Horse racing

An Eclipse ballot: the turf horses

With his four major stakes victories, at distances from a mile to a1 3/8 miles, Gio Ponti was clearly the most accomplished turf horse based in North America in 2009. And so he gets the vote here as the season’s turf champion.

Making that decision required as much time as writing that paragraph. On a day when Gio Ponti aimed for a more lucrative reward, Conduit won the Breeders’ Cup Turf. But Conduit was hardly overwhelming and that victory alone doesn’t approach, doesn’t even come close, to matching Gio Ponti’s accomplishments.

But the scale doesn’t tip quite so conspicuously when comparing the turf accomplishments of Ventura and Goldikova. Ventura had another outstanding season, winning three of her six starts with three seconds. On turf, she won two of three, with a runner-up finish in the Kilroe Handicap, losing to Gio Ponti by a nose. Goldikova, of course, won the Breeders’ Cup Mile with a powerful finish down the stretch at Santa Anita.

Both horses are worthy. Ventura beat a very strong field in the Woodbine Mile: Ferneley ran second, Sterwins third, Bribon fourth and Rahy’s Attorney seventh. If Ventura’s victory in the Matriarch wasn’t especially head-turning, that’s partly because her only real competition became the expectations she had created for herself. Despite the race’s Roman numeral, the field wasn’t particularly strong, and Ventura won as you would expect, without a moment’s doubt, as the 3-5 favorite.

An Eclipse Award honors the accumulation of accomplishment. And for me, unless it’s sensational, a single performance isn’t going to trump a collection of major victories. But Goldikova’s victory was indeed sensational: She shaved 23 seconds in the final quarter-mile while rallying from 10th and circling horses. The Mile arguably attracted the best field to meet on the turf this year. Just look at the horses that finished behind Goldikova, some of them far behind: Cowboy Cal, Court Vision, Justenuffhumor, Delegator, Courageous Cat, Whatsthescript, Gladiatorus, Zacinto and Ferneley, who ran seventh.

I wouldn’t argue with anybody who votes for Ventura. And, frankly, I’ve gone back on forth on this for days. But for me, in the end, Goldikova won the Eclipse Award as the champion turf female by a nose. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say Ventura lost it by a nose.

An Eclipse ballot: the sprinters

Informed Decision is one of the obvious Eclipse winners, a ball-peen hammer choice as the champion female sprinter. But her campaign also makes an eloquent argument for the horsemanship and expertise of her trainer, Jonathan Sheppard. In fact, the sprint divisions highlight the abilities of the two trainers who are most deserving of an Eclipse.

Informed Decision won six of her seven races this year, with victories at five different racetracks, on both synthetic surfaces and dirt. Early in the year, Sheppard said he was pointing the filly at the Breeders’ Cup, and he did a masterful job getting her there ready for a superlative effort.

Sheppard also guided Forever Together through another lucrative season. Although not quite as good as a year ago, Forever Together earned nearly $800,000 in 2009. And, of course, Sheppard resurrected the career of Cloudy’s Knight, who didn’t win a race in 2008. But his year, after joining Sheppard’s stable, Cloudy’s Knight won four of five, including three stakes, and he finished second by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon. Sheppard won 16 graded stakes this year. Only three trainers – Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen and Bob Baffert – won more.

Kodiak Kowboy earned this Eclipse vote with his victories in the Vosburgh, defeating Fabulous Strike, and the Cigar Mile, beating Bribon and Vineyard Haven. He was very good all year, winning two of his first six starts, including the Carter Handicap. But when he rejoined Asmussen’s stable (Asmussen had developed Kodiak Kowboy as a 2-year-old), he took his performances to an even higher level. Asmussen, of course, also developed the sensational 2-year-olf filly Hot Dixie Chick, and he guided Rachel Alexandra to four victories after taking over for Hal Wiggins.

An Eclipse ballot: the 2-year-olds

For most of the 2-year-olds that raced this year, their campaigns were like so many paths in the woods: You just don’t know where they’re going to lead. But for Eclipse purposes that’s hardly important. In voting for the champion juveniles, I’m not trying to identify those with the most potential, only those with the most accomplishments.

Lookin At Lucky seemed to have a full allotment of both accomplishment and potential, but he was the exception. And as such he’s clearly the champion 2-year-old colt. He concluded his campaign with an easy victory Saturday in the CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park. It was his fifth victory of the year in six starts and his fourth stakes win, his only loss coming in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, where he had a rough trip and finished second, a head behind Vale of York.

Lookin At Lucky had a perfect trip in the CashCall, and the clocking was rather pedestrian. The victory, in other words, wasn’t particularly impressive, even though he won pricking his ears. His victory in the Norfolk was impressive though, and the powerful son of Smart Strike has the looks that suggest he could be up to playing the part of the sport’s next superstar.

