Rachel Horse of the Year

Landslide vote 130 to 99.

I've seen them all for more than half a century and there has never been an American filly like her in that time span.

cheers Barry the logical choice we should have taken the 9/10

The other awards:

Goldikova and Godolphin honoured at Eclipse Awards in US


USA: Europe enjoyed significant success at the 39th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony on Monday night when dual Breeders' Cup Mile winner Goldikova was voted the overwhelming winner in the female turf horse category.

Godolphin, who had such a wonderful second half of the season in the US, received the award as outstanding owner while Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte operation was honoured as leading breeder at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.

Determined by votes of members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the National Turf Writers Association and the Daily Racing Form, the Eclipse Awards totally outshine any similar accolades on offer in Europe in terms of prestige.

They define the sport's champions, with the Horse of the Year award representing the pinnacle of horseracing achievement in North America.


The Freddie Head-trained Goldikova, back in training this term with an eye on an historic third successive victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile, received 172 votes in the female turf category, polling 131 more than the runner-up Ventura.

The daughter of Anabaa is the latest in a long line of European-trained horses to pick up this particular gong, following the likes of Pebbles, Miesque and Ouija Board.

Other equine award winners included Rachel Alexandra, who received every one of 232 first-place votes cast in thethree-year-old filly category, while Zenyatta received all but one vote among the older females.

Grade 1 winner Icon Project received the vote from the lone dissenter.

Gio Ponti, the horse who finished second to Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic, scooped both the older male and male turf horse awards, easily beating the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Conduit in the latter division.

Top three-year-old male was Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird, who completed a trinity of major New York races with victories in the Travers Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup.

In the human categories, Godolphin's US branch fought off Zenyatta's owners Jerry and Ann Moss to land the owners' award by five votes, 61 to 56.

The Dubai team has been honoured after a late-season spree in which they claimed nine Grade 1 events after the start of August, among them the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with Vale Of York,runner-up to Kentucky Derby favourite Lookin At Lucky in the two-year-old male category.

Rachel Alexandra's trainer Steve Asmussen repeated last year's victory as outstanding trainer after a year in which he broke his own world recordfor races won with 650 victories.


Julien Leparoux, champion apprentice for 2006, lost the money-earnings title among US-based jockeys to Garrett Gomez only with the final race of 2009 at Santa Anita.

However, Leparoux gained his revenge with a runaway success in the Eclipse ballot.

Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms earned a clear-cut victory to gain their fifth victory as outstanding breeder after successes in 1995 and 2001-03.

The Juddmonte award broke a five-year monopoly by Frank Stronach's Adena Springs, who finished second ahead of Rachel Alexandra's breeder Dolphus Morrison.

Midday, Ventura and Champs Elysees were among Grade 1 victors in 2009 for the Juddmonte operation, whose US arm is based in Lexington.

There is also likelyto have been a popular vote in memory of the late, much loved Bobby Frankel, Juddmonte's US trainer who died in November after a long battle with cancer.

The winner of the award of merit, voted on by a panel of representatives from the three presenting organisations, was Will Farish of Lane's End Farm.

Monique Koehler, founder of racehorse rescue programs, was given the special award presented to honour outstanding individual achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of thoroughbred racing.

ECLIPSE AWARD WINNERS 2009

Two-Year-Old Male: Lookin At Lucky

Two-Year-Old Filly: She Be Wild

Three-Year-Old Male: Summer Bird

Three-Year-Old Filly: Rachel Alexandra

Older Male: Gio Ponti

Older Female: Zenyatta

Female Sprinter: Informed Decision

Male Sprinter: Kodiak Kowboy

Male Turf Horse: Gio Ponti

Female Turf Horse: Goldikova

Steeplechase Horse: Mixed Up

Owner: Godolphin Racing

Breeder: Juddmonte Farms

Jockey: Julien Leparoux

Apprentice Jockey: Christian Santiago Reyes

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Award of Merit: William S Farish

Special Award: Monique Koehler

BREAKDOWN OF FIRST-PLACE VOTES

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 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 172, Ventura 41, Magical Fantasy 7, Midday 7, Pure Clan 3, Forever Together 1, voter abstentions 1

Steeplechase Horse

Mixed Up 209, Red Letter Day 3, voter abstentions 20

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 Baffert10, 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

No mention Clan Classique?

Travesty.

Shayne USA not SA

lol

The dirt is where it`s at !!

Good luck to the connections of all the winners.

Now I only hope these two spectacular fillies could somehow contrive to meet on the racetrack so that we can see without a shadow of a doubt who the best racemare in the US is.

I think the Moss's are doing their best to race against Rachel.....Hope Mr. Jackson takes the bait?

Rachel Alexandra named US Horse of the Year

USA: AMERICA'S sweetheart Rachel Alexandra beat her rival Zenyatta to be named American Horse of the Year at the 39th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday night.

The brilliant Steve Asmussen-trained Rachel Alexandra earned the most prestigious accolade after a three-year-old season in which she won each of her eight starts, including five victories in Grade 1 events.

Rachel Alexandra's victories included three against her male counterparts at the highest level - notably the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, where she became the first filly to win for 85 years.

