The good news for trainer Rick Violette is that his New York-bred Pennington will not have to face Banrock in Sundays $75,000 Cormorant Stakes at Aqueduct. The bad news is that Penningtons front-running style has been ineffective this fall at Aqueduct.

Still, Pennington looms the horse to beat in the Cormorant, one of five stakes races restricted to progeny of New York-based stallions scheduled to be run Sunday at Aqueduct. Banrock, who has defeated Pennington the last three times he has run, was not entered in this spot and instead is headed for a stakes out of town.

Pennington figures to set the pace under Alan Garcia. But the front-running tactics he employs have not worked too often at this meet.

The last move wins, Violette said of the way the turf course is playing. Unless youre odds-on, if you move first you cant win. Maybe the rain changes that a little bit.

As of the conclusion of Fridays card, the rain that had been forecast for the New York metropolitan area had not materialized. The turf course was labeled good for all three of Fridays grass races. The pacesetter in the first two of those races finished last. Exonerated, the pacesetter in the nightcap, just got beat the wire.

Pennington, who will break from post 2, looks like he could have the lead if he wants it. Extra Zip, who has some speed, could also be a pace factor under Jorge Chavez. Extra Zip, trained by John Toscano, is 3 for 3 over Aqueducts turf course, including a second-level allowance race run here on Nov. 6.

Minnie Punt, who won a division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Belmont in May, looks could be effective from a stalking position under John Velazquez.

Good Prospect, Gargantua and the entry of Pretty Boy Freud and Theconfidenceman complete the field on turf. Hammock and Ruffino are entered in the event the race is washed off the main track.

Thunder Rumble: Uncle T Seven back on dirt

Uncle T Seven seeks his third Stallion Stakes victory of the year when he faces seven rivals in the $75,000 Thunder Rumble Stakes at seven furlongs.

Uncle T Seven began his 3-year-old campaign with a 3 1/2-length victory in the Times Square Division of the Stallion Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong race run over a sloppy inner track. At Saratoga, he won another division of the Stallion Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Last out, in his first start for trainer John Kimmel, Uncle T Seven finished 11th of 12 in the Mohawk run over an extremely soft turf course.

John Velazquez, aboard Uncle T Seven that day, told Kimmel as long as he was running into the bridle he was fine, as soon as he asked him to go on that soft track he lost his action, Kimmel said. He said dont get upset about it, its just that some horses couldnt handle it and he was one of them.

Kimmel could have entered Uncle T Seven in the Cormorant on turf, but was concerned about catching a similar soft turf.

Hes been training pretty well on dirt, so Im kind of looking forward to running him, Kimmel said.

Lookin at Her and Tall Poppi, the one-two finishers from the Great White Way division of the Stallion Stakes for juveniles over this track last year, are the ones to fear. Dr. D.F.C. turns back to a sprint after facing the top New York-bred route horses all year long.

Staten Island: Mother Russia packs bullet

Mother Russia, a three-time stakes winner on turf, is back on the dirt in the $75,000 Staten Island Stakes at seven furlongs.

In her last appearance on dirt, Mother Russia won the Park Avenue Division of the Stallion Stakes by 4 3/4 lengths over a sloppy inner track. She enters this race with a bullet five-furlong work on Nov. 7 and has leading jockey Ramon Dominguez in the irons.

Christinas Gold, who won two races by a combined 16 1/2 lengths in the Mid-Atlantic region makes her first start in restricted company for Cody Autrey. Anjorie, a first-level allowance winner here on Oct. 4, is another top contender in this field. Raffies Treasure, Beam of Love, and City Spirit complete the compact field.

The connections of More Than Tactics have made some interesting choices in campaigning him. After the 4-year-old colt finished second in a maiden special weight at Louisiana Downs on the turf, trainer Morris Nicks jumped two conditions to send him in an off-the-turf second-level allowance. More Than Tactics responded with a resounding victory, coming home four lengths in front.

I didnt want to skip the condition, but he needed a race, said trainer Morris Nicks. I said, well put him in this race and entertain somebody. Now well never get that maiden win.

With the off-the-turf victory under his belt, Nicks responded by entering More Than Tactics back in a Sundays feature race, the eighth, a first-level allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf for a purse of $45,000.

With his lone victory having come in a race taken off the turf, the logical decision might be to return to the dirt, but More Than Tactics has shown he can handle grass, with second-place finishes in all three of his races on the surface.

Two races ago, he nearly held on, losing by a head after leading through most of the race. That race was enough to convince Nicks that More Than Tactics can handle the turf.

