Tuesday Morning ~
Thanks, Alex
Update 1366: I will have more links and reports from last night’s Eclipse awards later today. Here is my quick assessment of what occured. I feared Barbaro would not get 3yo or HOTY given the feedback I had heard from a few who I knew were voting, or knew people who were voting. I am still convinced he ran the single best race of the year, he prooved himself on different surfaces and he was only going to improve. Nevertheless, last year’s crop of 3yos was simply outstanding and there appears a bias towards horses that compete for the entire year. I was a little more encouraged however before the awards began, both Gary Stevens and Frank Lyons (?) made solid cases for Barbaro, that was good enough for me! They also made good cases as to why they should vote, which they don’t.
Also before the awards got started they did a short interview with the Jackson’s … very cool. After the interview the presenters followed up with a mention of an article which highlighted Mrs. Jackson’s love for Barbaro, and quoted the end of the article. This led them to essentially admit that racing is all wrong when if it does not take a stand on anti horse slaughter. I thought that was good, and pretty bold. It would be good if TVG would follow up on this.
It was great to see team Barbaro get their award, Edgar get his award and the Jackson’s a joint winner as owner of the year. I thought the Jackson’s would win at least one of the owner / breeder awards. As owners they campaigned two of the top five three year olds and as breeders they bred Barbaro and George Washington, pretty amazing.
Anyway, Bloodhorse has a full run down of all the awards. Later today I will compile some of the more interesting links. Congratulations to Invasor …
Barbaro earned and deserved the 3 yr old eclipse, not Bernardini. He never showed a tenth of what Barbaro showed.
Yes, I agree Invasor deserved HOY.
The Jacksons deserved to be breeder of the year. I am thankful that an Eclipse was given to Team Barbaro, they more than deserved everyone’s praise.
I’m seeing trainers Ricky Hendriks, Chuck Lawrence, Dr. John Fisher, Barclay Tagg and Gene Weymouth, all with strong steeplechase connections.
Don’t know the exercise riders.
The Bernadini award was a super disappointment!
Congrats to the Jacksons and Edgar Prado…all class 
Thanks Alex
Update 1368: As I slowly go through the media coverage of last night’s Eclipse awards I wanted to first highlight these two perspectives: Barbaro eclipses all others and Eclipse impressions. The latter being my favourite thus far.
Not much Eclipse chatter this morning. A few people asked me what Barbaro won. Mostly the awards are on too late in the evening for us to pay much notice.
A cool article in the LA Times: They gave Barbaro the chance that also notes the support Barbaro has received from everywhere!
wow…Bernardini is a nice horse, definitely, but he wasn’t the one to win the 3 yr old Eclipse!
Update 1371: Just spoke to Tom, who visited Barbaro today (tuesday) and gave him a good grooming. Barbaro remains comfortable, same as yesterday.
Thanks, Alex
Wesnesday ~
The New Bolton update will most likely be late today.
Thanks Alex
pdate 1375: Mrs. Jackson just left a voice-mail, she visited Barbaro last night and about noon time today. She reported Barbaro remains comfortable and still himself. A positive message.
update 2:35 pm, wednesday, january 24
Great news! Thank you VB!
Update 1376: New Bolton’s planned update today on Barbaro is being postponed until tomorrow. This has happened before, so there is no worries re: the postponment. Thanks, Alex.
So worth it’s own post ~
http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=37210
[B]Edgar Prado Eclipse Jockey of '06
[/B]Edgar Prado won plenty of races and purse money in 2006, but figures to be best remembered for something he accomplished outside the saddle.
The Peruvian native, who rode Lael Stables’ Barbaro to victory in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), helped Barbaro avoid a far more serious injury by jumping off and grabbing hold of the reins after the colt broke down early in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Efforts like that stay in people’s minds a long time.
Prado, a member of the Barbaro team that received a Special Eclipse Award for its action surrounding the colt’s recovery, won some of racing’s biggest stakes.
Please see the above link for complete article ~ well worth the read
aww, what a great article! Edgar deserves it all
Still jungling and off to light some candles…
Thursday ~
Thanks, Alex
Update 1377: Barbaro was the third most popular sports-related search term for 2006: MySpace No. 1 Internet search term. I know when I first started following Barbaro after the Kentucky Derby I ran some google ads and could tell how popular the search term was even before the Preakness. The day after the Preakness, at one point google sent 3,000 visits to this site in one hour … the site then crashed.
The Daily Racing Form includes the following two articles today: Court upholds Texas anti-slaughter law and California board acts on drug rules.
Thank you Alex:
The New Bolton update won’t be until sometime this afternoon.
HELP Something puzzles me:
If Bernardini beat Barbaro for 3 year old, how did Barbaro finish second to Invasor for horse of the year. Where were all those “Bernardini supporters” when it came down to who was best overall???
Barbaro IS the best, and we all know it.
Thanks, Alex:
Update 1379: I just spoke to Mrs. Jackson, who visited Barbaro today (one of her two usual daily visits). Mrs. Jackson reported that Barbaro remains comfortable with a strong appetite. We had a nice long chat about the Eclipse awards and Mrs. Jackson was also happy to hear about Hawty Creek’s race over the weekend. We joked that Hawty Creek needs Barbaro’s appetite!
I asked Alex that same question. Who can figure out voters? 
[QUOTE=sporthorsefilly;2166705]
If Bernardini beat Barbaro for 3 year old, how did Barbaro finish second to Invasor for horse of the year. [/QUOTE]
Since there is no criteria (that I know of) for the Eclipse Awards, I guess people looked at racing for the 3YO and heart for the HOY.
