Steven Crist: Eclipse votes

[peeptoad]

http://www.drf.com/news/steven-crist-close-call-many-eclipse-categories

... I agree with him for the most part.

[Senator L]

Made sense to me. I dont really care to much though, maybe I would if I was in the industry.

[peeptoad]

Yeah, I actually don't care all that much either, but if I was going to vote then I'd probably side with him on most if not all.

[Man o Taz]

I agreed with everything except Princess of Sylmar.

If a horse earned an award prior to a race, I do not think you can penalize that horse for entering the race.

Mr. Crist suggests that the connections knew the risk, but they were racing for HOTY honors and the sport of horse racing and they should not be punished.

I would not have a problem with a tie with Beholder, but I do not think you can take it away from POS. 

Glad he went with POB for top male sprinter and GOD for top older male.

[Zenyatta]

I would have made Mizdirection top female sprinter. I don't care if she ran on grass only. She won the turf sprint 2 years running against males, and had only lost 1 race and that was on soft turf. 

I'm also surprised Cluster of Stars didn't get at least the 2nd spot. Not sure why her owners didn't bring her to the BC. Too inexperienced still? Perhaps not BC nominated? I don't recall the reason.

[Man o Taz]

I could put Mizdirection in the 2 position - but I still think Groupie Doll deserves it.

[Man o Taz]

Here are the Eclipse Award Finalists...
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/theraces/2014/01/wise-dan-named-an-eclipse-finalist-in-three-categories

Horse of the Year candidates Mucho Macho Man, Will Take Charge and Wise Dan, the finalists for the 2013 Eclipse Awards were announced Wednesday.

Wise Dan is expected to repeat as the Horse of the Year and Turf Male winner, off a campaign where he won six of seven starts, finishing second in his lone defeat.

Of the 272 eligible voters, 249 took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters' top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first place votes.

Besides Wise Dan, Breeders' Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man and Travers winner Will Take Charge are the other two finalists for Horse of the Year honors, which will be announced on January 18.

The older male category is where Wise Dan is expected to face his stiffest competition from Mucho Macho Man. The Joe Torre owned Game on Dude is the third finalist but a longshot to win the award after finishing out of the money in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Here are the other finalists in their respective categories.

Two-Year-Old Male: Havana, New Year's Day, Shared Belief

Two-Year-Old Filly: Chriselliam, Ria Antonia, She's a Tiger

Three-Year-Old Male: Orb, Palace Malice, Will Take Charge

Three-Year-Old Female: Beholder, Close Hatches, Princess of Sylmar

Older Female: Joyful Victory, Royal Delta, Tiz Miz Sue

Male Sprinter: Points Offthebench, Sahara Sky, Secret Circle

Female Sprinter: Dance to Bristol, Groupie Doll, Mizdirection

Male Turf Horse: Magician, Point of Entry, Wise Dan

Female Turf Horse: Dank, Laughing, Mizdirection

Steeplechase: Divine Fortune, Gustavian, Italian Wedding

Owner: Juddmonte Farms, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Ken & Sarah Ramsey

Breeder: Adena Springs, Morton Fink, Ken & Sarah Ramsey

Trainer: Bob Baffert, Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Javier Castellano, Joel Rosario, Gary Stevens

Apprentice Jockey: Victor Carrasco, Manuel Franco, Edgard Zayas

Here are some other Eclipse votes:

Jennie Rees
http://blogs.courier-journal.com/racing/2013/12/25/eclipse-awards-my-ballot-and-thoughts-with-wise-dan-again-on-top/

Jerry Bossert
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/theraces/2013/12/heres-my-2013-eclipse-award-ballot

[Man o Taz]

Other ballots:

Richard Eng
http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/richard-eng/wise-dan-trainer-lopresti-top-picks-eclipse-awards

Andrew Beyer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/othersports/eclipse-awards-mucho-macho-man-deserves-to-be-horse-of-year/2013/12/18/380b7694-67f1-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html

Jessie Oswald
http://www.louisville.com/content/how-i-voted-horse-racing-s-eclipse-awards

Greg Hall
http://blogs.courier-journal.com/horsebiz/2014/01/04/eclipsing-common-sense-2/

Bill Finley
http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/10153370/champions-championship-credentials

[Man o Taz]

Here is the final NTRA Poll:

2013 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

Week 36 of the FINAL 2013 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), covering racing performances through November 3. Current Horse of the Year ranking of the Top Thoroughbred on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-1 basis with first place votes in parentheses, 2013 record and total points. Poll Concludes Monday, Nov. 4. A-S: Age-Sex, Sex: C-colt, G-gelding, H-horse, F-filly, M-mare, R-ridgling.

Name   A-G   2013 Record   Pts.    PVS
1   Wise Dan (53)   6-G   7-6-1-0   548   2
2   Mucho Macho Man (2)   5-H   5-2-0-2   473   7
3   Beholder (0)   3-F   7-5-2-0   369   11
4   Will Take Charge (1)   3-C   10-4-2-0   365   8
5   Game On Dude (0)   6-G   6-5-0-0   279   1
6   Princess Of Sylmar (0)   3-F   8-6-1-0   177   3
7   Groupie Doll (0)   5-M   4-2-0-2   131   26
8   Dank (0)   4-F   5-4-0-1   116   0
9   Royal Delta (0)   5-M   7-3-2-0   102   4
10   Mizdirection (0)   5-M   5-4-0-0   91   24 -
See more at: http://www.ntra.com/en/news-media/press-releases/2013/11/4/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-for-november-4-2013/#sthash.r8RlIDYr.dpuf

[Man o Taz]

The winners are in bold.

