[Suffolk Shippers]

I am probably one of the bigger Barbaro fanboys on the board, but even I must say, he really has no business in 3 Yr Old Champion voting anymore.

I think on a whole this crop of 3 yr old is somewhat thin, and Bernardini stands at the top of it as we speak. Does he beat older horses as handily as he beat some of the weak 3 yr olds? Time will tell. Barbaro's body betrayed him, and while that cannot be held against him, voting in theory that Barbaro was a lead pipe lock to win the Triple Crown and show up and win the BCC, would be an injustice to Bernardini, and an afront to the fans.

Bernardini has manhandled the 3 yr olds since May and if he goes on and wins the BCC he deserves 3 yr old champion and HOY. If he doesn't fare as well against olders, he still should be 3 yr old champion.

Barbaro has alot of things that can never be taken away from him. He was the champion of America's grandest race, winning in a fashion that to compare, needed history books to be cracked opened and examined. That alone endeared him to an entire nation, and when that nation watched him take to the track again, it wept at what it saw.

He is a champion, cut down in his prime by a fragile body. He fights everyday to see the sun rise every morning. His day to day battle inspires many. Some even see him as a "hero". Misguided or not, Barbaro is a champion of heart and determination and the 2006 Kentucky Derby. The heart and determination is a far more grand prize than a shiny Eclipse Award.

That being said, Bernardini deserves that shiny Eclipse Award.