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COMMENTARY DECEMBER 11, 2013 Meh by Vance Hanson It's nearly time to fill out another Eclipse Award ballot -- an annual opportunity to pass judgment on events since January 1. Unfortunately, this year's exercise involves the review of a racing season that was less-than-riveting in the sport's premier divisions, where inconsistency was the rule rather than the exception, and when questionable play-calling on the part of some "coaches" led to a few face-in-hands moments. As usual, we'll briefly mention the no-brainers and then dissect the more interesting categories. Turf male: WISE DAN. Turf female: DANK. Older female: ROYAL DELTA. Female sprinter: GROUPIE DOLL sealed a second championship winning the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in game fashion. The undefeated CLUSTER OF STARS looked exceptional at times, though, and wouldn't fault in the least those who take a contrarian view and consider her the best they saw. Two-year-old male: NEW YEAR'S DAY won his only stakes attempt, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, against Champagne winner HAVANA and Hopeful hero STRONG MANDATE. It was an uninspiring renewal of the race, but taking the results at face value is the way to go. Two-year-old filly: In a decision that could have gone either way, Santa Anita stewards elevated RIA ANTONIA to first in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies over SHE'S A TIGER, who was found guilty of bearing out into her rival in deep stretch. However, that was the only season highlight in stakes company for Ria Antonia, who previously finished fourth against males in the Swynford at Woodbine and a nondescript fifth in the Frizette at Belmont against several fillies whom she later upset in the Breeders' Cup. She's a Tiger was far more formful, winning the Del Mar Debutante and Landaluce, and narrowly missing in the Chandelier and Sorrento prior to her Breeders' Cup disqualification. She's more worthy of this award. Steeplechaser: Certainly the most inscrutable division this year, and perhaps of all time as the six major jump races of the year yielded six different winners. Close examination of the records led us to the conclusion that ITALIAN WEDDING, with a 5-1-1-2 record, and GUSTAVIAN, with 5-1-2-1 mark, were consistently better than the other four. Although Gustavian finished ahead of Italian Wedding in two of their three meetings, two of Gustavian's losses came in relatively lesser races: the Temple Gwathmey and National Hunt Cup. That, my friends, is how you split hairs. Male sprinter: SECRET CIRCLE prevailed in the Breeders' Cup Sprint in his only stakes appearance, and that might have been enough if there were conclusive evidence he had the best sprinters of the year behind him. He didn't. More accomplished this term was POINTS OFFTHEBENCH, who captured the Bing Crosby and Santa Anita Sprint Championship before tragically losing his life after breaking down in a workout while preparing for the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Also in the discussion is SAHARA SKY, who won the Palos Verdes and San Carlos, finished second in the Carter Handicap, and then captured a thrilling renewal of the Metropolitan Handicap over a mile before going to the sidelines. Based on how the electorate tends to behave, Points Offthebench will get more credit for winning races bestowed with the magic "Grade 1" designation. In contrast, Sahara Sky's two sprint victories were in lowly "Grade 2" events. Of course, in addition to Sahara Sky himself, that Palos Verdes also included Vosburgh (G1) winner Private Zone and Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1) winner Justin Phillip. Now you know the rest of that story. There's no wrong answer if it comes down to Points Offthebench and Sahara Sky, but the latter will get our support. Older male: He's no one-track pony. It only looked that way this year. We are talking about MUCHO MACHO MAN, who lit up Santa Anita in the Awesome Again and then courageously held on to win the Breeders' Cup Classic over the same track against the best dirt males, three and up, in training. That was a solid way to conclude the season after an inauspicious beginning -- pulling up in the Sunshine Millions Classic and losing an overnight stakes at Belmont. GAME ON DUDE, who also kind of likes Santa Anita (9-7-0-0), must absolutely detest the Breeders' Cup Classic. He was the clear favorite to snag this award heading into the $5 million event, but was out of the Classic frame for the second consecutive year. It was unfortunate and inexplicable. As Mucho Macho Man's season record had some glaring holes to go with his