NEWS
Curlin shines brightest at Eclipse Awards
Posted: Monday, January 26, 2009 10:17 PM
JESS JACKSON
Photo by Z
by Jeff Lowe
A year ago at this time, Big Brown was more than three months removed from his only start and on the shelf with a foot injury that would prevent him from resurfacing until March.
Zenyatta was undefeated in three starts but still awaiting her first Grade 1 appearance.
While Big Brown and Zenyatta both rose quickly and left indelible marks on the racing scene in 2008, they could not unseat the reigning king, Curlin, who will retain the crown as Horse of the Year for another 12 months.
Curlin was a runaway selection for racing’s top honor for the second year in a row, receiving 153 of 242 possible votes for Horse of the Year, which was the focal point of the 38th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony on Monday night at Fontainebleau-Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Florida.
As a whole, voters did not penalize Curlin for faltering on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita Park in the final start of his career, a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) that was the only time in 16 career starts that he failed to finish in the top three.
The Smart Strike colt retired as the all-time leading North American-raced earner with a bankroll of $10,501,800, bolstered by 2008 victories in the Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), Woodward Stakes (G1), and Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1).
The repeat triumph in the Jockey Club Gold Cup pushed Curlin past Cigar at the top of the all-time earnings list. Curlin joined Cigar (1995-’96), John Henry (1981, ’84), Affirmed (1978-’79), Forego (1974, ’75, and ’76), and Secretariat (1973-’74) as horses named Horse of the Year more than once since year-end championship honors were consolidated as the Eclipse Awards in 1971.
Curlin also was a nearly unanimous selection for champion older male.
Steve Asmussen, Curlin’s trainer, collected his first Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer after leading the nation in earnings and setting a record with 622 victories.
Frank Stronach scored a rare double in winning the Eclipse Awards as both outstanding owner and outstanding breeder, a feat that he previously achieved in 2000. The only other recipients of both honors in the same year were Harbor View Farm in 1978, Ogden Phipps in 1988, and Juddmonte Farms in 2002.
Stronach won the owner’s race by the slimmest of margins, edging IEAH Stables by a first-place vote count of 47 to 46.
Dual classic winner Big Brown was a popular choice for champion three-year-old male, while Zenyatta received all but two votes for champion older female.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times senior writer