He likes the grass or the dirt, either one, said Nicks. He just doesnt like a real hard racetrack. Even when I breeze him in the mornings, Ill wait until the track has been softened up.

He will face eight opponents, none of whom have had much turf success. His most likely competition will come from Caspian, who finished second in a one-mile turf optional claiming race at Del Mar on Sept. 6. His lone victory came at six furlongs, however, so shortening him up while staying on the turf may prove to be the correct combination for him.

The Darp set the pace in the one-mile Lecomte in 2008, faltering to fifth.

The Darp, hasnt found the winners circle since a maiden race in December of 2007, but he shows a strong series of works since his third-place finish at Delaware on Sept. 29.

Milwaukee Appeal, the leading candidate for the Sovereign Award as this years champion 3-year-old filly, will cut back from a series of routes to seven furlongs for Sundays $150,000 Jammed Lovely Stakes at Woodbine.

The Jammed Lovely has lured eight other Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies, most notably the Duchess Stakes winner Carem Crescent.

Milwaukee Appeal captured the nine-furlong Woodbine Oaks with authority in June, and was a narrowly beaten third against males two weeks later in the $1 million Queens Plate. She went on to drop a nose decision to Gallant in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie.

Milwaukee Appeal was a distant second to Careless Jewel in the Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga in August. She has been idle since ending up second behind the upstart Aurora Lights in the 1 1/16-mile Selene Stakes.

Trainer Scott Fairlie said he was content with Milwaukee Appeals performance here in the Grade 3 Selene.

I wasnt disappointed, thats for sure, said Fairlie. Shes had a long year. Aurora Lights, he said, ran the race of her life.

Fairlie said he isnt overly worried about shortening Milwaukee Appeal up to a sprint on Sunday.

Shes good and fresh, said Fairlie. She has a pretty good last work. If its a speed-biased track, it might be a concern, but I just think that shes much better than these horses.

Carem Crescent should be the second choice in the wagering. She won her first two starts with ease in June and July, including a first-level allowance sprint.

Carem Crescent defeated a mediocre field in the seven-furlong Duchess in August. Three weeks later, she wound up second behind the talented Lady Shakespeare in her first turf start, the Ontario Colleen Stakes.

Carem Crescent came up empty after a stalking trip the last time she saw action, which came in the Selene. Trainer Malcolm Pierce said he had few options for her after the Sept. 26 Selene, and the Jammed Lovely made the most sense.

We waited for what we hope is the right race, Pierce explained. We tried her the two turns, and it doesnt look like she wants to do that. It looks like shes a one-turn horse.

Pierce was excited about Carem Crescents half-mile breeze in 47.80 seconds last Sunday, which was the fastest of 51 workers at the distance.

Shes coming into the race in good order, he said.

Conduit, two-time winner of the Breeders Cup Turf, has been confirmed for the $5,9 million Japan Cup at Tokyo on Nov 29 Recently purchased by Shigeyuki Okada, for whom he will stand at stud next year at Japans Big Red Farm, Conduit continues to be trained by Michael Stoute.

Conduit returned to his Newmarket, England, base from Santa Anita on Tuesday and will be shipped right out again for Tokyo next Wednesday. He will be joined in the 1 1/2-mile turf contest by another British horse, Scintillo, winner of the Grand Prix de Chantilly.

Three North American horses – Interpatation, Just as Well, and Marsh Side – will also be running in the Japan Cup.

Stoute also announced on Thursday through the International Racing Bureau that his Breeders Cup Turf fourth, Spanish Moon, will run in the 1 1/2-mile, $2.5-million Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin on Dec. 13.

Its bad enough Hollywood Park had to start its mini-meet of 27 days on a Friday the 13th. Whats toughest to swallow, at least from an aesthetic standpoint, is trying to put on a show in the immediate shadow of last weekends Breeders Cup.

The bunch of Cal-breds lining up on Saturday for the $75,000 On Trust Handicap deserves the benefit of the doubt, though, as will the stakes horses who answer the bell for such events as the Matriarch, the Citation, the Hollywood Derby, the Starlet, and the CashCall Futurity before the meet ends on Dec. 20.

