Point Given May Eclipse Tiznow

The horse-of-the-year announcement won’t be made until Feb. 18, but preliminary voting points to Point Given dethroning Tiznow as national champion.

Finalists for all of the 2001 Eclipse awards, the highest honors in thoroughbred racing, were announced Thursday, and Point Given, the best 3-year-old male, was the only unanimous choice after 230 ballots were counted.

Tiznow, one of three finalists for horse of the year, is expected to win the Eclipse for best older male, a division in which Sakhee and Lido Palace are also finalists.

Besides Point Given and Tiznow, the other horse-of-the-year finalist is the Irish-based Johannesburg, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Belmont Park in his only U.S. start after winning six consecutive races in England, Ireland and France. A horse needs to run once in North America to be eligible for an Eclipse.

A tendon injury ended Point Given’s career after trainer Bob Baffert’s colt won the Travers in late August for his sixth win in seven 2001 starts.

Point Given, who towered over the other 3-year-olds, ran fifth in the Kentucky Derby, but won everything else, including the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, the other races in the Triple Crown.

With Point Given sidelined, Tiznow beat Sakhee, the British import, by a nose in what will go down as one of the most memorable of the Breeders’ Cup Classics. Tiznow, who also has been retired, is the only horse to win the Classic twice. The 4-year-old colt had physical problems too and won only one other Grade I stake, the Santa Anita Handicap in March, and before his Breeders’ Cup win went seven months without a victory. Point Given finished with five Grade I races, the last four in $1-million stakes.

Besides Point Given, Tiznow and Johannesburg, two other horses--Xtra Heat and Tranquility Lake--received two mentions. Xtra Heat, who won nine races but lost three of four starts in Grade I stakes, is a finalist among 3-year-old fillies and in the sprint division. Beaten by half a length by Squirtle Squirt in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, her best chance appears to be in the filly division.

Tranquility Lake is a finalist for awards on both dirt and grass among older fillies and mares. The 6-year-old mare won on both surfaces, but late in the year she was second to Janet on grass in the Yellow Ribbon and ran ninth on dirt in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Prince Ahmed Salman’s Thoroughbred Corp., which bred and raced Point Given, is a finalist for best owner and best breeder, as is Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, which won Grade I races with five horses, including Banks Hill in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

*

Bienamado, one of the best grass horses in the country before his season ended with a seventh-place finish in the Arlington Million in August, was back in training with trainer Paco Gonzalez at Santa Anita, but he injured a suspensory ligament and has been retired to stud. Bred by Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan and raced by them in a partnership that included Robert Sangster, Bienamado had eight wins and three seconds in 16 starts and earned $1.2 million. ... Twelve horses are entered to run in the $200,000 San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday. The lineup, in post-position order: Discreet Hero, Momentum, Mo Mon, Sigreto, Reef Diver, Western Pride, I Love Silver, Stormin’ Heaven, Fancy As, Pie N Burger, Bring Home Thegold and Orientate.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Eclipse Finalists

Horse of the year--Johannesburg, Point Given, Tiznow.

Older colt or gelding--Lido Palace, Sakhee, Tiznow.

Older filly or mare--Gourmet Girl, Spain, Tranquility Lake.

3-year-old colt or gelding--Point Given.

3-year-old filly--Exogenous, Flute, Xtra Heat.

2-year-old colt or gelding--Johannesburg, Officer, Siphonic.

2-year-old filly--Habibti, Tempera, You.

Sprinter--Delaware Township, Squirtle Squirt, Xtra Heat.

Male on grass--Fantastic Light, Val Royal, With Anticipation.

Female on grass--Banks Hill, Lailani, Tranquility Lake.

Trainer--Bob Baffert, Bobby Frankel, Scott Lake.

Jockey--Jerry Bailey, Laffit Pincay, John Velazquez.

Apprentice jockey--Julian Pimentel, Kris Prather, Jeremy Rose, Hector Rosario Jr.

Owner--Rick Englander, Juddmonte Farms, Thoroughbred Corp.

Breeder--Harry T. Mangurian Jr./Mockingbird Farm, Juddmonte Farms, Thoroughbred Corp.

Steeplechaser--Lord Zada, Pompeyo, Praise The Prince.