter: 1st - Unique Bella, 2nd - Ami's Mesa, 3rd - Highway Star (Paulassilverlining, Bar of Gold)

Male Turf Horse: 1st - World Approval, 2nd - Beach Patrol, 3rd - Sadler's Joy (Talismanic)
Female Turf Horse: 1st - Lady Eli, 2nd - Off Limits, 3rd - Dickinson (Wuheida)
Steeplechase Horse: 1st - All the Way Jose, 2nd - Mr. Hot Stuff, 3rd - Scorpiancer

Owner: 1st - Klaravich/Lawrence, 2nd - Live Oak (Mrs. Weber), 3rd - Godolphin Racing LLC (Juddmonte, Winchell/Three Chimneys)
Breeder: 1st - Live Oak (Mrs. Weber), 2nd - Hertrich/Fielding, 3rd - Clearsky Farms (Besilu, WinStar)

Jockey: 1st - Jose Ortiz, 2nd - Javier Castellano, 3rd - Mike Smith
Apprentice Jockey: 1st - Evin Roman, 2nd - Katie Clawson, 3rd - Hector Diaz Jr.

Trainer: 1st - Chad Brown, 2nd - Bob Baffert, 3rd - Steve Asmussen

Here's access to the info package for your ballots..

List your 1-2-3 selections below..

Eclipse Candidate Past Performances (Horses by category)

Statistics Links Page

Two-Year-Old Male:
Two-Year-Old Filly:

Three-Year-Old Male:
Three-Year-Old Filly:

Older Dirt Male:
Older Dirt Female:

Male Sprinter:
Female Sprinter:

Male Turf Horse:
Female Turf Horse:
Steeplechase Horse:

Horse of the Year:

Owner:
Breeder:

Jockey:
Apprentice Jockey:

Trainer:

Obvious Bias Post
 

Sorry Steve, I have to vote for my friend and "Compadre" and Bolt D'Oro
for Two Year Old Colt!
He won more Grade 1 (2) to (1)
3 out of 4 for the year and the 3rd in the Breederscup to Good Magic had a terrible trip or I think there would be no debate!
But I have fed carrots and alfalfa to the next Kentucky Derby winner so I am Bias
Happy New Year to all!:tro:

Horse of the Year: 1st - WINX, Gun Runner, 2nd - Arrogate, 3rd

What a shame she is left out. Hasn't lost a race since 2015 with almost 16 mil. in earnings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winx_(horse)

My vote for hoy is damascus.

??????

Completely understand the preference for Bolt d'Oro. I went back and forth and expect Bolt will win. Thought Good Magic did enough be thoroughly dominant in the Juvenile while exiting a very good edition of the Champagne. This was one of 4 divisions that were authentically tough with 2yo Filly, Female Sprinter and 'Chaser.

Best wishes for a great New Year!

:tro:

Strangely, they have Awards for Australian racehorses in Australia.
https://www.racing.com/news/2017-10-...alias-champion

Pretty spot on. I would probably flipflop Asmussen and Baffert.

Baffert campaigned 2 Division Champions though, as well as likely 3 others that will be finalists, and had more individual stakes winners (19 winners/30 wins) than Asmussen had total stakes wins (15)! All of Asmussen's 4 G1's came from Gun Runner, while Baffert's 14 G1's came from 11 different runners.

Baffert (30/14-8-8) $18,555,795
Asmussen (15/4-2-9) $8,563,864

You're right Steve. The stats do tell the story. I'm just jaded. I feel like it's equivalent to voting for Tom Brady for MVP. :)

If Brady was the best player, why not vote for him? It's like LeBron James not winning the NBA mvp award every year.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...eclipse-awards

Hey Steve, congrats on the honorable mention for ATR (obviously the circumstances of "Garrett Gomez Remembered" make it bittersweet). Honestly you guys do such great work year round, I'm surprised they can narrow it down. All those interviews are really a treasure trove for fans of the sport.