magnificent wins, there is sure to be support for WISE DAN to win this award again. If he does pull it off, it would be the fourth time in five years it would go to a horse whose stakes victories occurred entirely on turf and synthetic surfaces. We have not yet partaken in this disturbing trend of supporting unconventional candidates for this award, which traditionally went to the best older horse on dirt, and do not intend to start now. Three-year-old male: Accumulating an unconventional group of stakes wins (Smarty Jones, Rebel, Travers, Pennsylvania Derby, and Clark Handicap), WILL TAKE CHARGE seems to have won over the remaining skeptics and become a strong favorite to win this award. The scintillating, last-lunge win in the Clark over Game On Dude only reaffirmed what the rest already knew: that the blinker-less Will Take Charge seen since July was a far superior animal to the sink-or-swim colt who wore shades through the Triple Crown, and to every other male in the crop. It was certainly a tale of two seasons for Will Take Charge, who did absolutely nothing in the three classics but went 8-5-2-0 at other times. The Triple Crown races are indeed important, but no race or series of races are definitive all the time. That is why it was hard to back ORB for this award as the months dragged on and the number of defeats mounted, including a last-place effort in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in his only attempt against older horses. For us, this race was settled when Will Take Charge narrowly missed to Mucho Macho Man in his debut against older males. The Clark was, as they say, cushion. Three-year-old filly: "It was worse than a crime; it was a blunder." The quote above, often attributed to Talleyrand, only partially overstates things. No real crime was committed. When you avenge your only previous loss of the season in the Kentucky Oaks, add the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama, and then defeat Royal Delta with relative ease in the Beldame, it's time to take a knee. Run out the clock. Don't let your opponents, who have no time outs, get the ball back. That was the position PRINCESS OF SYLMAR was in between September 28 and November 1. But instead of taking the knee, her connections decided to try running up the score in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. Was the $2 million purse too good to pass up? Did they believe whispers that she would become a Horse of the Year candidate even though she would not have accomplished anything remotely close to what previous three-year-old filly Horses of the Year had achieved? There was no margin for error. Princess of Sylmar had only narrowly defeated BEHOLDER in the Kentucky Oaks, and was now going west to face her again over a track where Beholder was four-for-four around two turns. And let's not forget CLOSE HATCHES, who traded decisions with Princess of Sylmar in the Gazelle and Kentucky Oaks, but later added the Mother Goose and Cotillion. She was in a position to win, too. The result could have been foreseen a month in advance. Beholder kept her undefeated mark around two turns at Santa Anita intact and claimed a second major stakes victory against older fillies and mares. Close Hatches ran strongly for second, giving her a 2-1 edge over Princess of Sylmar, who failed to pick up at any point and trailed the field of six. In this particular race, Beholder won as time expired. Horse of the Year: MUCHO MACHO MAN and WILL TAKE CHARGE did enough to deserve divisional titles, but no more than that. That pretty much leaves WISE DAN as a default selection. There's not much personal enthusiasm for this choice. There was no regression from Wise Dan this season, but there was definitely a drop-off in quality from what we saw in the turf male division in 2012 as a whole. It was easier to back Wise Dan last year when he emerged from what was arguably the best division in racing. Wise Dan's campaign, far more conservative than the one he endured in 2012, began to trigger complaints from some quarters this year for being unadventurous and lacking in ambition. Knowing what we know about Wise Dan's capabilities on other surfaces and beyond a mile, the criticism was fair. Wise Dan can be campaigned any way his connections choose, of course, but earning divisional titles and higher honors can not then be taken for granted. Horse of the Year titles, traditionally, are not won simply by dominating your own division, but by transcending them. Wise Dan didn't do that, but he wasn't allowed to. Fortunately for him, a surplus of goodwill makes him a more sensible choice than the alternatives. Meh.
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