The nominees:
Horse of the year — Mucho Macho Man, Will Take Charge, Wise Dan
Two-year-old male — Havana, New Year's Day, Shared Belief
Two-year-old filly — Chriselliam, Ria Antonia, She's a Tiger
Three-year-old male — Orb, Palace Malice, Will Take Charge
Three-year-old filly — Beholder, Close Hatches, Princess of Sylmar
Older male — Game On Dude, Mucho Macho Man, Wise Dan
Older female — Joyful Victory, Royal Delta, Tiz Miz Sue
Male sprinter — Points Offthebench, Sahara Sky, Secret Circle
Female sprinter — Dance to Bristol, Groupie Doll, Mizdirection
Male turf horse — Magician, Point of Entry, Wise Dan
Female turf horse — Dank, Laughing, Mizdirection
Steeplechase horse — Divine Fortune, Gustavian, Italian Wedding
Owner — Juddmonte Farms, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Breeder — Adena Springs, Morton Fink, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Trainer — Bob Baffert, Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher
Jockey — Javier Castellano, Joel Rosario, Gary Stevens
Apprentice jockey — Victor Carrasco, Manuel Franco, Edgard Zayas


http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-nominees-eclipse-awards-20140108,0,607115.story#ixzz2r9EI9yfI

The best part for me was Pointsoffthebench winning champion sprinter posthumously.

Next was Javier Castellano winning top jockey.

I was sorry that Game On Dude was snubbed again. 5 main track stakes wins including the trifecta of 10 furlong Classic Distance G1s in California. Only the second horses to do it - with Lava Man being the other. Too bad.

[peeptoad]

The winners are in bold.

The nominees:
Horse of the year — Mucho Macho Man, Will Take Charge, Wise Dan
Two-year-old male — Havana, New Year's Day, Shared Belief
Two-year-old filly — Chriselliam, Ria Antonia, She's a Tiger
Three-year-old male — Orb, Palace Malice, Will Take Charge
Three-year-old filly — Beholder, Close Hatches, Princess of Sylmar
Older male — Game On Dude, Mucho Macho Man, Wise Dan
Older female — Joyful Victory, Royal Delta, Tiz Miz Sue
Male sprinter — Points Offthebench, Sahara Sky, Secret Circle
Female sprinter — Dance to Bristol, Groupie Doll, Mizdirection
Male turf horse — Magician, Point of Entry, Wise Dan
Female turf horse — Dank, Laughing, Mizdirection
Steeplechase horse — Divine Fortune, Gustavian, Italian Wedding
Owner — Juddmonte Farms, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Breeder — Adena Springs, Morton Fink, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Trainer — Bob Baffert, Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher
Jockey — Javier Castellano, Joel Rosario, Gary Stevens
Apprentice jockey — Victor Carrasco, Manuel Franco, Edgard Zayas


http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-nominees-eclipse-awards-20140108,0,607115.story#ixzz2r9EI9yfI

The best part for me was Pointsoffthebench winning champion sprinter posthumously.

Next was Javier Castellano winning top jockey.

I was sorry that Game On Dude was snubbed again. 5 main track stakes wins including the trifecta of 10 furlong Classic Distance G1s in California. Only the second horses to do it - with Lava Man being the other. Too bad.

I don't have a strong feeling about this, but I agree with all winners except Older Male, female sprinter, and I can understand the case for Princess of Sylmar.

Dude was snubbed, yes, but that's what happens when you fail repeatedly when push comes to shove. I still thin he deserved the older male award, esp. since Dan walked with Turf male and HOY (both of which I agree with).
I would have voted Mizdirection for female sprinter, but that's just mho. She had a pretty light year, but then again so did Groupie Doll. The Miz beat males though. That counts for something imo.

[Man o Taz]

Good points peeptoad.

I would have supported Mizdirection getting it.

I was glad Groupie Doll did because I really like her.

Sad I won't be able to see her in person on turf in her finale at Gulfstream.

Let me know if you want some Cigar Mile pics of her.

[curtis]

It's interesting that both horses that won the three Gr.1 10f races for older horses in so. CA--Lava Man and Game On Dude--not only didn't win the Older Male Eclipse but weren't even close.  Lava Man had a Gr. 1 turf win to go along with it.

[Man o Taz]

Well, I do not find it strange at all that Lava Man didn't win it over the 2006 Whitney, Suburban, Pimlico Special and BC Classic winner and HOTY Invasor...

Is Wise Dan a main track specialist like Invasor or Game On Dude?

[curtis]

Well, I do not find it strange at all that Lava Man didn't win it over the 2006 Whitney, Suburban, Pimlico Special and BC Classic winner and HOTY Invasor...

Is Wise Dan a main track specialist like Invasor or Game On Dude?

I don't think that Lava Man deserved the an Eclipse Award in any way.  Much like Game On Dude he lost any chance of that in the Breeder's Cup.  My comment was just centered around the fact that so few have been able to win the three races and due to circumstances they did not come close to an Eclipse.

Wise Dan is in no way a main track specialist.  The problem is that when the Older Male Award was changed from Handicap Male, many voters took it to mean that the spirit of the award changed.  There should be an award for older male dirt routers.  Unfortunately nothing is defined specifically and when you give folks an inch they'll inevitably take a mile.  Fairly or unfairly Game On Dude--who in my opinion deserved the award of Older Male--is going to be vilified for not stepping up on the biggest stage, especially on his home track.  As he ages the chances are less and less that he can turn it around.  Maybe Baffert can keep him in top form for one more year.  At least Lava Man had the excuse of not traveling well, as he never performed well outside California.