Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

As a voting member of the National Turf Writers Association I just submitted my votes for the 2008 Eclipse Awards.

My picks in each category are as follows:

Steeplechase:
1. Good Night Shirt
2. Be Certain
3. Dark Equation

2-year-old colt/gelding:
1. Vineyard Haven
2. Midshipman
3. Charitable Man

2-year-old filly
1. Stardom Bound
2. Laragh
3. Maram

3-year-old colt
1. Big Brown
2. Raven’s Pass
3. Henrythenavigator

3-year-old filly
1. Goldikova
2. Eight Belles
3. Music Note

4-year-old and up male
1. Curlin
2. Commentator
3. Heatseeker

4-year-old and up female
1. Zenyatta
2. Cocoa Beach
3. Nashoba’s Key

3-year-old and up male sprint
1. Fatal Bullet
2. Street Boss
3. Benny the Bull

3-year-old and up female sprint
1. Ventura
2. Indian Blessing
3. Zaftig

3-year and up male turf
1. Conduit
2. Hyperbaric
3. Kip Deville

3-year-old and up female turf
1. Goldikova
2. Forever Together
3. Wait a While

Horse of the Year
1. Curlin
2. Zenyatta
3. Goldikova

I want to elaborate on a couple of the categories to offer my opinion on why I voted the way I did.

The 3-year-old colt category may surprise a few, but I thought this year’s U.S. crop was weak outside of Big Brown. Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator ran first and second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and both were Group 1 winners in Europe. If Big Brown would have run in the Classic, the Europeans may have shown how much better they were.

When Arc champion Zarakava didn’t show up for the Breeders’ Cup, Goldikova proved she was the best 3-year-old filly by beating the boys in the Mile. The ill-fated Eight Belles would have gotten my top vote if Goldikova had not come to America to run.

Some may be surprised to see that I didn’t include Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Midnight Lute in my top three. In this case, I don’t think one win for the year (even though it was in the Sprint) makes a champion. He finished tenth in his only other start of the year.

The big question after the Breeders’ Cup races at the end of October at Santa Anita Park in Southern California was does Horse of the Year go to Curlin or Zenyatta?

Zenyatta was unbeaten in 2008, winning seven out of seven. But my one little knock on her is that she kept her game in Southern California except for a trip to Arkansas where she won the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
My pick is Curlin for several reasons. Curlin took his game to five different racetracks in 2008 and made the trip to Dubai for the World Cup. He won five out of seven races; finished second in his first start on turf; and he finished off the board (2008 Classic) once in 16 lifetime starts.

He’s the only horse to win more than $5 million in consecutive years, or any two years for that matter. He holds the record for career earnings with $10,501,800. His Achilles’ heel is his running style is not well suited for grass or synthetic surfaces. But on dirt, he’s the best in the world.