The 39th annual Eclipse Awards were given away late in the afternoon on Monday at a glittering ceremony in Los Angeles. There were no departures from the script and surprises, if any, were in the number of votes some of the winners garnered.

Rachel Alexandra won the much-anticipated showdown with the unbeaten Zenyatta. Winner of the Kentucky Oaks, the Preakness, the Mother Goose and the Haskell, Rachel Alexandra had 130 votes out of a 232-vote total. Zenyatta was favoured by 99 voters. In every category, there were three groups of voters. The National Turf Writers Association voted 71-51 for the Medaglia d’Oro filly. The Daily Racing Form voted 31-23. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (the NTRA), consisting of Race Secretaries and members of Equibase (the group that compiles numbers and charts the races), voted 28-25 in favour of Rachel Alexandra.

The Steve Asmussen-trained filly was also voted the champion female sophomore. She received all the 232 votes. Plans call for a racing campaign for Rachel Alexandra in 2010.

Jess Jackson, majority owner of Rachel Alexandra, was getting his third consecutive award as owner of Horse of the Year. He owned Curlin who was Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

Alex Waldrop, CEO of NTRA, made a terse comment: “Happily, the stories are far from over.”

Owner Jackson spoke: “Individually or collectively, there was never a year like this for fillies. I’d thank Ann and Jerry Moss (Zenyatta’s owners) for being so gracious through the year.”

Jerry Moss was interviewed by TVG, a Racing network. Moss said, “I’m disappointed. We never lost. She is perfect. Nobody beat her on the track. They beat her by proxy. We are looking forward to having Zenyatta meet Rachel Alexandra in 2010.”

Zenyatta, however, could not be denied the top older female prize. As a matter of fact, the unbeaten mare was the choice of 231 votes when winning the award for the second consecutive year. One vote from the Daily Racing Form went to Icon Project. I am sure the dissenter wanted a mention of Icon Project in the post-Eclipse reports.

Gio Ponti achieved a rare distinction. In addition to being voted the champion older horse (184 votes), Gio Ponti, winner of four Grade I events, also won the top male turf horse award. In the turf group, Gio Ponti, who finished second to Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, had 206 votes. Conduit, winner of the BC Turf in 2008 and 2009, was a distant second with 22 votes.

What places Gio Ponti in a special class? It was the incomparable John Henry who was the champion older horse and the top male grass horse in 1981. John Henry won the inaugural Arlington Million that year in the hands of Bill Shoemaker.

Steve Asmussen won the top trainer Eclipse for the second successive year. Steve had 130 votes. With 57 votes, John Shirreffs, Zenyatta’s trainer, was the runner-up.

Trainer Asmussen ended 2009 with 650 winners. He has been setting all kinds of records. Asmussen took Rachel Alexandra after the filly had made the Kentucky Oaks a no contest.

The top owner award did not go to Jess Jackson’s group. It did not go the way of Juddmonte Farms. Ann and Jerry Moss, courtesy of Zenyatta’s exploits, had 56 votes but they were edged out by Sheikh Mohammed, whose stable is called Godolphin. The Royal Blue brigade, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, won several high profile stakes in North America. The Godolphin stable received 61 votes.

The top breeder prize was taken by Juddmonte Farms. Ventura and Midday, two prolific winners for Prince Khalid Abdullah, put Juddmonte over the top. Juddmonte had 157 votes.

The top jockey prize went to Julien Leparoux. A first time winner, Leparoux received 122 votes. Garrett Gomez was next best with 46. Ramon Dominguez was third with 45 votes. Jockey Leparoux became the first rider born in Europe to win the Eclipse.

Informed Decision, winner of the BC Filly-Mare Sprint for Leparoux, was voted the champion female sprinter. She had an overwhelming 222 votes.

Lookin At Lucy was awarded the prize in the male freshman category. Winner of the Del Mar Futurity, the Norfolk Stakes and the Cash Call Futurity, Lookin At Lucy had 209 votes. Vale of York, who beat Lookin At Lucy in the BC Juvenile, received 17 votes.

The top freshman girl award went to She Be Wild. The BC (filly) Juvenile winner received 171 votes.

Goldikova won the BC Turf Mile in 2008 and 2009. She was favored to win the top turf female group. She did with 172 votes.

Summer Bird, owned by Mrs (Dr) Vilasini and Dr K K Jayaraman, won the top three year-old male prize. The Tim Ice-trained Summer Bird won the Belmont Stakes, the Travers Stakes and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He was second to Rachel Alexandra in the Haskell and fourth in the BC Classic. After travelling to Japan to compete in the (dirt) Japan Cup, Summer Bird hurt himself during a workout. He is back in America and a summer return is planned. Summer Bird had 225 votes.

