Eclipse Awards: "It's All About the Anticipation"

The arc of history is long and often painful in its trajectory. What began as a glittering formal gala at a five-star Manhattan hotel to celebrate the inauguration of the Eclipse Awards 50 years ago will be found on Thursday under a temporary tent in a San Gabriel Valley parking lot. To be fair, that's a cheap shot. The historic Waldorf Astoria, site of that first Eclipse Awards dinner in New York on the chilly evening Jan. 26, 1972, has been shuttered since its purchase in 2017 by a "billionaire" now serving 18 years in a Chinese prison for fraud and embezzlement. Meanwhile, Santa Anita Park management and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association are dressing up one of those high-end "chalet" installations hard by the clubhouse entrance to the racetrack for Thursday's annual festivities, as the Eclipse Awards celebration returns to California for the first time in nearly a decade. "We'd like to start moving it around again to different venues," said Keith Chamblin, who spearheads the Eclipse dinner preparations for the NTRA. "It would be great to have it in New York again." That remains to be seen, especially since The Stronach Group, owners of Santa Anita through its 1/ST Racing division, underwrites a considerable portion of the Eclipse dinner event, which is why the awards ceremony found its semi-permanent home at Gulfstream Park beginning in 2013. Prior to that, the dinner was a moveable feast, landing at various times in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, San Diego, and various South Florida locales. The rebuilt version of Gulfstream Park includes a space, called the Sport of Kings Theatre, that easily accommodates an event like the Eclipse dinner, which normally draws in the neighborhood of 500 guests. Nate Newby, Santa Anita's general manager, was asked why the event could not find a similar home somewhere in the sprawling Santa Anita facility, an art deco landmark still cruising along 88 years after its opening on Christmas Day, 1934. "You would think there would be a space for an event like this," Newby said as he stood inside the chalet, bustling with physical setup and décor. "But it was built as a racetrack, for fans to gather in traditional ways, not as a place to hold big, sit-down social events. There just was not a suitable space." The clubhouse entrance will serve as a backdrop as the anticipated 300-plus guests arrive for the 4 p.m. PT cocktail hour Thursday, followed by the 5-6:30 p.m. awards presentation to be shown on TVG, and then dinner. The chalet measures 98x115 feet with a high, clear ceiling that should display a sharp half moon on a clear night after an uncharacteristically warm February afternoon. With attendance under 500, L.A. County rules do not require proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID-19 test, but kitchen and serving staff are required to wear masks. The space affords plenty of distance between the 30 or so tables of 10. The dinner menu includes an artichoke beignet, chicken and pear bruschetta, and Madras short ribs, along with baby fennel salad, baby carrots, baby sweet peppers, baby zucchini, baby spinach, and baby bok choy. Later, there will be an after-party in the Chandelier Room of the Turf Club. As for the awards themselves, there will be little drama at the end of the show when the drum roll sounds for the 2021 Horse of the Year. According to Chamblin, there will be a representative of the Korea Racing Authority on hand to accept the golden trophy for certain champion Knicks Go, winner of the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), the Whitney Stakes (G1), and the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) last year. For the first time, Japanese racing will have an interest in the Eclipse Awards, and it is a big deal. Loves Only You (JPN), the widely-traveled winner of the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) last November, is among the three finalists for the female turf award along with War Like Goddess and Santa Barbara (IRE), while Marche Lorraine (JPN), surprise winner for Japan of the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), made the list of finalists for champion older dirt female with favored Letruska and Shedaresthedevil. "The people representing the Japanese finalists have a table and a half," Chamblin noted. "It's a great achievement. And if they win, we'll be ready with translators." Otherwise, the evening figures to be awash in Godolphin blue, the Dubai-based stable run by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum usually represented at such North American gatherings by their Kentucky farm managers and domestic trainers. Godolphin is a finalist for both champion owner and champion breeder, underlined by no less than six individual homebreds among the division finalists: Essential Quality, Modern Games (IRE), Space Blues (IRE), Yibir (GB), Maxfield, and Mystic Guide. The return of the Eclipse Awards ceremony to California is not accompanied by significant West Coast representation among the finalists, although Jessica Pyfer has a solid shot to take apprentice jockey honors and Flavien Prat is in good company among journeymen alongside Irad Ortiz Jr. and Joel Rosario, who is favored to win. Owners Peter Fluor (Corniche), George Krikorian (War Like Goddess), and the Hronis family (Flightline) are California residents. Bob Baffert—trainer of finalists Corniche, Gamine, and the late Medina Spirit—does not plan to attend. Of the 32 individual horses who will be highlighted during the show, only two are currently stabled at Santa Anita: male sprinter finalist Flightline, trained by John Sadler, and female sprinter finalist Ce Ce, trained by Michael McCarthy. This is a far cry from the scene at Santa Anita during the winter of 1973 when publicity chief Dan Smith organized a parade of reigning Eclipse Award winners stabled at Santa Anita and primed for competition during the meet. Nose to tail, before an appreciative crowd on a memorable Saturday afternoon, they included champions Autobiography (older male), Typecast (older female), Susan's Girl (3-year-old filly), Cougar II (turf horse), and Chou Croute (sprinter). Bo Hirsch, the breeder and owner of Ce Ce, will settle for a one-horse parade. The daughter of Elusive Quality split two decisions with reigning division champion Gamine last year while beating her rival in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar. The Eclipse Award vote should be close. "I hope the Breeders' Cup makes a difference, but you never know," Hirsch said. "The best thing is she still wants to run." Ce Ce returned to the races on Feb. 5 at Santa Anita in the Santa Monica Stakes (G2), finishing second to defending champ Merneith. Hirsch shook off the defeat and played golf the following Tuesday with the two new guys at the top of the Thoroughbred racing food chain, Breeders' Cup president and CEO Drew Fleming and NTRA president and CEO Tom Rooney. The foursome was completed by Hirsch's friend, Mark Furey, who happens to be a close-up magician of international fame. Hirsch was asked if Fury might spin a little legerdemain and make sure Ce Ce's name is in the envelope. "I'm way ahead of you there, pal," Hirsch deadpanned. "But really, I don't want to know. If I already knew the result of the vote, one way or the other, I'd be sitting there bored. That's the great thing about horse racing—it's all about the anticipation."