Thursday, December 30, 2010

2010 Eclipse Awards

I'll bet you all can't guess what this blog is gonna be about, I mean my title doesn't give a clue at all right? Ok, enough with the joking and time to get down to business. The 2010 Eclipse Awards are fast approaching and I have yet to post what would be my ballot if I had a vote. However after many days of carefully examining the merits of each horse, I have chosen who I believe should walk away with a Eclipse Award Trophy, the night of January 17, 2011.

Champion Two-Year-Old Male: Uncle M0- Who didn't see this coming? Not only is he unbeaten, no other horse he has faced has come close enough to sniff his tail. He stepped it up in company and distance every time he ran and every time he completely dominated his foes. He is easily the top candidate for this award. The runner up would have to be Boys at Toscanova and the second runner up would be Kantharos.

Champion Two-Year-Old Filly: Awesome Feather- This filly went six for six and danced in the biggest dance of her division, emerging the victor of an exciting stretch duel with the runner-up R Heat Lightning. The second runner-up would go to the exciting daughter of Tapit, Dancinginherdreams.

Champion Three-Year-Old Male: Lookin at Lucky- Another easy choice. He consistently showed he was the best, through both his wins and his losses. Runner-up honors got to Fly Down and second-runner up goes to Paddy o Prado.

Champion Three-Year-Old Filly: Blind Luck- This filly is the definition of consistency and is a complete throw back. She ducked nobody and danced every dance, more often than not coming out on top. Runner-up would go to her gritty rival Havre de Grace. Coming in third is the brilliant, yet inconsistent Devil May Care.

Champion Sprinter: Big Drama- The horse danced every dance and showed up every single time, winning where it counted most. That tops one brilliant performance, and even the fact that the runner-up Majesticperfection may have been the better horse. Third goes to Discreetly Mine.

Champion Turf Horse: Paddy O Prado- The dazzling dappled grey takes it by a nose over last years champion Gio Ponti, who had a bang up year himself. Paddy may have lost his only attempt at older males on turf, however had he entered the the BC Turf he would've been the favorite which shows you his dominance over his own peers. Coming up third is Winchester.

Champion Filly/Mare Turf Horse: Proviso- Yes, she gets it over the brilliant French sensation Goldikova, who settles for second only because it is my belief a horse must race in the US more than once to be considered for an American Award. Proviso dominated, winning four consecutive grade ones, one even against males. Third would be the ill fated Tuscan Evening.

Champion Older Male: Blame- After his win in the Classic he put the title away for good. A brilliant and explosive win in the Stephan Foster and a head decision over Quality Road in the Whitney also helped. Quality Road is a distant second and in third comes Haynesfield.

Champion Older Female: Zenyatta- Completely dominated out west and may very well be remembered most for her only loss. A gallant and compelling head loss to Blame in the Breeders Cup Classic. Second Life At Ten and third is Unrivalled Belle.

Horse of the Year: Blame- He won the Classic and the only head to head match up between himself and Zenyatta, and with both horses having only one loss the edge goes to him. His wins in the Whitney and Stephan Foster hold more weight than the restricted grade ones his rival competed in. Blame danced every dance and in the one where everyone went all in he Zenyatta had a full house but Blame had the Royal Flush.

6 comments:

  1. Blame it is.

    You get to be the best by beating the best.

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  2. Zenyatta was two inches from 20 for 20. She deserved the HOTY in 2009 and deserves it in 2010.

    Otherwise - very nice list ...

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  3. Nice list! I like the Paddy selection. I'm with you there, but Proviso? She was up the track against Goldikova in their only head to head meeting in the BC Mile. If you won't give it to Goldikova because of only one start in the U.S., I would choose Tuscan Evening, who was perfect. Many horses have won the Eclipse with only one race is the States, and there will be many more in the future, including Goldi again.

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  4. TKS,

    I agree, obviously, lol.

    Jack,

    This is not 2009 and i won't get into that argument. However the fact that some believe she should have gotten it then does not and should not affect the voting on this year. She was a nose away from being 6 for 6 this year not 20 for 20 and HOTY shoud be for this year only. Blame was in contention for the award all year too, and in their only meeting, where her connections went for all the marbles in one race, yet again, Blame stole all her marbles.

    Brian,

    Many have and i'm sure many more horses will win an eclipse off of one start, but i don't believe they should. TE had no grade one wins while Proviso had four consecutive, that was the only reason i chose her over TE, TBH. Goldi is brilliant and i love her but as i said, we would not get a Euro Award for winning the Arc and only the Arc. The same should be for here.

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  5. Talk about dancing every dance, there were the sum total of five Grade I route races for fillies and mares on the main track west of the Mississippi in 2010.

    Zenyatta... won them all.

    (the Mississippi being a hell of a long way from her home base, yet she still made the trip when your Rachel Alexandra didn't dare show up to get her head blown off)


    To Brian Z. : Forget about "one race in the states", Singspiel never set foot in America during his Eclipse Award season.

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  6. Love all the selections especially Paddy O'Prado. He did more than any other American male runner on the turf in 2010 by far. Gio Ponti performed well but seemed to hit his best stride too late and wasn't quite as dominant as he was in 2009.

    I would have to chose Tuscan Evening for Turf Mare/Filly, she had an impressive streak of wins going before she died. Goldikova obviously would be a deserving recipient as well since we all know she can beat the best of both sexes on turf easily and I really don't have a problem with her winning it.

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