In the meantime, the sport continues to vibrate from the performances of Life Is Sweet, Goldikova, Conduit, and Zenyatta – especially Zenyatta – in their memorable Breeders Cup appearances. Befitting the circumstances, many of the worlds best racing writers were on hand to sing their praises, none of them more eloquent than David Ashforth of The Racing Post:

For some, all their lives, it will be a duty to deny imposters and say, Ah, but if you had seen Zenyatta, that day, and we did, wrote Ashforth. We did, thank you. We saw her take her time to join the fray, raising anxiety, toying with our emotions, giving herself a task only a great horse could be equal to, then languidly showing herself more than equal to it.

This is not the way reporters were taught to write in Journalism 101. Or 102, for that matter. Personal pronouns were discouraged, if not outright forbidden. But times and styles have changed. It is okay now, even in the best publications – electronic or otherwise – to allow the heart to creep onto the sleeve.

For this was not merely about the cold calculation of distances and times, weights and ratings, Ashforth wrote, but about adrenaline and emotion, about the manner and the style and the thrill of a unique, shared moment.

The writer, if he or she does his or her job, conveys the size and scope of those rare moments, beyond merely taking roll. As sports editor of the Los Angeles Times for 25 years, Bill Dwyre rode herd on the coverage of the biggest possible events, from Super Bowls to the Olympics. Since 1996, as a columnist, Dwyre has embraced horse racing as one of his favored beats. And last Saturday, bearing witness to the Breeders Cup Classic, Dwyres buttoned-down, old-school ethic gave way to what was, for him, an emotional outburst.

But when it happened, Dwyre wrote, when the drama was right there for all to see, and feel, it was such a stunning display of athletic excellence that people began searching for comparable moments. Was it Kirk Gibson hitting his homer, or Doug Flutie throwing his Hail Mary, or Secretariat hitting the wire 31 lengths ahead? If it felt that way, might it be?

I felt that way, Dwyre said, reached a few days later. I was standing down there, guys jumping all over each other. It was hard to be stoic about it.

Dwyres game of choice has always been tennis, a contest in which the individual athlete holds his fate in his own hands. He was asked if anything he had seen courtside compared to the Classic.

The one match I thought about was a semi-final between Agassi and Sampras in 2000 in Australia, where Sampras was hitting his second serve 135 miles an hour . . . and Agassi beat him, Dwyre said. I saw one match last year at Indian Wells when Nadal was playing some guy until 2:30 in the morning and just refused to lose. Then there was the Agassi moment when he finally retired, and took the microphone. Im not much of an old soppy guy, but that was pretty emotional.

It can be argued that Rachels Alexandras Preakness victory over Derby winner Mine That Bird was the seasons perfect, 24-carat bookend to Zenyattas Classic. Dwyre was at Pimlico as well.

That day it was, Wow, she is what we think she is, and theres so much left, Dwyre said. It was the beginning of something. Zenyatta, I thought, was much better because it was a grand culmination of something.

As a new member of the National Turf Writers Association, Dwyre gets his first Eclipse Award ballot this year, and a chance to wrestle with the choice between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra for Horse of the Year.

I dont know if they do it or not, Dwyre said. But this may be the year you hand out two trophies, and you have them stand up there next to each other.

The sentiment is shared by a growing groundswell of writers and fans. Ties and co-champions, though, run contrary to the natural order, at least most of the time. Dwyre offered an exception, describing it as the best moment I ever saw in sports.

I was watching a Special Olympics swimming meet, said Dwyre, whose developmentally disabled son has been a regular participant. It was at someplace like La Puente High School, and there were about 15 people in the stands. There were two young women, Lynn and Valerie, and Id seen them swim against each other 15 times. Lynn always beat Valerie, because she was better. She always got the medal with the blue ribbon, while Valerie got the lesser medal.

So Im watching this race, Dwyre went on. Theyre going down once and back once. Lynn touches the wall first and turns to go back, and I see Valerie right next to her, and Lynn is looking at her. Valerie is trying as hard as she can, and Lynn just swimming easy.

Thats when I realize what Im seeing, Dwyre added. Im seeing a fixed Special Olympics race. Shes letting her catch up. They touched the wall at the same time, and then there they were, on the victory stand together. Lynn wanted her friend to wear that medal, too.

His ability to be effective from on or off the pace gives Lemon Cream Pie the edge in a competitive third-level optional $75,000 claiming race that serves as Fridays feature at Aqueduct. A field of nine was entered for the $50,000 race, which is carded at one mile on the turf.

Two starts back, in a second-level allowance at Belmont, Lemon Cream Pie settled in third behind the runoff speed of Brother Nick. Under patient handling from Eibar Coa, Lemon Cream Pie struck the front in midstretch before cruising to a one-length victory.

