Eclipse Awards Ballot Reveals Subjective Voting Criteria
TL;DR
- The Eclipse Awards ballot's omission of the Smithwick winner Historic Heart, despite including horses it beat, highlights systemic flaws in the nomination process, forcing a vote for the excluded horse to acknowledge the error.
- The discussion on older dirt males reveals a lack of a dominant contender, leading to subjective voting based on perceived potential and head-to-head results rather than clear-cut superiority.
- The female sprinter category presents a dilemma between a Breeders' Cup winner with limited starts and a consistently performing horse with a superior campaign, underscoring the trade-off between peak performance and overall season achievement.
- The male turf horse category is a "jump ball" between two strong contenders, indicating a lack of a standout performer and forcing voters to weigh Breeders' Cup success against consistent Grade 1 wins.
- The trainer category prioritizes top-level champions over sheer earnings, suggesting that success in major award-contending races is a more significant criterion than overall financial performance.
- The downgrade of California races like the Kilroe Mile, despite strong contenders, suggests the graded stakes committee's methodology may not accurately reflect the quality of competition in all jurisdictions.
- The apprentice jockey award's continued existence is questioned due to inconsistent success of past winners, indicating a potential obsolescence of the category despite current strong candidates.
Deep Dive
The 2025 Eclipse Awards ballot presents a complex landscape of deserving contenders across numerous categories, highlighting the subjective nature of year-end awards and the varying criteria voters employ. This analysis reveals that while clear standouts like Sovereignty for Horse of the Year are apparent, many divisions feature closely contested races with nuanced arguments for each candidate, underscoring the need for voters to meticulously consider campaign breadth, quality of competition, and historical precedent.
The discussion of the Eclipse Awards ballot reveals several key implications for understanding horse racing awards and the sport itself. In the two-year-old divisions, the debate between dirt and turf performance (Super Corridora vs. Cyfair) and the dominance of an individual horse (Sovereignty) illustrate the inherent biases and preferences within the voting process. Sovereignty's campaign, marked by brilliant performances and the news of his return to racing, sets a high bar for "Horse of the Year," yet his limited campaign due to a setback raises questions about rewarding horses with fewer starts. The three-year-old filly category, with contenders like Nitrogen and She's So Spicy, underscores the difficulty in comparing versatile runners who excel across different surfaces and distances.
The older male dirt division exemplifies the lack of a dominant horse, leading to a four-way debate among Niceto's, Mindframe, Forever Young, and Sierra Leone, highlighting how different voting priorities--such as head-to-head results, overall resume, or Breeders' Cup performance--can lead to vastly different conclusions. Similarly, the older female dirt horse category shows how a Breeders' Cup win (Silla) does not automatically guarantee an Eclipse Award, with Torpedo Anna's overall body of work taking precedence for some voters, suggesting a preference for consistent performance throughout the year over a single peak effort.
The sprinter categories reveal a tension between brilliance in a single race (Ben Tornado) and a more extensive campaign (Bookem Dano, Copian), with voters like Privman favoring horses with broader resumes. The steeplechase category, however, is marred by a significant administrative failure: the exclusion of a Grade 1 winner, Historic Heart, from the ballot, which Privman highlights as inexcusable and a flaw in the nomination process. This oversight forces voters into a difficult position, potentially skewing the results and undermining the credibility of the award.
Finally, the human categories--owner, breeder, jockey, trainer, and apprentice jockey--demonstrate how different metrics can be applied. For owners and breeders, success with homebreds (Godolphin) versus campaigning multiple top horses (Spendthrift, Saint Elias) offers distinct paths to recognition. The jockey category features a fierce competition between Irad Ortiz Jr. and Flavien Prat, with arguments for each based on different statistical measures of success. Trainer discussions reveal a preference for rewarding champions rather than sheer earnings (Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher over Brad Cox), and the debate over race grading highlights concerns about the methodology used by the Graded Stakes Committee, particularly regarding California racing. Overall, the process of filling out these ballots underscores that while objective data exists, the interpretation and weighting of that data remain subjective, leading to varied outcomes and ongoing discussions about what truly constitutes an "Eclipse Award winner."
Action Items
- Audit 3-5 horse racing categories for voter ballot completeness, ensuring all Grade 1 winners are listed (ref: steeplechase ballot issue).
- Create a spreadsheet to track horse, jockey, trainer, owner, and breeder for top contenders in 5-7 categories to identify commonalities.
- Analyze 3-5 key horse racing categories where multiple candidates have strong, but not definitive, claims to identify nuanced decision-making criteria.