Kodiak Kowboy, winner of three Grade I races in 2009, is the champion sprinter with 118 votes.

Mixed Up was voted the top steeplechase horse. Christian Santiago-Reyes was awarded the top apprentice prize. Reyes had 93 votes. Luis Saez had 48 and Luis Batista received 47 votes.

William S Farish of Lane’s End Farm won an Eclipse Award of Merit. Monique Koehler, founder of racehorse rescue programs, received a special Eclipse.

We will now take a look at racing action primarily in California. Chantal Sutherland is based at Woodbine in Toronto, Canada. Jockey Sutherland is now riding in southern California. She won Sunday’s Grade II El Encino Stakes with Pretty Unusual, a 29-1 chance. Jockey Sutherland overcame considerable road trouble to win the 1700-metre race confined to four year-olds in a time of 1 43.72 seconds. The margin was a length and a quarter.

“Things just opened up. The traffic separated. She (Pretty Unusual) had amazing acceleration. That’s amazing. Let the good times roll,” Sutherland exulted.

Pretty Unusual is owned by Madeleine Auerbach, Marie Goda and Jack Klugman. The last named is a well-known Hollywood star.

Running second to Unusual Heat was Stardom Bound, the 9-5 favourite. Stardom Bound, the champion freshman filly in 2008 and the winner of the BC Juvenile, raced extremely well in defeat.

The El Encino story was the icing on the cake for jockey Sutherland. On Saturday at Santa Anita, she connected with the 31-10 Amen Hallelujah in the Grade III $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes, a 1400-metre race for three year-old fillies. Amen Hallelujan clocked 1 21.39 seconds.

Jockey Sutherland described her ride: “I liked the way the race unfolded. I was loving it. It played out the way I wanted. I had enough horse.”

The Dubai folks are wooing Zenyatta. Reports say that Zenyatta’s first 2010 start will come in mid-March. Yet, the Dubai World Cup on March 27, is being widely mentioned as a target for the 14 for 14 six year-old. The 2010 edition will be raced at the brand new Meydan course. It will be over 2,000 metres and will be on the tapeta surface.

Here is how the Dubai World Cup fee structure works. The first stage for (free) nominations has passed. The list will be announced in a few days. The second phase ends on February 17 and the fee, at that time, will be one-tenth of a percent of the total purse. In 2010, the advertised prize is 10 million dollars. On March 8, the third act is up. The fee will be one percent of the purse. Supplementary nominations may be made before March 21 and the cost will be 10% of the purse. An owner will have to shell a million dollars out.

Vodka is a starter. Gio Ponti’s connections have indicated a strong interest. Twice Over is a possibility. Vision d’Etat, a multiple Group-race winner, will represent France. Gitano Hernando, who skipped the BC after winning the Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita, is being pointed to Dubai. Zenyatta’s presence will give the World Cup field immense depth and tremendous colour.

There were two races for sophomores over the weekend in California. Golden Gate Fields hosted the $100,000 California Derby last Saturday. Ranger Heartley, Julio Garcia up, beat Connemara, the 7-10 favourite by three parts of a length. A 5-1 chance, Ranger Heartley was making his stakes debut. The 1700-metre race on the tapeta track was run in 1 45.4 seconds. Ranger Heartley, by Last Soldier out of Deputy GG by Silver Deputy, made it all. It was the first Derby in the US this year. John Sadler trains the winner.

Jockey Garcia spoke: “I talked to John (Sadler) the other day. He said, “I don’t care. Just go to the front. Ranger Heartly runs better that way”. Nobody put pressure and I had a lot of horse at the 3/8 pole.”

The other race was taken by the 3-10 chalk, Conveyance. A Bob Baffert pupil, Conveyance, a sophomore by Indian Charlie, won the San Rafael (for three year-olds) start to finish on January 16 at Santa Anita. Conveyance, a gray colt, is now three for three lifetime. The 1600-metre race on the pro ride surface was run in 1 36.45 seconds. Garrett Gomez rode the Derby prospect.

Gomez elaborated: “Speed has not been good at this track. I was hoping I won’t have pressure early. I came off the fence down the backside and I left it open going to the far turn because I did not want any horse to be down on top of the fence with another horse pressing me. My colt tired in the last 1/16 and switched back to the left lead. The race was a good learning curve.”

Trainer Baffert expressed his thoughts. “The pace was slow. He likes to roll up front. I did not get a chance to work him a mile. He got weary. It was a nice effort and he was not blowing that hard coming back.”