Last out, in the Grade 3 Knickerbocker, Lemon Cream Pie was sent to the front from his outside post, got loose on an uncontested lead, and succumbed late to finish second to Operation Red Dawn. Though beaten by 1 1/2 lengths, Lemon Cream Pie finished 6 1/2 lengths clear of the rest of the field.

Jockey Eddie Castro had to use Lemon Cream Pie early in the race, running an opening quarter in 23.75 seconds.

He looked like the only speed, said Jimmy Jerkens, the trainer of Lemon Cream Pie. With the outside post he had to go a little quicker than you would have liked and it told on him late. Any kind of a fast burst tells later on.

Jerkens put Lemon Cream Pie in this race after the Red Reality Stakes, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles, failed to fill.

Broad River is one of five horses entered for the optional claiming price. He was also offered for $75,000 on Oct. 9 when he won a race similar to this at Belmont Park in gate-to-wire fashion. The horse he beat that day, Expansion, came back to win the Red Smith here last weekend.

Yorktown won a second-level allowance at Monmouth in August, and was entered in several spots thereafter that were rained off the turf. He eventually wound up in the Knickerbocker, but didnt seem to care for the soft ground and finished last. Trainer Graham Motion is most certainly hoping for firm turf on Friday.

Gimme Credit is riding a 19-race losing streak dating back to June 17, 2007. He is coming off a second-place finish in the Mohawk Handicap against New York-breds on Oct. 22.

Blues Street and Yield Bogey dead-heated for win in a one-mile allowance here last November and are back in this spot.

Wayne Hughess Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, Ky, will stand its flagship stallion Malibu Moon for $40,000 in 2010, the same fee he had in 2008 and 2009.

Malibu Moons stakes winners this year include Grade 1 winners Funny Moon and Devil May Care.

Tiz Wonderful and Dont Get Mad also will keep their 2009 fees for the coming breeding season. Tiz Wonderful stands for $12,500, and Dont Get Mad has a $3,000 fee. Two other Spendthrift stallions, Into Mischief and Notional, will stand for lower fees in 2010 than they did in 2009. Into Mischief will drop from $12,500 to $10,000 and Notional falls from $10,000 to $7,500.

The second time was the charm for Azeri.
The 2002 Horse of the Year went through Keenelands January sale this year, only to be bought back for $4.4 million by the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust. Ten months later, the trust tried again at Keenelands November auction and got the job done, selling the famous chestnut mare to Japanese breeder Katsumi Yoshida for a session-topping $2.25 million.

Azeri was carrying a Distorted Humor foal and sold through the Hill n Dale agencys consignment.

Tuesdays opening session of the sale was marked by severe downturns in gross and average. The session sold 126 horses for $26,291,500, down 45 percent from last years total for 149 horses. The $208,663 average was 35 percent lower than last years, and the $160,000 median fell 14 percent from 2008.

The sale started on a cautious note as Americas commercial breeders reined in spending for broodmares after a bruising season at the 2009 yearling sales.

Foreign buyers, heavily recruited to the auction, picked up some of the slack in the broodmare market. In addition to Yoshida, the sale results listed buyers from Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, France, Mexico, England, and Ireland.

Australian agent Vin Cox, representing an Australian commercial breeder, signed for $735,000 Tears I Cry in foal to Curlin. Select Sales was the consignor. Cox said his client was one of about 40 Australian buyers at the auction.

Our industrys in a fairly good position, Cox said. Weve got a good racing product and a lot of interest in racing. Our general economy is a lot stronger than the American economy, and our dollar is 50 percent stronger than it was this time last year. So all those factors add up to our being a lot stronger than we normally are at this market.

But the market for mares remained soft for all but the most obviously desirable horses. Withdrawals were numerous, and some sellers who valued their fillies and mares very highly did not make sales. Frank Stronachs Adena Springs bought Grade 1 winner Romance Is Diane for $1.35 million a year ago at this auction. Attempting to sell her Tuesday in foal to Adena stallion Ghostzapper, Adena Springs bought her back at $700,000. Another Grade 1 winner, Swift Temper, at first appeared to sell for $2.05 million, but the receipt in fact went to her owner, Mark Stanley, who signed his name and printed RNA – for reserve not attained – below it. Stanley had offered the 5-year-old Giants Causeway mare as a racing or broodmare prospect, the very thing that last year was holding its value even during a steep economic slide. Not so, this year.

Shes special to us, Stanley said. She means a lot to us. I was torn about putting her in the sale at all. I just couldnt let her go when it came time.

