And the Winners Are …
Everyone you expected. There were few surprises at last night’s Eclipse awards … Saint Liam took Horse of the Year in a landslide, Afleet Alex was named three-year-old champion, and Lost in the Fog won champion sprinter easily.
Jay Hovdey catalogs the hits and misses. Among the latter: Michael Gill’s “Nixonesque” acceptance speech upon winning the owner’s Eclipse.
Bill Handleman found the whole ceremony a joke: “This year you didn’t have to be a hardcore cynic to enjoy the Eclipse Awards … such was the power of the message. Evidently it no longer matters how openly you violate the spirit of racing, not to mention the rules of the game. If you win enough, you will be rewarded. And at the end of the year, those who do the voting for the awards will disgrace themselves by honoring some of the game’s worst offenders.”
