Thursday, January 14, 2010

Eclipse Picks

Well, Eclipse Awards are this Monday, and I feel the need to share some of my picks with all of you. I have no doubt it will be a hotly discussed subject and I am looking forward to all of your responses.

Champion 2yr Old Filly: This award is extremely tough for me decided, it's like I go back and forth each and every day trying to decide, but I will go with She Be Wild. I know Blind Luck's last race was absolutely phenomenal and it deserves all the accolades it has received, but in this case the deciding factor is the Breeders Cup. When stats for horses are so close the deciding factor should be the Breeders Cup. She Be Wild had gone unbeaten, until her start prior to the Breeders Cup. By winning the Breeders Cup she proved she could handle top class competition, which was the only real question about her going in. With this said I would be ecstatic if Blind Luck were to win the award, she is an amazing filly and show the star power of a potential champion.

Champion 2yr Old Male: This one is as obvious as they come, Lookin At Lucky will be my pick. There is no other juvenile that can match his record. He's talented and consistently proved his superiority whenever he races. This one is a no brainer.

Champion Sprinter: All of you should love this one, but I still like Zensational. Yes he did not face the best competition, and he did not win the Breeders Cup, but when he was good he was really good. In his races leading up to the Breeders Cup Zensational was unchallenged. He ran unbelievable splits, defying the rule of synthetics, which is basically leaders do not win. Neither won the Breeders Cup, and both have stats that are pretty close, so in this case I will go by talent, and that is where Zensational wins.

Champion 3yr Old Filly: You know I think I'll go with Careless Jewel....Did I get you? I didn't think so. I said champion 2yr old male was a no brainer, well this is the definition of no brainer. How could you possible pick against Rachel Alexandra?

Champion 3yr Old Male: Summer Bird, hands down, no contest. He completed a historical triple by winning the Belmont, Travers, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. No other three year old colt was so dominant this year.

Champion Turf Female: Goldikova is without a doubt awesome, but I would pick Ventura. She won all her races on the turf, except for one head defeat to Gio Ponti. With brilliant wins in the Matriarch and Woodbine Mile, which was against males, she ekes out a win in this award over the stunning Goldikova.

Champion Turf Male: Though I love Precious Passion and his gritty half length defeat in the Breeders Cup to last year's defending champion remains a vivid memory, I cannot deny a four time grade one winner in Gio Ponti.

Champion Older Female: I don't know why they even bothered nominating anybody else, it's all Zenyatta.

Champion Older Male: This was probably the weakest most inconsistent division this year, maybe even the entire decade. So with no real standout I would pick Gio Ponti, my pick for the Turf award. If not for Zenyatta, he would've been the winner of the Breeders Cup Classic.

Horse of the Year: Oh, I'll bet your just wringing your hands in anticipation for this decision, right? I choose Rachel Alexandra. Though Zenyatta is a stunning mare, the only real reason she is being considered is because of her Classic win. Rachel has several legs to stand on here, and because her overall body of work is so extraordinary, she is my pick for Horse of the Year.

6 comments:

  1. Good picks, especially on Horse of the Year. (: I can't wait to see who wins the award on Monday night. I thought last year was tense between Curlin and Zenyatta, this year doesn't even compare!
    Lookin at Lucky was so great last year, if not for the Juvenile loss, he would be sporting one of the most impressive two year old records in recent memory.
    It's interesting how many categories are "locks" this year: 3 year old male and female, older male and female, champion female sprinter (Informed Decision) and turf male.
    Go Rachel Go!!

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  2. I agree with your take on LAL. He leads a power pack band of Baffert trainees onto the Derby trail.

    I too thought last year was tense between Curlin and Zen, but this is a whole new level. Virtually everyone is at eachothers' throat.

    I wouldn't call older male a lock. I've heard some people who would like to see Kowboy get the award. Many of the others are as close to locks as can get. It was a good year, overall this year. Hopefully the new decade is even better.

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  3. Good point, not that you mention it, I've heard some people say they still think Einstein should get Older Male.
    I heard that ESPN is now going to show the Horse of the Year announcement live along with the acceptance speech. More exposure!

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  4. Zensational??? No, no, no!!! Look at the quality of the horses he beat (or lack of quality) in his wins compared to the quality of any one of Kodiak Kowboy's wins...no comparison!

    Other than that, good job! LOL I like Blind Luck in the Juvinile Fillies, but I am pretty sure She Be Wild has got it, so you should be right in every category, except of course Sprinter.

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  5. Brian, lol. You have no idea how much you just made me laugh. KK does have the consistency factor for him as well as better competition. I would be an idiot to sujest that I felt KK didn't face better. Zensational is a favorite of mine. I do not think he will get the award, mainly because of his BC loss and his premature retirement.

    As I said I go back and forth every day on the juvenile filly award. Personally, I think, talentwise Blind Luck is the better of the two, but the BC win for SBW will be the deciding factor, I think.

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  6. railrunner,
    Einstein is a fantastic horse, no doubt, but he only had two major wins, losing to Gio Ponti twice this year. Infact Gio beat him on two different surfaces this year, both of which Einstein had previous experienc over. Though I adore Einstien, Gio had a much better year.

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