As domestic breeders reined in spending for mares, it left an opportunity for bidders like Yoshida. After signing the receipt for Azeri on behalf of his father, Shunsuke Yoshida said, We didnt expect we could buy this mare.

Yoshida had been on the phone with his father and started bidding around $1.7 million, but even then they felt the price would soon pass their limit, Shunsuke said.

We had a budget, and she went a little bit over our budget, he acknowledged.

Yoshida said Azeri will go to Japan, where her foal might be sold at the select foal sale in 2010.

Among the losing bidders was English-based agent Tom Goff, who bowed out at $1.7 million, just as the Yoshidas got in.

Youve got to be there for a mare like that, Goff said. We obviously didnt have quite their firepower. We were probably hoping to get her for a little less than she was worth.

Azeris sale ended one chapter of the Allen E. Paulson Living Trusts Keeneland saga. That started in 2008, when the trust, then led by co-trustee Michael Paulson, controversially bought back Azeris yearling A. P. Indy colt, now named Take Control, for $7.7 million. After Azeris $4.4 million RNA in January, a California judge removed Paulson from his role as trustee, a move Paulson has said he will appeal.

Many domestic breeders leery of buying mares this year invested in weanlings instead. Even a number of commercial breeders, traditionally mare buyers at the November auctions, were sifting through weanlings in the catalog. Why weanlings?

Youre taking a gamble that you can get something that turns out nice in time to sell next year as a yearling, one commercial breeder explained. Another incentive: The stud fee already had been paid months ago by someone else.

Racehorse owners also spent aggressively for weanlings. Maverick Racing paid the top weanling price of $440,000 for the Greenfield Farm agencys Tiznow-Emmys Storm colt (Hip No. 195), and agent Mike McMahon spent $420,000 for Hip No. 39, a weanling Street Cry-Pathway to Heaven colt that Liberation Farm and Highfield Bloodstock sold through Hunter Valleys agency.

McMahon said his client in the transaction, New Yorker Sam Nappi, will probably race the foal. But McMahon pointed out that weanling-to-yearling pinhookers generally fared better than others at the 2009 yearling auctions, making pinhooking an appealing prospect again.

The Keeneland auction runs until Nov. 22, with sessions starting daily at 10 a.m.

The United States will be represented by no fewer than five horses in Japans two big international races this autumn. Connections of Interpatation, Just as Well, and Marsh Side have accepted invitations to the $5.9 million Japan Cup at Tokyo on Nov. 29, while Tizway will join the already-announced Summer Bird in the $2.9 million Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin on Dec. 6.
Interpatation, trained by Robert Barbara, is coming off a big score in Belmonts Turf Classic Invitational at the Japan Cup distance of 1 1 /2 miles. In that race he beat Gio Ponti, who was second in the Breeders Cup Classic on Saturday. Trained by Jonathan Sheppard, Just as Well was awarded the Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine upon the disqualification of Marsh Side. Just as Well was also second to Gio Ponti in the Arlington Million. The Neil Drysdale-trained Marsh Side is winless since having won the 2008 Canadian International. He was most recently fourth to Champs Elysees in the 2009 renewal of that 1 1/2-mile Woodbine race.

A three-time Grade 1 winner on dirt this year, Summer Bird, trained by Tim Ice, was fourth on Saturday in the Breeders Cup Classic, his first try on a synthetic surface. The best effort of the lightly raced, Jim Bond-trained Tizway came in his last start when he was third behind Summer Bird in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Run through 2007 at Tokyo at a distance of 1 5/16 miles, the Japan Cup Dirt was shortened to 1 1/8 miles last year and switched to right-handed Hanshin Racecourse in Osaka.

Under a complicated Japan Racing Association bonus system, Summer Bird is in line to receive a $1.1 million bonus should he win the Japan Cup Dirt. If he finishes second, he would earn a $444,000 bonus. If he is third, his bonus would be $277,000. Summer Bird is triply qualified as he won the Belmont Stakes, the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the winners of which all qualify under the system.

As the winner of the 2008 Canadian International, Marsh Side would receive the same bonuses for finishing first, second, or third in the Japan Cup.

Its all over but the debating.
Zenyattas victory in the Breeders Cup Classic on Saturday at Santa Anitas Oak Tree meeting has reignited the debate over the 2009 Horse of the Year between her and Rachel Alexandra, who had an equally brilliant year.

Zenyatta, 5, won all five of her starts this year, once against older males, and showed up for the sports year-end championship event, in which she beat a star-studded field to complete a perfect career.