Determined by votes of members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), the National Turf Writers Association and the Daily Racing Form, the Eclipse Awards totally outshine any similar awards on offer in Europe in terms of prestige.

They define the sport's champions, with the Horse of the Year award representing the pinnacle of horseracing achievement in North America.

Ever since the great Zenyatta took her unbeaten record to 14 with that spectacular victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the American racing community has been divided.

Rachel Alexandra, a daughter of Medaglia D'Oro originally trained by Hal Wiggins, has gained a place in the public affections beyond the confines of the racing public after a string of Grade 1 victories under jockey Calvin Borel.


Not only did she record runaway wide-margin victories against fillies in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose Stakes, she went on to win the Haskell Invitational and Woodward Stakes against males - something of a rarity in US racing.

However, every one of her eight wins in 2009 came on conventional dirt - and her connections opted against running her at the Breeders' Cup at on a synthetic surface at Santa Anita, leaving the door open for Zenyatta to promote her own horse of the year claims.

But after two months of suspense, Rachel Alexandra took the award at a gala dinner on Monday in Beverly Hills. The final score was 130 votes to 99.

Before making the announcement, NTRA president Alex Waldrop asked the audience to give the two ‘supergirls' one last round of applause, resulting in a standing ovation for the pair, both of whom are set to stay in training in 2010.

Owner Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables bought Rachel Alexandra from owner/breeder Dolphus Morrison following the Kentucky Oaks, after which she was switched to Asmussen from Hal Wiggins.

Accepting the award, Jackson commented: "I'm almost speechless because this contest was so closeand I don't know the count, but I know that either horse deserved this award.

"It's hard for me to accept it without sharing it with all the people that made this possible including Calvin Borel, who could not be here."


Jackson added: "Together Rachel and Zenyatta won nine Grade 1 races.

"Together they conquered four of the best groups of males who were running last year - if you think about their achievements, individually or collectively, there has never been a year like this one for fillies."

Jackson also paid tribute to Zenyatta's owners Jerry and Ann Moss. "We said congratulations to each other and I truly appreciate the grace and charm of the Zenyatta team, particularly Jerry and Ann Moss," he said.

"It couldn't be arranged that they could meet last year. We're hoping that each horse, taking its course, may win their way to an ultimate match and maybe we can work toward that."

Jerry Moss, who had earlier seen Zenyatta claim the Eclipse Award for older female, admitted his disappointment at losing out in the most important ballot.

"Sure, we're disappointed, but we didn't lose anything," he said. "I thought the pure emotion of the thing was going to take over, all the cards and letters we got from people.

"Nobody's beat her on the racetrack, so they beat her by proxy tonight as far as I'm concerned. She's perfect.

"Mister Jackson has a great horse and hopefully we can meet on the track and frankly, I wouldn't change horses with anybody. We're going to have a great year, I know we are."

Ascot will pull out all the stops to attract Zenyatta


ASCOT officials will leave no stone unturned in a bid to attract superstar mare Zenyatta to Britain this summer - though they admit the likelihood of her crossing the Atlantic must be regarded as a longshot.

Following Sunday's news that retirement plans had been abandoned for the spectacular Breeders' Cup winner, her connections have named a Grade 1 event at Santa Anita in early March as a possible comeback race.

Speaking in the Daily Racing Form, trainer John Shirreffs suggested Zenyatta could return in the Santa Margarita Handicap, a 1m1f event on the all-weather on March13 - the same day that Rachel Alexandra may reappear in a specially framed race at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.


The Santa Anita option would seemingly preclude any suggestion of Zenyatta competing in the inaugural Dubai World Cup at Meydan two weeks later, despite the enthusiasm of Dubai officials to attract her.

Later this year, though, Ascot is keen to tempt Zenyatta. Ascot head of public relations Nick Smith will jet out to California to try to persuade owners Jerry and Ann Moss to send their superstar to Royal Ascot or the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

"Let's be honest, it's a longshot," admitted Smith. "But she is our automatic number one target and it would be ground-breaking if we could get her over to the royal meeting or the King George.

"It is a big ask for a horse like that to come to Britain but there will be no lack of financial incentives to encourage connections - we would take care of all their costs. If she came it would be the biggest single moment of the international season."

Zenyatta, undefeated in 14 starts, worked five furlongs in 1m01.40s at Hollywood Park on Sunday, after which Shirreffs nominated the $250,000 Santa Margarita as a potential target before a crack at the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn on April 3.

The latter event, won by Zenyatta in 2008, offers an intriguing option as they race on dirt at Oaklawn and the race is a possible target for Rachel Alexandra.

What you been hearing about this Christine daae barry? seemingly she is another special filly..

I raced her dam, Descapate, who ran an eerily similar race at Saratoga in the time time over the same distance. She looks like a true freak, no doubt about it.

When I owned the mare, she was the morning line favorite to win a Grade 1 race on Kentucky Derby day, but the trainer decided to "touch up" an ankle with a bit of cortisone. The injection introduced a staph infection into the joint, which became infected and resistent to any antibiotic we tried.

In desperation, we put in in the hyperbaric chamber 20 times at $400 a crack, and it did the trick, killing the infection. We sold her at Keeneland in foal for, as I recall, $1.35 million (our's not your's!).