2016 Eclipse Awards - Selections and Complaints

With most relevant races having already been run that impact Eclipse Award voting, it’s time for me to write about who I believe the winners should be. This isn’t who I think will win, this is who I believe should win. In horse racing, we sometimes have winners of year-end awards who weren’t necessarily the ones who deserved the award. I contribute this to a bit of an overreaction to Breeders' Cup wins as the voters tend to do. I also attribute some of the issues to the voting process, which is archaic when measured against the major sports in this country. It’s not just who was voted the winner, it’s the names of some of the horses who received votes from eligible voters which takes votes away from deserving winners. Often times it’s downright embarrassing for the sport of horse racing as I will explain.

First, the voting process and voters who are eligible to vote. Take the NBA for example, voting for their MVP is transparent. Each voter’s selections for MVP is released along with the voter's name and affiliation. Each voter is allowed to make 5 choices – 10 points for 1st, 7 points for 2nd, 5 points for 3rd, 3 points for 4th, and 1 point for 5th – and the resulting numbers are added up to determine the winner. 129 were eligible to vote last year, and all voted. The winner was unanimous and there were no head scratcher picks for the 2nd through 5th spots when looking at all the ballots. I believe this is because the voters know their names will be released with their votes.

In the NFL there are 50 voters for MVP, all the voters names are listed with their choices for the award every year. Transparency again as all voters' names and affiliations are released with who they voted for. There has never been an eligible voter to have not cast a vote. The difference in the NFL is that each voter is allowed to put one name on their ballot, that’s it. Last year the winner received 48 of the 50 votes. The other two went to legitimate contenders. Nothing out of the ordinary and very fair.

I bring this all up because in thoroughbred racing, the voting process is outdated and far from transparent. No voters are held accountable for their actions or lack of actions if you will. For an Eclipse Award voter, there are little to no guidelines, you vote for whomever you want. You list your top three from each division, that's it. Your top horse is your vote, the other two are used to determine finalists. To win an Eclipse a horse has to have made one start in this country. The voters are writers from the Daily Racing Form and from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association. Folks, we have voters in the last few years who have done the following:

In 2012 there were Horse of the Year votes for Groupie Doll, Frankel, and Shanghai Bobby. Frankel didn’t even run in this country! In the other divisions we had several votes for horses who clearly weren’t the best in their division. For three-year-old male, Bodemeister had three votes, he finished second to the Eclipse winner I’ll Have Another in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and didn’t run again, just like I’ll Have Another. How on earth does he get three votes? This would never happen in other sports. Even in college football, which has more issues than horse racing, the voters won't vote for the team that lost the national championship game as the year end number one in the various final polls.

In 2014 there were Horse of the Year votes for Take Charge Brandi and Adelaide. In 2015 we had one voter who didn’t believe Songbird was the best two-year-old filly. The shocking part of the 2015 vote was that American Pharoah did win Horse of the Year unanimously (rightfully so), but even that has an asterisk next to it as 20 of the 281 eligible voters failed to cast a ballot. In 2013 a starter allowance horse, Brandy's Secret, received a vote for older female.

Every year when taking a look at who received votes there were bizarre single vote choices for horses who clearly didn’t deserve the award. This is allowed to happen every year. I understand everyone has a right to their vote, but not when the integrity of the game is called into question and votes are being taken away from deserving horses. 

Why are voters allowed to continue to have the privilege to vote when they embarrass the sport with some of these outlandish votes? Why not release all voters’ selections for transparency like the major sports in this country? Why are voters allowed to vote for certain divisions and abstain from others? Why are these voters allowed to continue to vote? Why are there eligible voters who don’t even cover racing except for the four times a year it’s in the national news (Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup), and couldn’t tell you who won the Santa Anita Handicap or Arlington Million that same year without looking it up?

Voting for an Eclipse Award is not a right, it’s a privilege, and it should be taken very seriously. As someone who follows this sport 365 days a year and writes about it year round, I find some of these votes insulting. I believe many of the problems could be fixed by following some simple guidelines:

- The only people who should be allowed to vote for Eclipse Awards are the people who cover and write about this sport year-round.

- If they choose not to vote one year, they can’t vote the following year.

- If they place a bizarre vote like the ones I cited in the examples above, their voting privileges should be reviewed.

- The voter must fill out their ballot for every division otherwise their ballot is incomplete and not counted, and their voting privileges are reviewed for the following year. No abstaining.

