If I had a vote, I'd vote for Golden Horn as top male turf horse. I know people will say that's ridiculous but there are two reasons why.

1. Unless the criteria has changed, the award is supposed to go to the best ELIGIBLE horse in a division. To be eligible, a horse needs only to start once in North America. So is Golden Horn eligible? Yes. Was there a BETTER American male turf horse than him that ran in this country this year? I don't think so. Some will vote Big Blue Kitten. Some will vote The Pizza Man. He beat them both. He did lose the race.....but not to any males.

2. People will say it's ridiculous to vote for a horse that didn't even win a race in this country. I will offer up Singspiel. He won an Eclipse as best male turf horse in 1996 and did so without ever winning a race in this country. In fact, he never even RAN in this country!! He came over to Canada and won the International before running second in the BC Turf, both at Woodbine.

[Bracketed] are finalists v. my [Italicized] selections.. Red the winner.

Horse of the Year: 1st - American Pharoah, 2nd - Beholder, 3rd - Honor Code [Runhappy]

Two-Year-Old Male: 1st - Nyquist, 2nd - Airoforce, 3rd - Swipe [Mohaymen]
Two-Year-Old Filly: 1st - Songbird, 2nd - Catch a Glimpse, 3rd - Rachel's Valentina

Three-Year-Old Male: : 1st - American Pharoah, 2nd - Runhappy, 3rd - Dortmund
Three-Year-Old Filly: 1st - Lady Eli, 2nd - I'm a Chatterbox, 3rd - Stellar Wind [Found]

Older Dirt Male: 1st - Honor Code, 2nd - Liam's Map, 3rd - Tonalist
Older Dirt Female: 1st - Beholder, 2nd - Stopchargingmaria, 3rd - Sheer Drama

Male Sprinter: 1st - Runhappy, 2nd - Rock Fall, 3rd - Private Zone
Female Sprinter: 1st - Lady Shipman, 2nd - Wavell Avenue, 3rd - La Verdad

Male Turf Horse: 1st - Big Blue Kitten, 2nd - Mondialiste, 3rd - The Pizza Man [Golden Horn]
Female Turf Horse: 1st - Tepin, 2nd - Stephanie's Kitten, 3rd - Lady Eli [Found]

Steeplechase Horse: 1st - Dawalan, 2nd - Bob Le Beau, 3rd - African Oil [Demonstrative]

Owner: 1st - Zayat Stables, 2nd - Stonestreet Stables, 3rd - Gary Barber [Midwest Thoroughbreds; Ramseys]
Breeder: 1st - Zayat Stables, 2nd - Ken & Sarah Ramsey, 3rd - Machmer Hall [Darley]

Trainer: 1st - Bob Baffert, 2nd - Chad Brown, 3rd - Mark Casse [Todd Pletcher]
Jockey: 1st - Javier Castellano, 2nd - Victor Espinoza, 3rd - Joe Bravo [I. Ortiz Jr.]
Apprentice Jockey: 1st - Tyler Gaffalione, 2nd - Eric Cancel, 3rd - Ashley Broussard [Angel Cruz]

Horse of the Year: American Pharoah - Finalists (first-place votes) - American Pharoah (261)

Two-Year-Old Male: Nyquist - Finalists (first-place votes) - Nyquist (255); Mohaymen (3)
Two-Year-Old Filly: Songbird - Finalists (first-place votes) - Songbird (260); Catch a Glimpse (1)

Three-Year-Old Male: American Pharoah - Finalists (first-place votes) - American Pharoah (261)
Three-Year-Old Filly: Stellar Wind - Finalists (first-place votes) - Stellar Wind (108); I'm a Chatterbox (47); Found (46)

Older Dirt Male: Honor Code - Finalists (first-place votes) - Honor Code (126); Liam's Map (95); Tonalist (14)
Older Dirt Female: Beholder - Finalists (first-place votes) - Beholder (256); Stopchargingmaria (4); Sheer Drama (1)

Male Sprinter: Runhappy - Finalists (first-place votes) - Runhappy (255), Private Zone (2); Rock Fall (2)
Female Sprinter: La Verdad - Finalists (first-place votes) - La Verdad (98); Wavell Avenue (90); Lady Shipman (41)

Male Turf Horse: Big Blue Kitten - Finalists (first-place votes) - Big Blue Kitten (134); Golden Horn (63); The Pizza Man (41)
Female Turf Horse: Tepin - Finalists (first-place votes) - Tepin (211); Found (38); Stephanie's Kitten (8)
Steeplechase Horse: Dawalan - Finalists (first-place votes) - Dawalan (165); Bob Le Beau (47); African Oil (2)

Owner: Zayat Stables - Finalists (first-place votes) - Zayat Stables (220); Ken and Sarah Ramsey (26); Midwest Thoroughbreds (6)
Breeder: Zayat Stables - Finalists (first-place votes) - Zayat Stables (190); Ken and Sarah Ramsey (39); Darley (13)

Trainer: Bob Baffert - Finalists (first-place votes) - Bob Baffert (200); Todd Pletcher (44); Chad Brown (12)
Jockey: Javier Castellano - Finalists (first-place votes) - Javier Castellano (184); Victor Espinoza (70); Joe Bravo (1)
Jockey: Apprentice Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione - Finalists (first-place votes) - Tyler Gaffalione (149); Eric Cancel (63); Angel Cruz (9)

The Older Female and 2yo Filly votes were a headscratcher. Not sure who seriously thought Catch A Glimpse was better than Songbird or that Beholder was not the most deserving mare. Did they miss the Pacific Classic?

WoW ..:zz:

from weekend blog on yahoo to eclipse award elector
in 12 years...you've done well

congratulations Steve

Now that I am back from Denver and my west coast tour,with my mind still in tact, i hope to say hi, at AP this summer

I still can't spell, and now my vision fades