My Eclipse Ballot.. (Updated with Winners, Voting)

[Kasept]

Horse of the Year: California Chrome, 143; Main Sequence, 53; Bayern, 36; Shared Belief, 12; Untapable, 11; Wise Dan, 6; Adelaide (IRE), 1; Take Charge Brandi, 1. Voter Abstentions, 2.

2-year-old male: American Pharoah, 126; Texas Red, 111; Hootenanny, 16; Carpe Diem, 7; Dortmund, 3; Ocho Ocho Ocho, 2.

2-year-old female: Take Charge Brandi, 236; Lady Eli, 23; Condo Commando, 3; Sunset Glow, 3

3-year-old male: California Chrome 193, Bayern 56, Shared Belief 15, Voter abstentions 1

3-year-old female: Untapable 265

Older male: Main Sequence 127, Palace Malice 103, Wise Dan 25 Goldencents 9, Game on Dude 1

Older female: Close Hatches 155, Dayatthespa 64, Don't Tell Sophia 19, Judy the Beauty 15, Iotapa 7, Beholder 5

Male sprinter: Work All Week 184, Goldencents 52, Palace 12, Private Zone 11, Bobby's Kitten 2, Bayern 1, Big Macher 1, Secret Circle 1, Shared Belief 1

Female sprinter: Judy the Beauty 261, Midnight Lucky 1, Living the Life (IRE) 1, La Verdad 1, Awesome Baby 1

Male turf: Main Sequence 243, Wise Dan 18, California Chrome 2, Karakontie (JPN) 1, Adelaide (AUS) 1

Female turf: Dayatthespa 260, Crown Queen 2, Coffee Clique 1, Room Service 1, voter abstentions 1

Steeplechase horse: Demonstrative 206, Divine Fortune 12, Decoy Daddy (IRE) 5, Makari 2, Voter abstentions 40

Jockey: Javier Castellano 203, John Velazquez 34, Mike Smith 8, Joel Rosario 8, Rosie Napravnik 5, Victor Espinoza 4, Irad Ortiz Jr, 2, Alexis Batista 1

Apprentice jockey: Drayden Van Dyke 225, Juan Saez 11, Trevor McCarthy 6, Taylor Rice 6, Voter abstentions 17

Trainer: Todd Pletcher 100, Chad Brown 64, Art Sherman 45, Bob Baffert 20, Graham Motion 13, Jerry Hollendorfer 11, Steve Asmussen 6, D. Wayne Lukas 3, Karl Broberg 1, Edward Graham 1, Mike Maker 1

Owner: Ken and Sarah Ramsey 179, Midwest Throughbreds 21, Kaleem Shah Inc. 20, Others: Flaxman Holdings Ltd 18, Steven Coburn and Perry Martin 6, Maggie Moss 2, John Oxley 1, Robert Evans 1, voter abstentions 5

Breeder: Ken and Sarah Ramsey 129, Adena Springs 43, Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC 43, Others: Flaxman Holdings Ltd. 29, Steven Coburn and Perry Martin 6, Helen Alexander 3, Winstar Farm 3, Darley 1, Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. 1, voter abstentions 7

[Kasept]

First choice selections of voters are above and as always, a number of head scratchers..

Horse of the Year: Adelaide (IRE), 1; Take Charge Brandi, 1
Older male: Game on Dude 1
Older female: Beholder 5
Female sprinter: La Verdad 1, Awesome Baby 1
Male turf: California Chrome 2
Female turf: Crown Queen 2, Coffee Clique 1, Room Service 1
Jockey: Alexis Batista 1

Always fun to see sources when voting is shown..

Adelaide and Take Charge Brandi for HOY!

Alexis Batista? 260/32-40-42 ($356,612)

[saratogadew]

I want to see voter names next to these choices, so we can publicly and verbally flog them.

[saratogadew]

HOY...Chrome 143, Bayern 36 ???
3YO Male...Chrome 193, Bayern 56 ???

popularity contest, I guess.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by saratogadew

HOY...Chrome 143, Bayern 36 ???
3YO Male...Chrome 193, Bayern 56 ???

popularity contest, I guess.

i'd imagine many of those voters saw that cc won the derby, and that's as far as they went...

[saratogadew]

Originally Posted by Kasept

First choice selections of voters are above and as always, a number of head scratchers..

Horse of the Year: Adelaide (IRE), 1; Take Charge Brandi, 1
Older male: Game on Dude 1
Older female: Beholder 5
Female sprinter: La Verdad 1, Awesome Baby 1
Male turf: California Chrome 2
Female turf: Crown Queen 2, Coffee Clique 1, Room Service 1
Jockey: Alexis Batista 1

Always fun to see sources when voting is shown..

Adelaide and Take Charge Brandi for HOY!

Alexis Batista? 260/32-40-42 ($356,612)

These same people voted for "Lisa's Booby Trap" in 2010.

[blackthroatedwind]

Way too many voters are completely unqualified or simply don't take their responsibility seriously. Main Sequence beat Twilight Eclipse in two photos for half of his wins. In no way is he a more deserving Horse of the Year than Bayern. It is an indefensible "opinion" and no matter how much BS people want to spew that our turf racing, at the highest level, compares to turf racing overseas, it is simply untrue. If anything, Main Sequence proves that.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Way too many voters are completely unqualified or simply don't take their responsibility seriously. Main Sequence beat Twilight Eclipse in two photos for half of his wins. In no way is he a more deserving Horse of the Year than Bayern. It is an indefensible "opinion" and no matter how much BS people want to spew that our turf racing, at the highest level, compares to turf racing overseas, it is simply untrue. If anything, Main Sequence proves that.

One thing seems certain, it will be more of an upset for a dirt horse to win older male than it used to be the other way around. What is that like 4-5 years in a row.

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Way too many voters are completely unqualified or simply don't take their responsibility seriously. Main Sequence beat Twilight Eclipse in two photos for half of his wins. In no way is he a more deserving Horse of the Year than Bayern. It is an indefensible "opinion" and no matter how much BS people want to spew that our turf racing, at the highest level, compares to turf racing overseas, it is simply untrue. If anything, Main Sequence proves that.

That is true. It is also true he beat the horse that finished 2nd in the Arc and then won the HK Vase. It is also true that Bayern just barely beat a horse that had never run on dirt by a nose. Main Sequence is not great by any means, but he did have a very good season. The thing that is most clear though is that the silly season is at last over and we can get back to actual races.

[Thoroughbred Fan]

Let's not debate the terrible voters. They are bad. The horse with the toughest and most comprehensive campaign won. California Chrome. He raced nine times, won 6 stakes, 5 Graded stakes, 4 G1 stakes over two different surfaces and missed in the Classic by a neck. The horse who did the most actually won for a change.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Thoroughbred Fan

Let's not debate the terrible voters. They are bad. The horse with the toughest and most comprehensive campaign won. California Chrome. He raced nine times, won 6 stakes, 5 Graded stakes, 4 G1 stakes over two different surfaces and missed in the Classic by a neck. The horse who did the most actually won for a change.

In your opinion he had the "toughest and most comprehensive campaign." I don't agree. Bayern travelled much more, covered different distances successfully, and beat CA Chrome in the two races that they met. I thought his campaign was better. It's a matter of opinion.