As for 2016 and the Eclipse Awards, my thoughts on each division.

Two-year-old Male – Classic Empire will win this, and rightfully so. He is unbeaten when he hasn’t lost his rider. Not This Time was impressive, but he didn’t beat Classic Empire in the biggest race of the year for this division. There are others who impressed, but most of the votes should go to Classic Empire.

Two-year-old Female – Tough division to pick a winner. Champagne Room will get votes because she won the race everyone watched, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Most voters equate winning a Breeders’ Cup race in any division to two Grade 1 wins of any other race. New Money Honey will get some support, as will Lady Aurelia. These three all have Gr1 wins along with another graded stakes. This is something few, if any of the other contenders have. In the absence of a standout, I would consider Lady Aurelia for this award.

Three-year-old Male – If someone had told me in mid-August that a horse who had yet to run in a stakes would win this award, I would have dismissed them immediately. We live in a new world now as Arrogate will win this award based off of two stakes starts. The horses in this division that starred in the first six plus months of the year were all retired and Arrogate stormed on to the scene to stun everyone with his Travers Stakes win. Then, in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he was even more impressive in beating California Chrome. What this horse did in his first two graded stakes starts was historic. A deserving winner.

Three-year-old Female – If there are any votes for any other three-year-old filly other than Songbird, their voting credentials need to be reviewed. If ever a horse should be a unanimous choice, it is Songbird. The best three-year-old filly since Rachel Alexandra ran down the stretch with Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and I am convinced she still doesn’t know she lost. If ever a race deserved a dead heat, it was this year’s Distaff. This will be Songbird's second straight Eclipse Award.

Older Dirt Male – California Chrome should also be a unanimous choice for this award. He was by far the best older male and it wasn’t close. Others, like Frosted, had some great moments this year, but this award is all about the remarkable California Chrome who will be the first Kentucky Derby winner to win an Eclipse at age five since the inception of the Eclipse Awards.

Older Dirt Female – This one will also be an easy choice, but before they entered the gate in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, there were three horses with very real chances at this Eclipse. Stellar Wind or Forever Unbridled could have taken home this award with a win in the Distaff. It was Beholder, though, reminding everyone in the Distaff that she was the best in the division, and among the best female dirt horses we have seen in the last 25 years. This future Hall of Famer will win her second Older Dirt Female Eclipse and fourth Eclipse overall.

Male Sprinter – This division can go a few different ways. Many will vote for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Drefong. Some will vote for Lord Nelson. I like to look at the entire body of work over a season, and for this reason, I would choose A.P. Indian for this award. It is very difficult for an East Coast based sprinter to come west and win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, especially an East Coast based sprint star who had won six of seven stakes over four different tracks in three states before his trip out west. The Breeders’ Cup isn’t the be all end all, A.P. Indian deserves the Eclipse.

Female Sprinter - For me this division comes down to the Breeders Cup Female Sprint winner Finest City, and Haveyougoneaway. Again, I like to look at the entire body of work, and for this reason, the winner has to be Haveyougoneaway. Another East Coast based horse who came west to lose the sprint. This shouldn’t be held against this filly who actually ran in eight sprint races this year and won five, all stakes, including a Grade 1. Finest City won two sprint races.

Male Turf – Flintshire will win this award based off of his three dominant grass wins over the summer. We all know he was the best U.S. based grass horse this year. He did lose the Breeders’ Cup Turf to a quality horse in Highland Reel, but don’t let that loss waver in your opinion of this horse. He was as professional as they come, and is the most deserving winner of this Eclipse.

Female Turf – It’s all about Tepin here. A winner in six of her eight starts, Tepin won in three countries and took down the best overseas in the Gr1 Queen Anne. She ran arguably one of her best races in the Breeders’ Cup Mile when very wide turning for home after letting the leader get away by over 10 lengths. This will be the second Female Turf Eclipse for Tepin.

Horse of the Year – California Chrome will win this. The truth of the matter is he has had this sewn up since August. He is the only horse to have ever led the NTRA poll all year from week one till the Breeders’ Cup. The North American all-time leader in money won, California Chrome will claim his second Horse of the Year award. His exploits on the track this year will be remembered for many years to come. He also proved that U.S. based horses can come back from Dubai after a win and be just as good or better. Rarely will you ever see a horse win a Grade 1 ten furlong race as easy as California Chrome won this year’s Pacific Classic. Enjoy this horse while you can for what is expected to be two more races before he retires.