Yes, Steve. Congrats for the Honorable Mention for Gomez. Listeners hear this all the time from you, most recently Leroy Jolley and JVB.

We honor our past and embrace our future.

Was great to hear you and Tony Black talk about Cheating Arthur. What a nice horse. I saw and bet on him so many times. He was a warrior.

The 2017 Eclipse Awards finalists (in alphabetical order) are:

Horse of the Year: Arrogate, Gun Runner, World Approval

Two-Year-Old Male: Bolt d’Oro, Good Magic, Solomini
Two-Year-Old Filly: Caledonia Road, Moonshine Memories, Rushing Fall

Three-Year-Old Male: Always Dreaming, Battle of Midway, West Coast
Three-Year-Old Filly: Abel Tasman, Elate, Unique Bella

Older Dirt Male: Arrogate, Collected, Gun Runner
Older Dirt Female: Forever Unbridled, Songbird, Stellar Wind

Male Sprinter: Imperial Hint, Mind Your Biscuits, Roy H
Female Sprinter: Bar of Gold, Paulassilverlining, Unique Bella

Male Turf Horse: Beach Patrol, Talismanic (GB), World Approval
Female Turf Horse: Lady Eli, Off Limits (IRE), Wuheida (GB)
Steeplechase Horse: All the Way Jose, Mr. Hot Stuff, Scorpiancer (IRE)

Owner: Godolphin Racing LLC, Juddmonte Farms, Winchell Thoroughbreds & Three Chimneys Farm
Breeder: Besilu Stables LLC, Clearsky Farms, WinStar Farm, LLC

Jockey: Javier Castellano, Jose Ortiz, Mike Smith
Apprentice Jockey: Katie Clawson, Hector Rafael Diaz Jr., Evin A. Roman

Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, Chad Brown

Thanks very much. Paying proper tribute to the game's all time greats, like the Van Berg Tribute Wednesday, the Allen Jerkens & Bobby Frankel remembrances in previous years, is one of ATR's most important responsibilities. Given the tragedy involved with Gomez, I thought the story told over the 3 hours was very special and moving. I'll get the full 3 hours up on the Best Of page.

Voters struggle with the human categories. I'm not sure why Asmussen is a nominee for Trainer, as ex-Gun Runner, he didn't have a particularly good year. I guess, however, assuming he finishes third, there are worse choices to fill out the category. I assume the voters will get it right with Chad Brown and Jose Ortiz, both of whom should be runaway winners.

Don't even get me started about the owner nominees. Klaravich and E-Five Racing both were better choices than at least two of the nominees in my opinion.

Will there by any resolution to this?

https://twitter.com/railbird/status/948691159311945731

Seems pretty shady to me. In the responses it is said there was an INQ? Have yet to hear any judgment.

It's in the hands of the Eclipse Steering Committee reps from the NTRA & NTWAB. The DRF recused itself from participating in the decision as to whether the entry is allowable in light of the rules regarding 'first publication'.

(For those that don't know the background, the Eclipse Awards are managed in a triumvirate of the NTRA, the National Turf Writers & Broadcasters and the DRF.)

As Andy mentions, the voters seem to really struggle with any imaginative comprehension past the obvious earnings lists. It's an embarrassment and indicative of people that aren't really following the game, are too lazy to work beneath the surface figures and don't particularly care about properly recognizing the stakeholders.

To tackle breeder for a moment, Besilu is not in the sport anymore and accrued it's numbers almost entirely via the exploits of Gun Runner. WinStar, a commercial breeding factory, had Bolt d'Oro, New Money Honey and American Patriot as their headliners in what was obviously a sub-par year. From 226 WinStar products that made starts in 2017, there were 9 Graded Stake wins (4 G1's).

