Eclipse Award Finalists

[PaceAdvantage]

2-Year-Old Male: Creative Cause, Hansen, Union Rags
2-Year-Old Filly: Grace Hall, My Miss Aurelia, Stephanie's Kitten
3-Year-Old Male: Animal Kingdom, Caleb's Posse, Shackleford
3-Year-Old Filly: It's Tricky, Plum Pretty, Royal Delta
Older Male: Acclamation, Game on Dude, Tizway
Older Female: Awesome Maria, Blind Luck, Havre de Grace
Male Sprinter: Amazombie, Caleb's Posse, Regally Ready
Female Sprinter: Hilda's Passion, Musical Romance, Sassy Image
Male Turf Horse: Acclamation, Cape Blanco , St Nicholas Abbey
Female Turf Horse: Dubawi Heights, Perfect Shirl, Stacelita
Steeplechase Horse: Black Jack Blues, Decoy Daddy, Tax Ruling
Owner: Midwest Thoroughbreds, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, Team Valor
Breeder: Adena Springs, Brereton C. Jones, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Trainer: Bob Baffert, Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Javier Castellano, Ramon Dominguez, John Velazquez
Apprentice Jockey: Ryan Curatolo, Kyle Frey, Rosario MontanezCouple of thoughts:

How in the world is Acclamation a finalist for older male but Cape Blanco is not? I would think Cape Blanco is going to beat Acclamation in the Turf Horse Category, so to not see his name among the older males is kind of a serious oversight...anyone agree?

Quite frankly, and as difficult as it is for me to say this, I'm kind of surprised Drosselmeyer didn't make the cut for older male. The entire field of older males, with the exception of Acclamation and Cape Blanco was kind of crappy in terms of either longevity or consistency or both.

Game On Dude was beaten soundly by Drosselmeyer in the BC Classic, was beaten by First Dude in the Hollywood Gold Cup, won the Goodwood over Awesome Gem and Coil (big whoop) and who did he beat in the Santa Anita Handicap?

Tizway? Yeah, I guess he should get some respect in a year like this, as he did win the Whitney over Flat Out and Giant Oak, but really, Flat Out beat Drosselmeyer in the JCGC in the mud and then won nothing else of any import the rest of the year, and Giant Oak didn't win a race after the Donn in February. Tizway also won the Met Mile beating Rodman and Caixa Eletronica...ok...so?

The fact is this field of older horses was almost as bad as this year's 3-year-old crop in terms of consistency, with only the turf runners putting together decent strings of Grade 1 wins.

I guess winning one graded race all year (and only 2 of 7 overall) will kill your chances as it did in Drosselmeyer's case, but the BC Classic was the best field of horses assembled all year long and when you combine that with the total lack of consistency of the dirt candidates, I would have thought Drosselmeyer would have at least made it to the final round in the older male category.

[redshift1]

Of the horses the only sure picks are:

My Miss Aurelia 2 YR Old Filly

Royal Delta 3 YR Old Filly

Havre de Grace Older Female

Horse of the Year, HDG for a female HOTY trifecta.

[Fager Fan]

Older Male is for dirt horses. Synthetics have clouded the picture because they replaced dirt though the surface is liked more by turf horses. So for the time being, while synthetics are still around, the older male division is considered to be for "main track" horses. Cape Blanco never raced on dirt or the "main track." Acclamation did, winning a G1 on synthetic. He's clearly a turf horse so I don't agree with putting him up in the Older Male division but we're stuck with this mish-mash of turf horses being put into dirt divisions for now.

[ten2oneormore]

Never Retreat is missing from the Female turf category.I thought she was a cinch but I guess the Beverly D and BC Ladies Turf are all that matter.I realize Perfect Shirl won the big one but putting it together for one race doesn't really say yearly best to me and Dubawi Heights lost both times she left California.

Never Retreat had 5 graded stakes wins and 4 ITM

[FenceBored]

Apprentice Jockey do-over:

Because some of the data presented to voters in the apprentice jockey competition for an Eclipse Award included wins and earnings for one rider after he had lost his apprenticeship, voting in that category will be re-conducted.
Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/66852/apprentice-jockey-eclipse-voting-reopened#ixzz1inKfqlmK

[classhandicapper]

Couple of thoughts:

How in the world is Acclamation a finalist for older male but Cape Blanco is not? I would think Cape Blanco is going to beat Acclamation in the Turf Horse Category, so to not see his name among the older males is kind of a serious oversight...anyone agree?


I wish they were clearer about some of these categories.

They probably included Acclamation in "best older male" because he also won on synthetic. Cape Blanco is considered strictly a turf horse. But I don't see why "best male turf horse" can't also be "best older male".

If you want to be cynical, here's what's going to happen.

Best Male Turf Horse - Cape Blanco
Best Older Male - Acclamation
HOTY - Havre de Grace

That way everyone that is worthy of something gets an award.

Personally, I wouldn't feel so bad about that outcome because Acclamation was very consistent and beat Game on Dude who verified his quality with a very good race in the Classic.

[plainolebill]

That's the most forgetable list of Eclipse horses I've ever seen. A little bit like who is the least worst.