2009 Eclipse Awards Nominations
The Beverly Wilshire Hotel, located in Beverly Hills, California, will be the venue for the prestigious Eclipse Awards Ceremony on 18 January 2010. It will be the 39th celebration of horse racing hosted by the Eclipse Foundation, and will again bring recognition to those who have contributed to the industry in the last year. Creating a great sensation however, are two equally deserving nominations, namely Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra. Everyone in the horse racing community will be holding their breath to find out who will reign superior at the awards.
When looking at these two remarkable fillies, it is easy to see why voting for the winner for the Horse of the Year title is going to be daunting. Not only did Zenyatta win all fourteen of her career starts, but the talented five year old also took the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Rachel Alexandra, on the other hand, out-classed her male counterparts on three separate occasions, and included in this three year-old’s victories is the Woodward Stakes and the Preakness Stakes. Each filly has performed to the best of her abilities, and everyone would agree that they are both deserving of the title.
Other nominees for the Eclipse Awards include: Lookin at Lucky, Noble’s Promise and Vale of York for Two Year Old Male; Blind Luck, Hot Dixie Chick and She Be Wild for Two Year Old Filly; Careless Jewel, Rachel Alexandra and Flashing for Three Year Old Filly; Quality Road, Mine That Bird and Summer Bird for Three Year Old Male; Music Note, Zenyatta and Life Is Sweet for Older Female; Gio Ponti, Einstein and Kodiak Kowboy for Older Male; Kodiak Kowboy, Zensational and Dancing in Silks for Male Sprinter; Ventura, Informed Decision and Music Note for Female Sprinter; Precious Passion, Conduit and Gio Ponti for Male Turf Horse; Midday, Goldikova and Ventura for Female Turf Horse; and Red Letter Day, Mixed Up and Spy in the Sky will be in the running for Steeplechase Horse.
Nominated trainers include Bob Baffert, John Shirreffs and Steve Asmussen; while Mr. and Mrs Jerome Moss, Godolphin and Juddmonte Farms are competing for the Owners title. Jockeys, Gareet Gomez, Julien Leparoux and Ramon Dominques, have been nominated, and apprentice jockeys, Christian Santiago Reyes, Luis Batista and Luis Saez also got the nod. In the Breeders category are Dolphius C. Morrison, Adena Springs and Juddmonte Farms. With such as vast list of celebrity nominees, the Eclipse Awards is going to be the event of the year.
