Ghostzapper Ends Up the Smartest Money

Ghostzapper didn’t run often, but when he did, he was the grand master of all. From seven furlongs to a mile and a quarter, Ghostzapper was perfect, and Monday night, at a hotel in Beverly Hills, his owner and breeder, Frank Stronach, accepted the 2004 horse-of-the-year trophy, as he’d seemed confident he would.

The vote boiled down to a choice between a January-to-June horse and another who was July to October. Ghostzapper, winner of all four starts, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic, had been favored, even though Smarty Jones, one of the strongest Triple Crown horses in recent years, was nearly perfect with six victories in seven tries. Smarty Jones’ only defeat, the Belmont loss to Birdstone that deprived him of a Triple Crown sweep, occurred in his last start.

That setback, and the colt’s not being around to test Ghostzapper and other older horses at year’s end, made the difference for many voters.

In voting by members of the National Turf Writers Assn., staffers at the Daily Racing Form and members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn., Ghostzapper landed 174 votes to Smarty Jones’ 95. Other horses getting votes were Ashado and Kitten’s Joy, one apiece.

With only four races, Ghostzapper became the most lightly raced champion since Native Dancer won the title with a three-for-three record in 1954. Ghostzapper is the 10th horse of the year to forge an undefeated campaign and the first since Favorite Trick in 1997.

Whereas Smarty Jones’ campaign was packed into the first part of the year, Ghostzapper, under trainer Bobby Frankel, had a cracked hoof and didn’t get to the races until the Fourth of July. He ignited a firecracker that day at Belmont Park, winning the Tom Fool Handicap by 4 1/4 lengths under a hand ride from jockey Javier Castellano.

In August, sent to Monmouth Park for the Iselin Handicap, Ghostzapper frolicked in the New Jersey slop, winning by 10 3/4 lengths against only three rivals. Again, Castellano had no need for the whip.

The Breeders’ Cup was the goal from there, and Frankel decided that Ghostzapper would need only one prep. The Woodward at Belmont in September was the only race in which Stronach’s 4-year-old colt cut it close. Saint Liam was a worthy opponent, but Ghostzapper won by a neck.

Then in the Classic, at Lone Star Park near Dallas, Ghostzapper not only won by three lengths, he ran 1 1/4 miles in 1:59, fastest time for the Breeders’ Cup race. It was the same race that Ghostzapper’s sire, Awesome Again, had won for Stronach in 1998.

“Ghostzapper turned in one of the greatest performances I’ve seen in my lifetime,” said Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew, horse of the year in 1977, in Blood-Horse magazine. “I was stunned. That was a very good field, and he just laughed at them.”

A stud career, like the one Smarty Jones’ owners chose for their horse, will have to wait for Ghostzapper, who will run again this year as a 5-year-old. He is in training at Palm Meadows -- a public facility that Stronach built in South Florida -- while Frankel considers the options for his first 2005 start.

“I thought it would be good for the public to see him run another year,” Stronach said. “Money-wise, it doesn’t make any sense, because he would have commanded a pretty good stud fee. We had had a lot of inquiries from people who were interested in breeding to him. We hope he stays healthy and gives the public another great year.”

Ghostzapper and Smarty Jones were easy winners in their divisions. Ghostzapper won the Eclipse Award for best older male, getting 269 of the 274 votes; and Smarty Jones, with 265 votes, was voted best 3-year-old. Closest to a unanimous Eclipse winner was Sweet Catomine, who nailed down 273 votes in the 2-year-old filly group. There was one curious vote for Runway Model, who ran third, beaten by five lengths, when Sweet Catomine won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm won as best breeder, for the second time, but Stronach finished fourth as Ken and Sarah Ramsey won the best-owner Eclipse. The best trainer and top jockey awards, dominated by Frankel and Jerry Bailey for the last four years, went to Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez. Brian Hernandez Jr. was voted best apprentice jockey.

Other winners were Declan’s Moon, 2-year-old male; Ashado, 3-year-old filly; Azeri, older female; Speightstown, sprinter; Kitten’s Joy, male on turf; Ouija Board, female on turf; and Hirapour, steeplechase.

The sprint division was expected to be close, but Speightstown, the Breeders’ Cup winner, carried the vote over Pico Central, 157-101.

Two other Eclipses were determined by committee. The award of merit went to Oaklawn Park and the Charles Cella family, which owns the Hot Springs (Ark.) track. Trainer Dale Baird was given a special Eclipse Award.

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Charting Their Success

These are the least-raced horses of the year in the years they won:

*--* Year Horse Starts 1st 2nd 3rd 1954 Native Dancer 3 3 0 0 2004 Ghostzapper 4 4 0 0 1943 Count Fleet 6 6 0 0 1977 Seattle Slew 7 6 0 0 1983 All Along 7 4 1 1 1985 Spend A Buck 7 5 1 1 1992 A.P. Indy 7 5 0 1 2001 Point Given 7 6 0 0

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*--* Undefeated horses in the years they won horse of the year: Year Horse Wins Year Horse Wins 1953 Tom Fool 10 1965 x-Moccasin 8 1995 Cigar 10 1997 Favorite Trick 8 1980 Spectacular Bid 10 1943 Count Fleet 6 1952 x-Native Dancer 9 2004 Ghostzapper 4 1937 War Admiral 8 1954 Native Dancer 3 x--Co-champion.

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