His trainer, Bob Baffert, seems to effervesce whenever he talks about the colt. And Baffert could be traveling the Triple Crown path with numbers next year. Tiz Chrome, the flashy winner of the Stuka, and Clutch Player, a debut winner, also have abundant potential.

Beyond Lookin At Lucky, few of the colts consistently impressed. Buddy’s Saint, another powerful colt who looks as if he could run for miles, overwhelmed his rivals in the Nashua, winning by 12 lengths. But then his Remsen was excruciatingly slow. Jackson Bend won and won and won again, but he raced only at Calder and outshone the same cohort repeatedly.

Super Saver looked terrific winning the Kentucky Jockey Club, but he got singed in the Champagne. Future success could depend on his learning to control his speed. Rule looked outstanding in his two stakes victories at Delta Downs, his athleticism and style recalling War Emblem. But a small oval such as Delta’s emphasizes athleticism, gives athleticism an edge; and Rule has yet to prove he can be so effective racing at larger tracks.

Vale of York won the Juvenile in his only race here, and he, too, had some trouble in the race. Noble’s Promise, D’ Funnybone, Dublin, Homeboykris, Thiskyhasnolimit and Backtalk all had their moments. But Lookin At Lucky was clearly the champion.

The situation isn’t quite so clear among the fillies. Blind Luck, Hot Dixie Chick, Mi Sueno, Sassy Image and She Be Wild all won two major stakes. She Be Wild, of course, won the richest of those, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but she hardly seemed best that day. She had a perfect trip, getting through an opening inside, while the horses who finished second, third and fourth had considerable trouble. Circumstances and Julien Leparoux put her in the winner’s circle, not championship talent.

If it were just a matter of talent, Hot Dixie Chick would be the hands-down champion. She dominated in her stakes victories at Saratoga, beating good fields that included Beautician and Bickersons. But Hot Dixie Chick’s campaign ended with Saratoga.

Championships are based on accomplishments, not just talent. And Blind Luck’s accomplishments, viewed as a whole, add up to a championship: She gets my vote. Not only did she win two major stakes, but she also ran second at Del Mar in the Debutante despite a wide trip and third in the Juvenile Fillies despite trouble.

For trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, Blind Luck improved steadily. And Sunday, she concluded her campaign by winning the Hollywood Starlet by seven lengths in one of the better performances given by a 2-year-old all year. Her winning time (1:41.96) for the 1 1/16 miles, by the way, was 1.34 seconds faster than Lookin At Lucky’s in the Futurity on Saturday. Blind Luck finished with four victories in six starts. It was the kind of campaign that should be encouraged.   

An Eclipse ballot: the older horses

One’s obvious; the other’s impossible. Zenyatta’s obvious. As for the other, here’s a trivia question that hints at the impossibility: Who was the champion turf horse in 1962?

But Zenyatta’s the obvious choice here – and, I assume, everywhere – for the Eclipse Award honoring the champion older filly or mare. Not only was she unbeaten in five starts that included the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but she performed in dramatic fashion, and that’s one of the most remarkable aspects of her career, which was an extravagant entrapment-and-escape melisma played on the single syllable “win.” She was trapped by traffic, by slow paces, by deficits, yet she always escaped to win.

Yes, the choice of Zenyatta’s as obvious as her greatness. But I still wonder at the depth of her talent. Except for that final victory, her 2009 campaign was neither assertive nor aggressive; until the Breeders’ Cup, her campaign shared a taxi with Mr. Bean. During her three-year career, Zenyatta raced only once on genuine dirt, giving one of her best performances to win 2008 Apple Blossom, and only once against males, and so I still wonder just how great she might have been and suspect she was even greater than we saw. One of the greatest certainly.

As for the turf champion in 1962, there was none. And I don’t think there should be a champion older male this year. I know that will be a minority opinion, and somebody, probably Gio Ponti, will win the award, but I don’t feel comfortable voting for him or anybody else in the division. Before you protest, consider the possibilities and, most of all, consider the history of the award. Many people have suggested that there are no criteria for the Eclipse Awards, but that’s not quite true.

History provides the criteria and the guidelines for voting. And history says rather articulately that the Eclipse Award for the outstanding older male goes to the horse that has proven himself championship worthy while racing on dirt and at distances beyond a mile. This is not an award for turf horses or sprinters. They have their own.

Yes, some turf horses have won the Eclipse Award for best older horse, but their success wasn’t confined to the grass. John Henry, for example, received the award in 1981, when he won six stakes on grass. But he also won Santa Anita Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Obviously he was Horse of the Year.

