Well, I was surprised. I thought Zenyatta had it in the bag. She is the only mare to ever win the Breeders Cup Classic. She's won all 14 of her starts. She beat all the best boys. She's awesome. But Rachel Alexandra with her Preakness and Haskell Stakes wins and 8 wins in 2009 edged her out, 130 to 99 votes, for Eclipse Horse of the Year. Both girls are preparing for a 2010 season, so hopefully they will meet in a race sometime this year! Obviously, both girls won their divisions, Z for Champion older female and RA for Champion three year old.
In other Eclipse news, the champion two year old filly and colt are She Be Wild and Lookin at Lucky. The Champion three year old male is Summer Bird. Gio Ponti won two Eclipse Awards as Champion older male and Champion turf horse. The Eclipse female and male sprinter champions are Informed Decision and Kodiak Kowboy. And the female turf champion is Goldikova with Mixed Up winning the Eclipse for Steeplechasing. The Eclipse Award winning jockey and apprentice jockey are Julien Leparoux and Christian Santiago Reyes. Steve Asmussen won his second Eclipse Award as trainer, and he should because he has trained the winners of the Eclipse Horse of the Year for the past three years straight -- with Curlin winning Eclipse Awards in 2007 and 2008 and now Rachel Alexandra. Juddmonte Farms with Jess Jackson won the Eclipse Award for breeding and Godolphin Racing won the Eclipse Award as owner!
I am disappointed. I wanted Zenyatta to win or both fillies to share. But what a great batch of years we've been having -- Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta, Rags to Riches, Sugar Swirl, etc. I am delighted that I lived in a year where a filly won the Preakness and Haskell, and a filly won the Breeders Cup and where fillies were the only ones nominated for the Horse of the Year. Rock on! This photo of the Eclipse Award itself was taken by Anne M. Eberhart.