Rachel Alexandra, 3, won all eight of her starts this year, three times against males, once against older horses, but was kept out of the sports year-end championship event and a chance to settle the debate on the racetrack.

The truly sensible, rational outcome would be for Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta to share the award. But the odds of that happening are statistically daunting, because the Eclipse Award ballot that will be sent to media members and racing officials next month does not allow for votes to be split in any category. Even if a voter would feel awful for slighting a horse he deemed a deserving champion, he would not be able to vote for both for Horse of the Year. Pick one or abstain. Thats the choice.

The only way they can end up in a tie is if the number of voters who choose Rachel Alexandra for Horse of the Year is equal to the number who choose Zenyatta.

One thing is for sure – the Eclipse Awards dinner that will be held Jan. 18 in Beverly Hills, Calif., might be the most anticipated since January 1985, when the 1984 Horse of the Year vote came down to John Henry vs. Slew O Gold.

If balloting were held Saturday night, Zenyatta would have won. Such was the understandable outpouring of emotion for what she had just accomplished. But with weeks until voters put pen to paper, there is time to soberly reflect on the magnificent accomplishments of both.

Im not taking anything away from that other filly, Jerry Moss, the co-owner of Zenyatta, said Saturday night, referring to Rachel Alexandra. As Ive always said, she ran a tremendous campaign, and they deserve a lot of credit. Its a tough one.

Its one of the few tough calls in flat racing left for Eclipse Award voters. Most of the divisional championships were decided following the 26th Breeders Cup. Only a fool would deny Zenyatta (older filly or mare) or Rachel Alexandra (3-year-old filly) unanimous victories in their respective divisions. Zenyattas form was flattered when stablemate Life Is Sweet won the BC Ladies Classic on Friday, beating the likes of Careless Jewel and Music Note.

Summer Bird, who finished fourth in the BC Classic, nailed down the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male for a year that saw him win the Belmont, Travers, and Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Gio Ponti, who finished second in the Classic, accomplished more than any other turf horse in this country this year and also put himself squarely in position to be named champion older male, a division that lacked a leader all year. His main rival for champion turf horse might be Conduit, who won the BC Turf in his lone North American start for the second straight year.

Like Conduit, Goldikova scored a repeat victory in a Breeders Cup race when she took the Mile on turf. That should be enough to get her an Eclipse Award as champion female turf horse, since Midday, a less-heralded European invader, beat Americas leading candidates the previous day in the Filly and Mare Turf.

Informed Decision, who won the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, locked up an Eclipse Award for champion female sprinter.

Male sprinter is far trickier. The upset win by Dancing in Silks in the BC Sprint certainly gives him a shot; he knocked off top candidates Zensational and Gayego in the process. But dirt specialists such as Fabulous Strike and Vineyard Haven, who skipped the Breeders Cup, also will garner support. So, too, will grass specialist California Flag, who won the BC Turf Sprint.

Champion 2-year-old filly is another tough choice. She Be Wilds victory in the BC Juvenile Fillies could be enough to vault her past the speedy Hot Dixie Chick, who was kept out of the Breeders Cup. One raced exclusively on synthetic surfaces, the other strictly on dirt. She Be Wild won around two turns, Hot Dixie Chick never ventured beyond a sprint.

Lookin at Lucky dropped a narrow decision in the BC Juvenile after a wide trip, but with improbable longshot Vale of York winning the race, the overall record of Lookin at Lucky makes him the front-runner for an Eclipse Award, especially with D Funnybone running so poorly. The other viable candidate is Florida sensation Jackson Bend, who was kept out of the Breeders Cup.

On the human side, the three Breeders Cup wins for jockey Julien Leparoux gave him 10 Grade 1 wins for the year and vaulted him into first place for purse earnings this year. No rider had a better Breeders Cup.

John Shirreffs will never have the purse earnings of trainers such as Steve Asmussen – who took over as Rachel Alexandras trainer after the Kentucky Oaks – and Todd Pletcher, since Shirreffs trains a far smaller string of horses. But his two Breeders Cup wins, with Zenyatta and Life Is Sweet, should make Shirreffs a strong candidate for the Eclipse Award as champion trainer.

Champion owner might very well mirror the debate for Horse of the Year. Both Jess Jackson, the majority owner of Rachel Alexandra, and Jerry and Ann Moss, who own Zenyatta, showed sportsmanship by putting their horses in challenging spots that stirred great emotion and elevated the sport when they prevailed.