It's Official: Rachel is HOY

[Dana666]

2009 Eclipse Awards Voting

By The Associated Press

Voting for the 2009 Eclipse Awards, announced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The awards are voted on and presented by the NTRA/Equibase, Daily Racing Form (DRF) and National Turf Writers Association (NTWA). Number represents first-place votes from members.
Two-Year-Old Male
      Lookin At Lucky, 209; Vale of York, 17; Buddy?s Saint, 2; Noble?s Promise, 2; D?Funnybone, 1; Jackson Bend, 1.
Two-Year-Old Filly
      She Be Wild, 171; Blind Luck, 41; Hot Dixie Chick, 17; Awesome Maria, 1; Biofuel, 1; Tapitsfly, 1.
Three-Year-Old Male
      Summer Bird, 225; Mine That Bird, 4; Blame, 1; I Want Revenge, 1; No Vote, 1.
Three-Year-Old Filly
      Rachel Alexandra, 232.
Older Male
      Gio Ponti, 184; Einstein (BRZ), 18; Kodiak Kowboy, 16; Macho Again, 5; Furthest Land, 2; Rail Trip, 2; Well Armed, 1; Voter Abstentions, 4.
Older Female
      Zenyatta, 231; Icon Project, 1.
Female Sprinter
      Informed Decision, 222; Ventura, 6; Game Face, 1; Indian Blessing, 1; Music Note, 1; Diamondrella, 1.
Male Sprinter
      Kodiak Kowboy, 118; Zensational, 54; Dancing in Silks, 43; Fabulous Strike, 9; California Flag, 6; Vineyard Haven, 1; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Male Turf Horse
      Gio Ponti, 206; Conduit, 22; Presious Passion, 3; Court Vision, 1.
Female Turf Horse
      Goldikova (IRE), 172; Ventura, 41; Magical Fantasy, 7; Midday (GB), 7; Pure Clan, 3; Forever Together, 1; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Steeplechase Horse
      Mixed Up, 209; Red Letter Day, 3; Voter Abstentions, 20.
Horse of the Year
      Rachel Alexandra, 130; Zenyatta, 99; Voter Abstentions, 2; No Vote, 1.
Outstanding Owner
      Godolphin Racing, 61; Mr. and Mrs. Jerome S. Moss, 56; Juddmonte Farms, 40; WinStar Farm, 38; Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, 15; Augustin Stables, 7; Michael Gill, 6; Darley Stable, 3; Zayat Stables, 2; Heiligbrodt Racing Stables, 1; Midwest Thoroughbreds, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.
Outstanding Breeder
      Juddmonte Farms, 157; Adena Springs, 44; Dolphus Morrison, 16; Maverick Productions, Ltd., 3; WinStar Farm, 3; Eugene Melnyk, 2; Darley Stable, 1. Voter Abstentions, 6.
Outstanding Trainer
      Steve Asmussen, 130; John Shirreffs, 57; Jonathan Sheppard, 19; Bob Baffert,10; Saeed bin Suroor, 5; Bobby Frankel, 4; Jerry Hollendorfer, 2; Hal Wiggins, 2; Todd Pletcher, 2; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Outstanding Jockey
      Julien Leparoux, 122; Garrett Gomez,46; Ramon Dominguez, 45; Calvin Borel, 13; Mike Smith, 3; Kent Desormeaux, 2; Russell Baze, 1.
Apprentice Jockey
      Christian Santiago Reyes, 93; Luis Saez, 48; Luis Batista, 47; Inez Karlsson, 8; Michael Straight, 4; Omar Moreno, 3; Jose Vega, 3; Tony Maragh, 2; Casey Papineau, 1; Angel Serpa, 1; Voter  Abstentions, 21, No Vote, 1.
Award of Merit and Special Award
      Award of Merit: William S. Farish of Lane?s End Farm.
      Special Award: Monique Koehler, founder of race horse rescue programs.
Media Eclipse Awards
      Photography: Jeff Taylor, The Winchester Star, \"Rider Thrown\"; March 9, 2009.
      Writing-Feature/Enterprise: Joe Drape, The New York Times; April 30, 2009.
      News/Commentary: Sean Clancy, The Blood-Horse, \"Life?s Work\"; January 3, 2009.
      National Television: Live Racing: ESPN, The Belmont Stakes on ABC; Mike McQuade, Producer; June 6, 2009.
      National Television: Feature: NBC Sports, \"The Story of Mine That Bird, 50-1\"; Rob Hyland and Jack Felling, Producers; May 16, 2009.
      Local Television: WLKY-TV- Louisville, Ky. \"Tom McCarthy\"; John Boel and Scott Eckhardt, Producers; April 29, 2009.
      Audio and Multi-Media Internet: ESPN Radio, The 2009 Kentucky Derby; John Martin, Producer; May 2, 2009.

[miff]

Closer than expected. The full court press put on by the West Coast biased crew failed to sway voters from the obvious.

If I had to see another \"Zenyatta Day\" out in Cali, I\'d a puked!


Mike

[sekrah]

Congratulation RA and her connections.   I\'m glad to see she didn\'t get screwed out of the award she rightfully deserved.