Three years later, after winning six of his nine starts, he was honored with another golden Eclipse Award. But despite being named 1984’s Horse of the Year,  he was not the champion older male. That honor went to Slew O’ Gold.

In 1993, Kotashaan was Horse of the Year. He was, I should point out, a 5-year-old; but he was not the champion older horse. So how can an older male who’s Horse of the Year not win the Eclipse for best older male? Well, John Henry didn’t win a race on dirt in 1984; all his victories were on turf. And Kotashaan raced exclusively on turf. They didn’t win the Eclipse for older male, in other words, because the award recognizes, more than anything, accomplishments on dirt. For turf accomplishments, there’s another award.

The Eclipse Award honoring the best older male, in fact, has never gone to a horse that didn’t win on dirt. Never. Before the Eclipse Awards, in 1970, the Daily Racing Form named Fort Marcy the champion older male even though his only victories that year were on grass. But that seems to have been regarded as apostasy. The Thoroughbred Racing Associations named Nodouble, who won the Metropolitan and the San Pasqual, the champion older male.
   
And that, of course, leads to Gio Ponti, who’ll no doubt be the champion turf horse of 2009. But should he also be the champion older male? History insists he shouldn’t. He didn’t win on dirt; in fact, he didn’t even race on dirt. Even putting the synthetic issue aside, he didn’t win on the main track; he ran second in the Classic and fifth in the Strub. His campaign, in other words, was very much like John Henry’s in 1984. Like Gio Ponti this year, John Henry won four Grade I turf stakes in 1984. And like Gio Ponti this year, John Henry ran fifth (in the Santa Anita Handicap) and second (Hollywood Gold Cup) in his only two starts on the main track in 1984.

Who should be the champion older male then? Einstein would seem a possibility. And if he had won the Clark at Churchill, I would happily vote for him, but he ran third after a troubled trip. And that was hardly surprising. For much of the year, he actually seemed more apt to get into trouble than the winner’s circle, his only victories coming in the Santa Anita Handicap and Churchill’s Turf Classic. Einstein was probably better last year, and although he continued to perform admirably this season, he rarely reached a championship level.

Macho Again would seem another possibility. And had he won the Clark, I happily could vote for him. But he finished ninth, showing nothing. Or rather showing the inconsistency that characterized his season. When the pace and the circumstances were favorable, Macho Again could be very effective, winning the Stephen Foster, for example, and finishing second in the Woodward. But he also could be ineffective and disappear if circumstances didn’t flatter him, finishing sixth, for example, in the Alysheba at Churchill and seventh in the Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream. Macho Again is a good horse and sometimes a very good horse, but inconsistency isn’t a championship virtue.

Others had their moments, such as Rail Trip, Richard’s Kid, Colonel John and Furthest Land. But nobody met the historical criteria, the standard established over many years, for a champion older male; nobody performed consistently well at a championship level. And so I’m voting for nobody.

An Eclipse ballot: the 3-year-olds

For more than a month now, ever since the Breeders’ Cup, people have been discussing and debating the Eclipse Awards and arguing most passionately about the Horse of the Year. Well, it’s time to start preparing a ballot. Some meaningful races will be run this weekend that could affect the awards for the outstanding juveniles. And so I’ll defer any discussion of those honors and start instead with the 3-year-olds.

Two major stakes for 3-year-olds will be run opening weekend at Santa Anita, but those races won’t affect the Eclipse Awards, which for these divisions were decided a couple months ago. The winners are rather obvious, of course, Summer Bird and Rachel Alexandra, but don’t stop there: Looking further can be extremely encouraging.

The Eclipse voting every year includes, well, some eccentricity. Somebody no doubt will choose to vote for a 3-year-old male other than Summer Bird. And although it’s hard to believe, somebody could even find some rationalization for voting against Rachel Alexandra as the champion 3-year-old filly. But the electorate has adequate numbers to overcome bizarre aberrations of reasoning, and the most salient feature of the Eclipse process over the years has been the general worthiness of the winners.

Although it hasn’t quite matched the accomplishments of the 2007 group (Curlin, Hard Spun, Street Sense, Rags To Riches), not yet anyway, this season’s 3-year-olds may be the most deeply talented group of sophomores to come along since 1997 (Silver Charm, Free House, Captain Bodgit, Touch Gold, Blushing K.D., Ajina, etc.). And because so many of this season’s 3-year-olds are going to continue to race next year, they could build an imposing mountain of achievement before they’re done.