By comparison, Live Oak Stud (Mrs. Weber) homebred 4 different Graded Stakes winners that won 8 stakes (3 G1's). That came from just 46 horses that started in '17. You say earnings are your priority? OK.. Live Oak runners earned $15,524 per start v. WinStar's $6,948.

Mrs. Weber will have a Champion in World Approval and some might say that's a nice acknowledgement of her season. But in fact, 2017 was one of the best years she's had in 50 years in the game and this was an ideal opportunity for anyone paying attention to reward her with a Breeder ~ or Owner ~ Eclipse for decades of service to the sport. A reward she would greatly cherish.

As Andy noted too, the failure the past 2 years to take notice of Seth Klarman & Bill Lawrence is equally inexcusable.

It's all very irksome to anyone that takes their involvement in the industry seriously.

Announcement coming today apparently..

More from Jessica Chapel on past controversies: http://jessicachapel.com/2018/01/06/...-then-and-now/

Until you win an Eclipse for your service to the industry, I view the media categories as complete drivel. Every friggin day you are on the air bringing listeners the most current news within the industry. You bring virtually every significant player from every facet of the sport on air and delve into whatever is substantial with their visit. How in the world any of these "matter of fact" pieces have any substantive effect on the sport and or the people that follow it vs. what you do day in and day out is dubious at best. Frankly, I find the whole matter just another example of the blind leading the blind.

For better or worse, the Eclipse Awards do not take a broad view of the accomplishments of the entrants. They focus on the one entry. For some relatively obvious reasons, I have issues with this, but at the same time, I also understand it. I think it works in many cases but has drawbacks in others. Like many here, I would love to see Steve recognized for his contributions to the Industry, but as of yet the Industry has failed to do that. Hopefully that will change at some point. I am confident that it will.

You left out the part about what dapper dresser he is. I’d go if he got an eclipse award. It was cool to finally meet him at Saratoga this year. Wifey loved his canary yellow blazer.

Fred, Andy, Dan..

Thank you. Greatly appreciate the sentiments.

2017 Eclipse Awards

Horse of the Year: Gun Runner

Two-Year-Old Male: Good Magic
Two-Year-Old Filly: Caledonia Road

Three-Year-Old Male: West Coast
Three-Year-Old Filly: Abel Tasman

Older Dirt Male: Gun Runner
Older Dirt Female: Forever Unbridled

Male Sprinter: Roy H.
Female Sprinter: Unique Bella

Male Turf Horse: World Approval
Female Turf Horse: Lady Eli
Steeplechase Horse: Scorpiancer

Owner: Juddmonte
Breeder: Clearsky Farms

Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Apprentice Jockey: Evin Roman

Trainer: Chad Brown

Just wanted say Steve , you deserve ☝️ of those, just got done watching tvg.

Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment and should take the opportunity to say how kind it was of Ray Arsenault to include me in his speech.

The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

Voter participation rate: 250/269= 92.9%

Two-Year-Old Male (Name, First-Place Votes)
Good Magic, 131; Bolt d’Oro, 113; Catholic Boy, 3; Firenze Fire, 1; Mendelssohn, 1; Solomini, 1.

Two-Year-Old Filly
Caledonia, Road, 161; Rushing Fall, 68; Moonshine Memories, 17; Dream Tree, 2; Dream It Is, 1; Road to Victory, 1.

Three-Year-Old Male
West Coast, 229; Always Dreaming, 14; Battle of Midway, 5; Irap, 1; Mastery, 1.

Three-Year-Old Filly
Abel Tasman, 244; Unique Bella, 5; Elate, 1.

Older Dirt Male
Gun Runner, 247; Arrogate, 3.

Older Dirt Female
Forever Unbridled, 237; Songbird, 8; Stellar Wind, 4; Voter Abstentions, 1.

Male Sprinter
Roy H, 241; Imperial Hint, 5; Drefong, 1; Mind Your Biscuits, 1; Stormy Liberal, 1; Voter Abstentions, 1.