- Evaluate 3-5 horse racing categories to determine if a horse's campaign is "satisfying" or if a single race performance is sufficient for an award.
Key Quotes
"You know, it's funny going back to what we were just talking about about sort of handicapping the field like if all the top contenders in this field ran against each other at their best I think Cavalier is the best horse in this group wow that's interesting but she did not have a campaign to me that is worthy of being an eclipse award winner so races right she ran three times she's brilliant but not not enough of a resume when I sat down to first do this category I did not think I would end up where I ended up but I ended up with Torpedo Anna I just think her overall body of work is the best of this group for the year."
Jay Privman explains that while Cavalier might be the best horse on her best day, her limited campaign of only three races does not warrant an Eclipse Award. Privman ultimately decided to vote for Torpedo Anna due to her superior overall body of work throughout the year, despite acknowledging that Cavalier's talent is undeniable.
"I'm going to come with one that you might not I might have telegraphed this a couple categories ago but so Ben Tornado was he I mean he was brilliant in the Breeders' Cup his race was amazing but can you give him off just the two runs I don't know that's just not quite enough it's not a campaign Bookham Dano had a a terrific year his only grade 1 win was in the Forego you know when you drill down on who he was beating Milliken Scotland Nakatomi those horses were really not exactly the you know the ones that at the end of the year were considered the top in the division so I think Bookham Dano might be his his races were excellent he won but he won three times at Saratoga but I think the depth of who he was beating might be slightly dressed up I circled back to Mindframe I think he won the best sprint of the year to me the Churchill Downs the seven eighths race on that on that card on that Derby card that was the best sprint field of the year."
Jay Privman expresses reservations about awarding Ben Tornado the Eclipse Award for Male Sprinter due to his limited campaign of only two races, despite his brilliant Breeders' Cup performance. Privman contrasts this with Mindframe, whom he believes had the best sprint race of the year and a more substantial campaign, making him a stronger candidate despite not winning a Grade 1 race solely as a sprinter.
"The ballot that was sent out to voters is messed up and messed is my polite way of putting this I'd use a stronger word but you know this is this is you can on these airwaves but they're not the show is for well I know you know I'll leave that for uh for JK but this is really messed up I mean it's messed up and I'll tell you what's messed up you know every ballot is supposed to have all grade one winners there are seven grade one steeplechase races one of them is the AP Smithwick and the horse who won that race is Historic Heart Historic Heart is not listed in the past performances that are in the ballot that's sent out to voters that's inexcusable."
Jay Privman voices strong criticism regarding the Eclipse Award ballot for steeplechase, highlighting a significant error where the winner of a Grade 1 steeplechase race, Historic Heart, was not included in the provided voter materials. Privman emphasizes that this omission is inexcusable and directly impacts the integrity of the voting process, particularly when horses beaten by Historic Heart are listed.
"What I like to do Pete is uh as you know but for listeners who might be new to to to my sort of approach to this is I I like to do a spreadsheet for each horse that I consider to be an Eclipse Champion who's going to get my vote or if it's a category where it was a jump ball I'll put them both down and I'll list the name of the horse who the jockey was who the trainer was who the owner was and who the breeder was because I'm looking for commonality at the top level because that's to me what the Eclipse Awards for owner breeder you should be rewarding those who had success among at the top."
Jay Privman explains his methodology for evaluating Owner and Breeder Eclipse Award candidates by creating a spreadsheet that tracks the owner and breeder for each potential champion horse. Privman states his objective is to identify commonalities among top-level performers, believing that the awards should recognize those who achieved success with horses at the highest echelon of the sport.
"I know he won the most money but tell me who his best horse was and who he's going to win an Eclipse Award with right right the answer is no one it's not doesn't look as pretty no so I mean he you know he had a great year in terms of purse earnings but if you're looking if we're rewarding champions it's not him sorry you know the better candidates are out there including obviously Mott who's going to have the horse of the year I think in in Sovereignty."
Jay Privman argues against awarding the Trainer Eclipse Award to Brad Cox, despite his leading earnings, because Cox does not have a standout horse likely to win an individual Eclipse Award. Privman suggests that Bill Mott, who is expected to have the Horse of the Year with Sovereignty, is a stronger candidate for the award.
Resources
External Resources
Books
- "The Eclipse Awards: A History of Horse Racing's Most Prestigious Honors" by Peter Thomas Fornatel - Mentioned as a foundational text for understanding the Eclipse Awards.
