Breeders' Cup Classic voted NTRA Moment of the Year

Last updated: 1/13/12 2:06 PM

The exciting victory by Drosselmeyer and Mike Smith over Game on Dude and
Chantal Sutherland in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic has been voted the 2011
National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Moment of the Year.
Drosselmeyer’s victory also represented the second “Classic” win in as many days
for trainer Bill Mott, who had saddled Royal Delta to win the previous day’s
Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic. The connections of Drosselmeyer will be
honored at the Eclipse Award ceremony Monday in Beverly Hills, California, with
the “NTRA Moment of the Year” award. The 2011 winner marks the third straight
year that the Breeders’ Cup Classic has accounted for the NTRA Moment of the
Year.

This year’s balloting was conducted at the NTRA website, ntra.com, and
offered voters 12 different images illustrating a wide range of human emotions
as well as outstanding displays of equine athleticism. Finishing second was
Blind Luck’s narrow victory over Havre de Grace in the Grade 2 Delaware
Handicap. The images and events that fans chose from, with percentage of votes
they received in parentheses, were:

Game on Dude and Chantal Sutherland survive 10 furlongs and a 12-minute
stewards’ inquiry in capturing the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap (3 percent)

Rosie Napravnik guides Pants on Fire to victory in the Grade 2 Louisiana
Derby en route to becoming the first woman to win a Fair Grounds riding
title (1 percent)

Uncle Mo suffers his first defeat, running third behind Toby’s Corner in
Aqueduct’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes (1 percent)

Animal Kingdom runs down his foes in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby (5
percent)

Shackleford overcomes pre-race nervousness to hold off Animal Kingdom in
the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes (2 percent)

Blind Luck prevails by a nose over Havre de Grace following a
stretch-long duel in the Delaware Handicap (14 percent)

Caleb’s Posse catches a stubborn Uncle Mo in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop
Stakes at Saratoga (2 percent)

Havre de Grace beats the boys in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Woodward Stakes (9
percent)

Joseph O’Brien, 18, becomes the youngest jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup
race, piloting St. Nicholas Abbey to victory in the Grade 1 Turf for his
father, Aidan O’Brien (6 percent)

Court Vision spoils Goldikova’s attempt at a fourth consecutive Grade 1
Breeders’ Cup Mile win, upsetting the field at 64-1 (2 percent)

Drosselmeyer and Mike Smith edge Game on Dude and Chantal Sutherland at
the wire of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, giving trainer Bill Mott his second
“Classic” in 24 hours (46 percent)

Rapid Redux breaks a North American record by winning his 20th
consecutive race (9 percent)

“The NTRA Moment of the Year award and this year’s first ever Eclipse Horse
of the Year Fan Vote Sweepstakes presented terrific avenues for the fans to play
an active role in the Eclipse Awards ceremony,” said Keith Chamblin, NTRA senior
vice president. “Drosselmeyer’s victory had so many interesting aspects to it,
and we are delighted to salute that triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic as the
latest NTRA Moment of the Year.”