Female Sprinter
Unique Bella, 90, Paulassilverlining, 60; Ami’s Mesa, 41; Bar of Gold, 36; Lady Aurelia, 8; By the Moon, 5; American Gal, 3; Finley’sluckycharm, 1; Voter Abstentions, 6.

Male Turf Horse
World Approval, 211; Beach Patrol 20; Talismanic (GB), 11; Highland Reel (IRE), 8.

Female Turf Horse
Lady Eli, 203; Wuheida (GB), 33; Off Limits, 12; Cambodia, 1; La Coronel, 1.

Steeplechase Horse
Scorpiancer (IRE), 92; All the Way Jose, 70; Mr. Hot Stuff, 35; Modem (GB), 7; Diplomat, 4; Swansea Mile (IRE), 3; Voter Abstentions, 39.

Owner
Juddmonte Farms, 143; Winchell Thoroughbreds, 31; Godolphin Racing, 21; Sol Kumin, Head of Plains, Sheep Pond Partners, 19; Klaravich Stables, Inc., and William H. Lawrence, 11; Calumet Farm, 7; End Zone Athletics, 3; Charles Fipke, 2; Coolmore, 1; e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, 1; Fox Hill Farm, 1; Live Oak Plantation, 1; John Oxley, 1; Stonestreet Stables, 1; Voter Abstentions, 7.

Breeder
Clearsky Farms, 141; WinStar Farm, 72; Charles Fipke, 8; Belisu Stables, 7; Live Oak Stud, 6; Godolphin Racing/Darley, 4; Brereton C. Jones, 3; Adena Springs, 1; Calumet Farm, 1; Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 1; Voter Abstentions, 6.

Trainer
Chad Brown, 215; Bob Baffert, 16; Steve Asmussen, 13; Mark Casse, 2; Todd Pletcher, 2; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Jockey
Jose Ortiz, 189; Mike Smith, 45; Irad Ortiz, Jr.,10; Javier Castellano, 4; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Apprentice Jockey
Evin Roman, 232; Katie Clawson, 4; Jenn Miller, 1. Voter Abstentions, 13.

Horse of the Year
Gun Runner, 248; Arrogate, 2

So who were the two jackals that voted arrogate horse of the year? Their voting privileges should be taken away :zz:

one of them probably posts often in the selections forum.

-bt-

:tro::)

That was nice of Ray. Nice to see you talk about your votes and reasoning. This is all opinion. And it's great. I enjoy hearing those who put the thought in.

I'm not gonna hate on that, I just wouldn't vote the same way. Sure, Arrogate's year fell apart but it still includes the 2017 Pegasus and the Dubai World Cup, the latter a truly jaw dropping performance (and that's in the context of Arrogate's other races), one that got him ranked #1 in the world. They knew Gun Runner was a shoo-in. Turning Arrogate out might've resulted in a different BCC (and you know Bob could get him back in shape even if he did still hate Del Mar). He wins that race, they go Arrogate for HOY in a landslide. A sentimental vote for the better horse with a bad year who finished the year as the top ranked racehorse isn't so bad.

I found the votes for Irap and Mastery more dumbfounding.

Anyway, it's nice that no horse (or entity) was edged out in any category. All the winners won decisively.

It depends on how you look at it. If you’re looking for most accomplished, Mastery shouldn’t get a vote. But if you follow a different way of thinking, the one that says you vote for the best horse of all those that are qualified, it’s not hard to see why Mastery would get votes. He looked like he was going to be really good. In my opinion, a vote for him wouldn’t be much different than voting for Singspiel. He won the award as top turf horse and didn’t win a single race in this country.

I was just reading the BH article on Good Magic's Eclipse win and wow that comment section's 'he wuz robbed' about Bolt D'Oro... I guess the Chromies have a new champion. Of course they're also crying about East Coast Bias and all that. This is gonna be insufferable. :rolleyes: