My Eclipse Ballot

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Delving further into other categories, some more bizarre omissions from printed PP's sent to voters? Animal Kingdom, Sweet Lulu, Streaming...

Crazy... Not just because shes a Baffert, but Streaming could have actually won the thing.

[RockHardTen1985]

I would probably vote Havana 2yr old champ. You can argue he was best in the BC Juvy and he won a really good Grade 1 in NY.
I’m interested to see Havana come back. He is going to be a really beast at Gulfstream. I’m sure he will be OK up to 9f on certain tracks.

[Indian Charlie]

Byk, no top 3 for Shared Belief??

I felt he was the biggest standout of their divisions, except for maybe the turf.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Byk, no top 3 for Shared Belief??

I felt he was the biggest standout of their divisions, except for maybe the turf.

I think he would be hard pressed to beat any of the top 3 from NY on dirt at 8f-9f right now. Even the Lukas horse who won the Hopeful I think is at least as good as him. Why would that Hollywood Grade 1 mean more then The Hopeful or Champagne

[iamthelurker]

Castellano will be the first rider to lead the nation in wins and earnings since Chris McCarron did it in 1980. It would be a travesty to see him lose an eclipse award to Stevens. Comeback considered... Castellano's accomplishments this year far surpass Stevens.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by iamthelurker

Castellano will be the first rider to lead the nation in wins and earnings since Chris McCarron did it in 1980. It would be a travesty to see him lose an eclipse award to Stevens. Comeback considered... Castellano's accomplishments this year far surpass Stevens.

I believe Rosairo was having the better year until being injured during a crucial point of the year.

[iamthelurker]

I'll say it again.... the first rider to lead the nation in wins and earnings in 23 years. That's the unique accomplishment here.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by iamthelurker

Castellano will be the first rider to lead the nation in wins and earnings since Chris McCarron did it in 1980. It would be a travesty to see him lose an eclipse award to Stevens. Comeback considered... Castellano's accomplishments this year far surpass Stevens.

It's more esoteric for me than the numbers. 'Accomplishments' don't have to be measured linearly. Dale Romans didn't have raw numbers to win Trainer in 2012 but was overwhelmingly deserving.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Byk, no top 3 for Shared Belief??

I felt he was the biggest standout of their divisions, except for maybe the turf.

This -- along with Sweet Reason in the Fillies -- was a case of 4 pegs in 3 holes. Had him 2nd in first pass and then really looked at the 3 wins. Golden Gate MDN, beat nothing in Prevue and Futurity field is going to end up being highly mediocre, at best, in retrospect. I wasn't going to let the figs be the determinant. Havana likely wins Juvy with a decent post and is acclamation champ at that point. Honor Code couldn't be left off and New Year's Day deserved nod as Juvy winner. Very difficult and to some extent my decision was influenced by the fact Shared Belief did his work only on synthetic.