Eclipse Awards Voting Has Procedural Change

The Eclipse awards, which since their inception in 1971 have lived with the chance that a horse of the year could be chosen without getting the most votes, got around to changing this Friday.

The sponsoring organizations announced that bloc voting has been abandoned, and future champions, including those who raced this year, will be determined by a simple plurality.

No horse of the year has ever been crowned without receiving the most votes, but other Eclipse awards have been tainted by that inconsistency. Last year, Rick Englander won the Eclipse for top owner, even though the Thoroughbred Corp. got more votes, 66-42. Englander won the vote of the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn., and tied with Juddmonte Farm on the Daily Racing Form ballots, whereas the turf writers favored the Thoroughbred Corp. In bloc totals, Englander won over Thoroughbred Corp. by a 1 1/2-1 margin.

Several attempts to change the system over the years were thwarted by two of the groups, which felt the turf writers would have too much influence in the voting. The turf writers have more than twice as many voters as the Racing Form and the NTRA combined. In the last two years, turf writers cast 56% of the votes.

“We believe the new system is a more reliable method and will be easier for fans to follow,” said Keith Chamblin, senior vice president of the NTRA.

The voting deadline is Dec. 29. All of the winners, including horse of the year, will be announced at the Eclipse awards dinner Jan. 26 in Hollywood, Fla.

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Jockey Pat Valenzuela’s attorney, Donald Calabria, said Friday that his client will appeal a decision by the Del Mar stewards to assign Valenzuela’s suspensions to the first 13 days of the Santa Anita meet that opens Dec. 26.

“They’re discriminating against Pat,” Calabria said. “Why did they hop over the current Hollywood Park season -- another major meet -- in handing out these days?”