Congratulations to the 2009 Eclipse Award Winners…

Congratulations to the connections of this year’s champions…

Horse of the Year and 3-Year-Old Female: Rachel Alexandra

Born To Run! Rachel Alexandra and Calvin Borel win the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational

Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra: #1

Rachel Alexandra wants a smooch

2009 Kentucky Oaks: Rachel Alexandra and Calvin Borel first, the rest nowhere

Atta Girl! Rachel Alexandra and her connections head to the winner's circle after winning the Grade 1 Mother Goose

Rachel Alexandra in the tunnel at Monmouth Park

Older Female: Zenyatta

Zenyatta

Zenyatta: 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic Winner

Zenyatta to race in 2010

Older Male and Male Turf Horse: Gio Ponti

Gio Ponti wins the Manhattan

Gio Ponti

Gio Ponti

3-Year-Old Male: Summer Bird

Victory Carrot for 2009 Travers Stakes Winner Summer Bird

Summer Bird

Written in the Sky: Rachel Alexandra vs Summer Bird!

Mid-Summer Bird! Summer Bird and Kent Desormeaux win the 2009 Travers Stakes

Summer Bird

Male Sprinter: Kodiak Kowboy

Kodiak Kowboy and Shaun Bridgmohan win the Grade 1 Cigar Mile

Kodiak Kowboy

Kodiak Kowboy and Fabulous Strike in the Vosburgh

Kodiak Kowboy outduels Fabulous Strike in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap

Kodiak Kowboy, Scott Blasi, Shaun Bridgmohan after the Vosburgh

After the Cigar Mile

Female Sprinter: Informed Decision

2-Year-Old Female: She Be Wild

She Be Wild

2-Year-Old Male: Lookin at Lucky

Female Turf Horse: Goldikova (Ire)

Goldikova at Santa Anita

Owner: Godolphin Racing

Godolphin Racing

Flashing and Richard Migliore win the Grade 1 Gazelle

Music Note, Rajiv Maragh, and Saeed bin Suroor after the Beldame

Breeder: Juddmonte Farms

Champs Elysees and Ramon Dominguez

Ventura

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Trainer Steve Asmussen and Parker Buckley on the Oklahoma training track

Jockey: Julien Leparoux

French apprentice Julien Leparoux before the Diana (G1)

Now go read your TDN and browse your blogs to catch up on all the details!

Breakfast of Champions: Thoroughbred Daily News

Cigar Mile Day 2009: The Three F’s

After the Cigar Mile

For many, Thanksgiving means the Three F’s: food, family, and football. To this, I add Fotography. And Fillies. And many Furlongs of graded stakes action.

Cigar Mile Day is generally the last hurrah of the season for New York racing fans. This time of year, the weather gets chilly, racing at Aqueduct moves to the inner dirt course, and the holidays approach.

I brought my friend Lisa to the track and she did a great job as my assistant. She also learned quite a bit about the light at the track and how to get the proper exposure for bright sun and the shade of the grandstand.

Before you know it, Derby Fever will be upon us. This Saturday gave racing fans a little more information about their favorite two-year-olds.

Launch N Relaunch broke his maiden with ease.

Launch N Relaunch breaks his maiden at Aqueduct

Buddy’s Saint (center) won the Remsen handily.

Grand Rapport, Buddy's Saint, and Homeboykris in the Grade 2 Remsen

Although they did not take a trip to the winner’s circle, there were many other nice colts at the Big A that day, including Imaging:

Imaging (Dynaformer - Gaze, by Danzig)

Highveldt Storm:

Highveldt Storm and Channing Hill

Lentenor, full brother of Barbaro. Barbaro’s Kentucky Derby was one of my favorite races of the decade, but I never got to see the great colt in person so it was a treat to see his younger brother carrying on the legacy.

Lentenor, full brother of Barbaro

Lentenor, full brother of Barbaro

Lentenor

But the day was not all about the colts. Stardom Bound had an eventful return from her layoff. Peach Brew stumbled out of the gate at the start of the Gazelle- if you view the video (below), you can see that it happened in the blink of an eye, but the photo shows how much it can affect a horse’s game.

Peach Brew stumbled out of the gate at the start of the Grade 1 Gazelle

The marquee race of the day was the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap. Kodiak Kowboy won the race and a real shot at this year’s Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter.

Furlongs and Furlongs of Fun for this Fotographer. Hope you had a good weekend as well.

Kodiak Kowboy and Shaun Bridgmohan win the Grade 1 Cigar Mile

High-five for Shaun Bridgmohan after he won the Cigar Mile with Kodiak Kowboy