Superfectablog v3.0 » Eclipse Awards

Everyone’s a Hero

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:33:00 +0000

I didn’t actually watch the Eclipse Awards myself, since Monday night is sacrosanct – House and How I Met Your Mother both take precedence, even on TiVo. But it sounds like I didn’t miss much: Curlin repeated as Horse of the Year, all the expected names won in their respective categories (although I would argue Einstein deserved the Male Turf Horse trophy over Conduit), although it sounds like the IEAH crew were amusingly surprised to lose out to the Stronach crew for outstanding owner. I feel the insertion of a little Nelson Muntz action after that announcement would have added to the effect, but no matter.

The IEAH folks did try to spring their own surprise by announcing the Benny the Bull would be returning to the track instead of heading off to stud (apparently framed as some sort of reward for the award, if you follow that logic), but given the current state of bloodstock economics, I can’t imagine many deep-pocketed owners were lining up to pay more in stud fees than the obscurely-bred horse could earn at the track over the next few years – let’s recall that his sire stands for $2500 in Oklahoma. Still, I think he’s a fine sprinter and it will be nice to see him back, even with his dodgy connections.

There is also the news that we’ll get to see more of Leah’s Secret following her Sunshine Millions win last weekend. While I was entirely wrong about California winning the day, at least I predicted Leah’s Secret and Georgie Boy coming home victors – and I’m rather pleased about having mentioned the entire trifecta for the Sunshine Millions Turf – shame I didn’t actually bet anything, since that was a very nice payoff. Georgie Boy may point to turf next – a very interesting prospect indeed.

Check back later in the week for more on the upcoming (early) Derby preps…

Turn Around, Bright Eyes (2008)

admin — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:27:00 +0000

The Eclipse Awards presented (in the words of Radiohead) no surprises; Curlin was duly crowned Horse of the Year and Three-Year-Old Colt – ESPN notes that only last year, he had yet to make his first start. Chief owner Jess Jackson continued to send out positive signals about Curlin’s continued career on the track, but of course there are still those pesky legal issues to work out before he can move forward toward a trip to Dubai.

The public got to vote on ‘Moment of the Year’ this time out, with Rags to Riches‘ triumph in the Belmont as the very deserving winner. It’s even more impressive in hindsight when you consider Curlin’s place in the firmament now.

Perhaps my only quibble with the results is Lawyer Ron’s Champion Older Male title; not to take anything away from Lawyer Ron, but English Channel continuously faced and beat world-class competition — while the Male Turf Horse category is clearly his, it says a lot about the relative status of turf racing in the US that he is relegated to a secondary title.

The Guardian’s sportblog had a rather interesting take on the Eclipse Awards, not only noting racing’s much higher profile in the UK but also pointing out that the award for best trainer was:

…reckoned to be a match between Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen, both of whom, somewhat inconveniently, were serving suspensions for breaches of the anti-doping rules when the racing year opened back in January 2007.

Oh, that. Moving swiftly onward…

They also suggest that racing’s revenue potential is ‘equivalent to that of the NBA‘ and yet it remains ‘the sport that dare not speak its name.’

While it’s lovely to hand out awards (provided you have writers, of course), if racing is really making as much cash as the NBA, someone really ought to be marketing that information…

Normal Service Resumes

admin — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:09:00 +0000

Apologies for the dearth of posts lately, I’ve been out of town and then very, very busy (and I don’t even get free press passes anymore, so that slows me down). The Eclipse Awards were as you would expect — no real news to report there.

I am very much looking forward to Sweetnorthernsaint’s return on Saturday in the Sunshine Millions Classic; he might have gotten a bad post position but hey, he’s been feeling lively lately!

I wonder to what extent NBC’s coverage of the Sunshine Millions will be viewed as Durkin vs. Denman; hopefully Denman will have a much better day than he did back in November. Either way, I expect another Lava Man triumph now that he’s back in California.

Speaking of California, they are moving to further tighten up their drug rules — I particularly like the part where they can fine owners. If anything is going to get someone to stop knowingly using a trainer who uses the special sauce as part of his or her regimen, presumably the place to start is at the pocketbook.

On a more upbeat note, I am pleased that Afleet Alex’s first reported foal was born in Pennsylvania. I do think it would be novel, though, if someone had something to say about these offspring of young sires than ‘big’ or ‘correct,’ but that’s because I’ve always had a soft spot for the smaller horse. Hey, it never stopped Megahertz!

Tags:
Horse Racing, Sweetnorthernsaint

Turn Around, Bright Eyes

admin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:39:00 +0000

I’ve had ample time to consider my Eclipse Award would-be votes; now that we have finalists, here are my thoughts:

Steeplechase: McDynamo — I’m not sure why they bothered putting anyone else as a finalist, we know he’s the one.

Older Male: Looks like Invasor. If only we had more older males to consider…

Breeder: I think breeding the Kentucky Derby and 2000 Guineas winners in the same year should be enough – but tack on Barbaro’s saga and you get another unbeatable choice in the Jacksons.

2YO Colt: It’s close between Street Sense and NoBiz Like Shobiz. Street Sense just wins this one by beating very formidable competition in the Breeders’ Cup, even if (according to legend) that did doom his Derby chances.

Older Female: I’d like to see Round Pond back to take the next installment, but Fleet Indian gets my nod.

Owner: Another easy win for Lael Stables here, for obvious reasons.

2YO Filly: Dreaming of Anna is moving like a tremendous machine in this category.

Sprinter: I’m not convinced Discreet Cat belongs in this category, Henny Hughes was retired too early and so only Thor’s Echo is left to take the prize.

Trainer: Todd Pletcher may have broken the earnings mark, but I still wonder about those drug positives…

3YO Colt: Here’s where it gets tricky. If we are basing this on what they did on the track, Barbaro won more consistently over more surfaces. Had Bernardini not been retired (or won the Classic) my opinion might have been different. Discreet Cat might be the fastest horse in the world, but he’s made so few starts that I tend to forget about him — and I’m a racing fan. Obviously if we factor in off-the-track stories, Barbaro wins by miles. So, Barbaro. While we are on the subject, I would like to add my congratulations to Dick Jerardi for his Media Eclipse Award honoring his coverage of Barbaro.

Male Turf: I’ve liked and undervalued Miesque’s Approval all year – I’ll finally recognize him here.

Jockey: One word: Prado.

3YO Filly: Wait a While – she is all versatility and class.

Female Turf: Ouija Board, naturally.

Apprentice Jockey: Julien Leparoux. It’s hard to lose this one when you are North America’s winningest jockey.

Horse of the Year: Ouija Board. Again, if we’re going purely on racing performance, no one has faced tougher competition on more continents than Ouija Board and she has shown herself to be a champion in every possible way. She was facing the world’s best in almost every race, not simply saving it up for Breeders’ Cup day. If one aim of the Horse of the Year award is to encourage that level of sportsmanship from owners and trainers, her connections deserve the recognition just as much as she does. After all, we have named a race after her and she’ll be a Kentucky resident soon enough, so she qualifies for ‘our’ award in my opinion.

Tags:
Horse Racing, Barbaro, Ouija Board