Obviously you haven't seen MissingLisaLewis' at his best.

I have no idea how Eight Belles would get his vote but even less understanding of how Commentator gets his vote for sprinter since he didnt win a sprint stakes this year. And while Assmussen getting the eclipse isnt exactly a feel good story I cant come up with Hollendorfer in that catagory either

He won the Richter Scale at 7 furlongs by double digits at GP.

ok then he deserves it

you have to have one start in north america to be considered for an eclipse, zarkava obviously doesn't qualify. curlin does, and i can see taking his dwc into consideration, since high chaparral (for example) only had ONE start in NA when he won, so obviously foreign races are considered.

Curlin....I guess, but for me personally it's the one who made me the most $$$ in 2008.....

Kickin N Screamin

:D :$: :tro:

I say give Steve a special Eclipse for scoring us those calendars.

No idea? Was Proud Spell's Oaks or Alabama that much better than her Derby? Unless you're voting for Goldikova, I think Eight Belles has as good of argument as any other 3YO filly.

except that it's an award for the year, and sadly eight belles wasn't able to run the year. her derby placing was good, but not good enough imo to warrant the award. sentimentality shouldn't place her above a horse who had a better season, regardless of why that season occurred. keep in mind barbaro didn't win top 3 yo-and he showed a ton more than eight belles did up to that point in their careers-and he lost to bernardini, who had a very good year. barbaro may have had a better one, but generally the award isn't given on speculation.

None of Curlin's or Zenyatta's performances this year impressed me as much as Goldikova's at the Breeders Cup.

oh, I agree with you, but, I could see how someone could argue that Eight Belles was the champion 3YO filly.

It's hard to not be impressed with her turn of foot, and I certainly was impressed with her ability and think she's the real deal...but it's also certainly impossible to overlook that she got what was probably the most beautiful trip of any Breeders' Cup winner at this year's event. But yes, her quarter mile of running was something to behold.

Yes, She got a great trip, I look at it as a strength rather than being lucky...the pace was quick, she has a high crusing speed, despite being close to the pace she booted clear in a split second and it was over. That was impressive if you ask me, more than what Curlin showed in his last 3 races.

And don't get me wrong...there were lots of "wow"s falling out of my mouth at Santa Anita after that race, I just think in retrospect it wasn't quite as amazing as it looked after sitting just off of the almost-certain-to-collapse-speed of Thorn Song and Daytona, and though it was a quicker pace, she got kind of exactly the trip that played to her style...cruising along with the rest and then seeing which runner can sprint the fastest for a quarter mile.

I give her plenty of credit where credit is due, but I don't think that the actual merit of the performance stacks up at all to the breathtaking visual of the performance...which is not imply that it wasn't a huge run, just maybe not as huge as it seems.

I didn't mean to imply you were not giving her credit, I know where you were coming from. The 2nd and 3rd place horses coming out of the race didn't distinguish themselves in their next starts, though one raced in HK which is never easy. Her form in Europe certainly suggests her BC race was not a fluke, rather it is the type of performance we expected. To me it was more impressive than any of Ouiji Board's BC's and that one is held to a very high standard over here.

Oh wow, you really do love Goldikova...I won't even touch that one :D

You dont get awards for the races you lose. She basically was the 2nd best of a bad lot in the Derby.

Obviously Ouija Board was a great filly I have no argument with anyone there, really I cited her BC races to be accurate and not her entire career. She beat Film Maker twice in her own division in the BC, whereas Goldikova beat males and given how she did it with an explosive turn of foot. In my opinion I was more impressed by Goldikova's race than any of the 2 BC wins Ouija Board ran.

very true.

i'm trying to keep in mind that you're comparing bc races, not the horses...because ouija board was a special horse. i'd also think that everyone expected both of these gals to win due to ability in the one(OB), and the competition, or lack thereof, facing the other.