Early in the year, Old Fashioned, Quality Road, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk, Friesan Fire and Pioneerof The Nile appeared to be most talented of the group. Big Drama, Musket Man and Mine That Bird soon emerged. And by the end of the year, a legion of outstanding 3-year-olds had appeared, or reappeared: Blame, Papa Clem, Haynesfield, Charitable Man, Kensei, Hold Me Back, Girolamo, Warrior’s Reward, Giant Oak, Midshipman, Misremembered, Gone Astray, Regal Ransom, Fiddlers Afleet. The group includes outstanding sprinters, too, such as Zensational, Vineyard Haven, Custom For Carlos, Hollywood Hit and Munnings, and some talented turf horses, such as Courageous Cat, Battle Of Hastings, Al Khali, Take The Points and The Usual Q.T. That’s an impressive group, but Summer Bird clearly earned the Eclipse vote.

Summer Bird didn’t make his debut until March, at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., but he improved dramatically and steadily. His last five starts of 2009 resulted in victories in the Belmont Stakes, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup, a runner-up finish in the Haskell and a fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, making him the most accomplished 3-year-old male of 2009. He raced nine times in nine months, with four wins and earnings of $2,323,040. In nine months, he went from maiden to champion, and then, strangely enough, he went to Japan, where he was injured. But he’s expected to return next year.

Rachel Alexandra, of course, dominated the 3-year-old fillies with record-setting romps in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose, and then she beat “the boys.” And then “the men,” meaning older males. Not since Busher in 1945 has a 3-year-old filly gone through such a sensational campaign. Although Rachel Alexandra put every other filly in shadow, this division was also deep, with Careless Jewel, Sara Louise, Flashing, Sweet Repent, Malibu Prayer, Four Gifts, Unrivaled Belle and Just Jenda.

And most of these 3-year-olds will race in 2010, including the division leaders. They offer a reason to think, or at least hope, that this next season could be sensational, with the strongest group of older horses the sport has seen in years. Rachel Alexandra is in light training at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Summer Bird is stabled at Oaklawn for his convalescence. And I’m especially eager to see what the year might bring for Quality Road, who’ll probably make his seasonal debut Jan. 3 at Gulfstream Park in the Hal’s Hope, according to his trainer, Todd Pletcher.

From here, almost since he won his debut, Quality Road looked to be the most talented member of this talented cohort. He had bad luck all year, however. His foot problems kept him from the Triple Crown and put him behind his rivals in terms of experience and development, then he found muddy surfaces at Saratoga and Belmont and then he lost his composure in the Breeders’ Cup. But that talent and the image of his winning the Florida Derby remain vivid.

And so here’s a prediction: In 2010, Horse of the Year will come down to a pair of 4-year-olds whose talent sparkled this year: Rachel Alexandra and Quality Road.

The Eclipse winning trainer is obvious

The Southern Californian attempts to canonize Zenyatta – as in the “Living Legend” – were amusing when they began but gradually became offensive as they assumed by persistence an electioneering tone. And now this: Some are actually suggesting that John Shirreffs should win the Eclipse Award as the outstanding trainer of 2009. Well, I just hope those bubbles of silliness in their bloodstream never reach their heart.

And why should Shirreffs win the award according to these pundits? Because of the marvelous job he did with Zenyatta, of course.

Shirreffs seems to be an excellent horseman and a good guy, but, c’mon, what was so marvelous about the job he did with Zenyatta? She sat in Southern California all year like a praying mantis in a creosote bush. The one time she was entered in a race outside of California she was scratched because her connections were afraid she might lose. Excuse me, but it’s not as if Shirreffs won the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Lassie. And I suspect the only reason she even ran in the Classic was that Rachel Alexandra’s accomplishments pushed her connections into it.

Shirreffs has one of the largest stables in California, yet he has won only 21 races from 96 starters this year. He ranks 10th nationally in earnings, however, with $5,689,932. But take Zenyatta out of the mix, and he wouldn’t be in the top 50 (58th to be exact).

It’s so obvious I would have thought it unnecessary to point out, but Steve Asmussen should win the Eclipse Award. He just broke his own record for victories in a year with 623. He also sits atop the national standings in earnings, with $21,096,656. And when the year began, the Asmussen stable had lost its most successful performers. Curlin, the two-time Horse of the Year and a winner of $10.50 million, was retired, as were millionaires Student Council ($1.56 million), Zanjero ($1.62 million) and Real Dandy ($1.03 million).

It looked like this would be a rebuilding year, but as it concludes, Asmussen has a leading candidate for Horse of the Year in Rachel Alexandra and two other possible champions, Kodiak Kowboy and Hot Dixie Chick, in his barn. And, frankly, I can think of only one other trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, who would have taken Rachel Alexandra to the paddock for the Preakness, the Haskell and the Woodward.

And ask yourself these questions: If their stables were switched, would Asmussen have accomplished as much with Shirreffs’ horses? And would Shirreffs have accomplished as much with Asmussen’s horses?