Does speculating on the Eclipse awards really matter? I say no, and unless you are an owner or partner in a candidate that you’d like to breed, it may not matter to you either.
I really don’t see “fan” interest in the award anymore. Some of the votes have become so bizarre it takes away from the once prestigious award. Horses win off one race and sometimes it actually makes sense. With campaigns much shorter, who do you vote for Bolt D’ Oro, who won two races, or Good Magic who whipped him in the Breeders’ Cup? What do you do with Moonshine Memories who won two Grade 1’s but was soundly whipped by Caledonia Road in the Breeders’ Cup. Wuheida won one race here in the US, but did it beating Lady Eli who had a horrendous trip, but had won a few Grade 1’s prior.
Under the current system of NTWAB members voting it becomes a matter of subjective opinion, and that was not the intent of the award. It was to honor the best in the in each division and the best overall. With the shorter campaigns we see today it is often an educated opinion that can make those calls accurately and with decisiveness.
That is not always the category all voters fall into, thus California Chrome getting a vote for turf horse. Maybe to restore the prestige of the award, and the increased breeding value it can bring, a point system or the like is a needed revamping to take away subjectiveness and ridiculousness.