[Rick B.]

miff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Closer than expected. The full court press put on
> by the West Coast biased crew failed to sway
> voters from the obvious.
>
> If I had to see another \"Zenyatta Day\" out in
> Cali, I\'d a puked!
>
>
> Mike

I\'m so tired of the whole \"Everything Is Better In California\" mentality, so yeah, it was nice to see that group silenced (well...all but the latent whining, which might endure for some time).
 
Also: nice to see that the crap the jocks pulled on the last day of the year to get Gomez the earnings win didn\'t work, either.

[miff]

Rick wrote:

\"Everything Is Better In California\" mentality.



...ya gotta give them the weather, no?

Mike

[P-Dub]

You\'re all entitled to your opinions..

But all of your whining about the West Coast shows an East Coast bias as well.

Miff, if you don\'t want to watch a celebration for Zenyatta its real simple....don\'t watch or pay attention to it.  God forbid people have a good time out at the track, getting to see a great champion parade around the race track. Yeah, how awful.

And in the next breath someone will complain about lack of fans and nobody attending the races.

As for Gomez and the money title, does that really matter?? Those evil WC jockeys will stop at nothing.

Rick, what does this mean...\"I\'m so tired of the whole \"Everything Is Better In California\" mentality, so yeah, it was nice to see that group silenced (well...all but the latent whining, which might endure for some time).\"

You\'re right Rick, we all know that East Coast people are some of the most non-provincial people on the planet. I\'ve NEVER heard a New Yorker tell anybody how things are better in New York. Those people never have an opinion.

Rachel won, congrats to her and her connections, as well as her fans. She had a great year.

But to start the West Coast bashing right now is weak. Especially if this is the best you guys can come with.

[Rick B.]

miff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...ya gotta give them the weather, no?
>
> Mike

Most of the time, sure. You\'ll want to be somewhere else this week, though.

35 and DRY here in Chicago. No mudslides, either.

Rick

[P-Dub]

Rick B. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> miff Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ...ya gotta give them the weather, no?
> >
> > Mike
>
> Most of the time, sure. You\'ll want to be
> somewhere else this week, though.
>
> 35 and DRY here in Chicago. No mudslides, either.
>
> Rick


1- We have umbrellas
2- Not everybody lives on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

[miff]

\"Not everybody lives on a cliff overlooking the ocean\"


Paul,

It\'s a good thing, with Z losing HOY maybe some would take a plunge off a cliff.

Also the West Coast lobbying for Z as HOY was pathetically transparent if you\'re not a left coaster. A full page add in DRF praising Z, gimme a break!By the way, going to the track to gawk at some horse is fine, but once is enough.

Did not hear a word of lobbying from the Rachel camp, then again they knew their horse was much the best.

Mike

[TGJB]

The only thing all this yakking proves is that some network should pony up the money to do it right, and put it on TV. I don\'t remember this much interest in a matchup since Ali/Frazier I.

[Dana666]

I didn\'t think the voting was all that close, and personally I wouldn\'t be surprised if some voters wouldn\'t give it to Z b/c she ran primarily on synthetic surfaces, and if they had voted for Z, they would be endorsing synthetic surfaces, which most people in the business hate - that\'s just a thought, and one I can agree with to some degree (it is actually a shame for Zenyatta though b/c anyone who knows anything about racing and have watched Z closely know that idea is ridiculous), but let\'s just hope they meet on the track soon! Oaklawn Park in early April looks like a great scenario, with each one getting a prep race, maybe in February or early March, and then they meet on a DIRT track, so there will be no whining either way and ending once and for all the talk about \"Z\" being a synthetic specialist, and may the best mare win - no excuses either way. That\'s what I want.

[smalltimer]

Mike,
I don\'t think its as much Z \"losing\" the HOY, as Rachel \"winning\" the award.

Props to Rachel and her fans for the honor, well-deserved after a brutal campaign, admittedly, I favored Zenyatta for the award, but no complaints here.

By the way, I live in Nebraska, so does that give me an east coast or west coast bias?

I think TGJB is correct that this potential matchup is similar to the Ali/Frazier runup in \'71.  There was so much dislike from both camps directed toward the other. Over the course of their meetings, they managed to bring out the best in each other.  Racing should hope this matchup would do the same.  

If, as you say, Rachel is \"much the best\", she\'ll get her chance to prove it.

Have a good one

[Sandreadis]

P-Dub, You\'ll never win the battle but I appreciate your fight.
These are the same people that swear up and down Easy Goer was the much better horse??
If Z wins, there will be reasons why Rachel is the better horse, it\'s just the way they roll.

[gowand]

This is the best opportunity in a long time for racing to reach out to new or marginal fans.  I have friends who attend races a couple times a year at Saratoga and family in Atlanta.  They know who Rachel is but no real idea of Zenyatta\'s greatness.  In order to capture as many non-racing fans as possible couldn\'t they tie it into an non-racing event such as the final four.  I believe the Apple Blossom is to be run on the same day as the two semi-final games of the NCAA tourney.  Offer CBS the rights for free if they will agree to  a large cross marketing of the race to be run just prior to tip off of the first game.  CBS has the Super bowl we can start with an announcement and quick preview in the pre-game show.  I know this may not be logistically possible for the horses but can the powers that be get a little creative with this one?