Articles & Papers
- "The Eclipse Awards Ballot" (National Steeplechase Association) - Mentioned as the source of the ballot for the steeplechase category, with a discussion of its omissions.
People
- Jay Privman - Hall-of-Famer, guest on the podcast to discuss Eclipse Awards ballots.
- Sean Clancy - Guest on a previous episode, discussed as having high praise for the horse Sovereignty.
- Aaron Jones - Deceased breeder of Ted Nafi.
- Marie Jones - Breeder of Ted Nafi.
- Larry Johnson - Breeder of Mindframe, acknowledged for his career.
- Vinnie Viola - Owner of Saint Elias Stable.
- Bill Mott - Trainer, considered a strong candidate for trainer of the year.
- Todd Pletcher - Trainer, considered a strong candidate for trainer of the year, with 10 Grade 1 wins.
- Bob Baffert - Trainer, had a strong year with numerous graded and Grade 1 wins.
- Chad Brown - Trainer, tied for most Grade 1 wins.
- Bill Belichick - Former coach, referenced for his saying "Do your job."
Organizations & Institutions
- In The Money Players' Podcast - The podcast hosting the discussion.
- In The Money Media - Production company for the podcast.
- National Steeplechase Association (NSA) - Supposedly supplies horses for the steeplechase ballot supplementary material.
- Spendthrift - Owner and breeder, considered a strong candidate for owner and breeder awards.
- Saint Elias Stable - Owner, campaigned deterministic and mindframe.
- Godolphin - Owner and breeder, considered a strong candidate for owner and breeder awards, with potential Horse of the Year and divisional winners.
- 10 Strike Racing - Founding partner of the podcast.
- Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga - Charity partner of the podcast.
Websites & Online Resources
- twinspires.com - Website mentioned for Kentucky Derby betting challenge feeders and qualifiers.
Other Resources
- Eclipse Awards - Prestigious horse racing awards discussed throughout the episode.
- Kentucky Derby Betting Challenge - A competition with feeders and qualifiers happening daily.
- Breeders' Cup - Major horse racing event, results of which are frequently referenced.
- Santa Anita - Race track, discussed for upcoming racing and its opening day.
- Gulfstream Park - Race track, mentioned in relation to wagering opportunities.
- Fairgrounds - Race track, mentioned for upcoming racing.
- Tampa Bay - Race track, mentioned for upcoming racing.
- Ascot - Race track, mentioned for a race where She's So Spicy did not perform optimally.
- Del Mar Futurity - A race mentioned in the context of the horse Brant.
- Alabama Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of the horse Nitrogen.
- Oaks - A race mentioned in the context of the horse Good Cheer.
- Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - A race mentioned in the context of Super Corridora and Cyfair.
- Breeders' Cup Classic - A race mentioned in the context of Mindframe and Sierra Leone.
- Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile - A race mentioned in the context of Niceto's.
- Breeders' Cup Turf - A race mentioned in the context of Rebel's Romance.
- Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint - A race mentioned in the context of Copian and Splendora.
- Breeders' Cup Sprint - A race mentioned in the context of Ben Tornado.
- Pin Oak Stud Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Niceto's.
- Stephen Foster Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Mindframe.
- Jockey Club Gold Cup - A race mentioned in the context of Mindframe.
- Whitney Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Sierra Leone.
- Azari Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Torpedo Anna.
- Apple Blossom Handicap - A race mentioned in the context of Torpedo Anna.
- La Troienne Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Torpedo Anna.
- Florida Derby - A race mentioned in the context of Torpedo Anna.
- Personal Ensign Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Torpedo Anna.
- Spinster Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Torpedo Anna and Jin Jin.
- Derby City Distaff Stakes - A race mentioned as the best sprint race of the year for female sprinters.
- Santa Monica Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Vava.
- Manhattan Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Deterministic.
- Four Star Dave Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Deterministic.
- Fort Marcy Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Deterministic.
- Marois Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of Notable Speech.
- Ep Taylor Stakes - A race mentioned in the context of She Feels Pretty.
- AP Smithwick Stakes - A Grade 1 steeplechase race.
- Franklin Simpson Stakes - A race that was downgraded from Grade 1.
- Older Turf Sprint - A race that should have been Grade 1.
- Kilroe Mile - A race that was downgraded.
- Graded Stakes Committee - The body responsible for grading races.
- Horse of the Year - The most prestigious Eclipse Award.
- Trainer of the Year - An Eclipse Award category.
- Jockey of the Year - An Eclipse Award category.
- Apprentice Jockey of the Year - An Eclipse Award category.