There is little to quibble over this year's 10 equine winners of Eclipse Awards announced Thursday night.
But among the five human Eclipse Award winners, it is hard to support the vote for Billy Mott as trainer of the year over three equally accomplished nominees. All, it seems to me, were victims.
Cigarmania and one D. Wayne Lukas -- perhaps the most deserving Eclipse Award winner of the decade -- probably was done in by his own arrogance.
Cigar, unanimously named the 1996 handicap champion, is a cinch to be named Horse of the Year in two weeks, even though he lost three of the final four races in a spectacular career. Likewise, Skip Away was a deserving winner as top 3-year-old, even though he lost all three Triple Crown races and skipped the $4 million Breeders' Cup.
THE SAME IS TRUE FOR the four Eclipse Award winners who clinched their awards when they won Breeders' Cup races - 2-year-olds Boston Harbor and Storm Song, plus the sprinter Lit De Justice and the older filly Jeweled Princess. And while some debate could be sustained over which turf horse deserved an Eclipse over eventual winners Singspiel and Wandesta, nobody really earned cares, or believes there was a single best turf horse in 1996 anyway.
But the Eclipse Award for "Trainer of the Year," is a different case. A special, highly prestigious award that is supposed to identify the trainer who accomplished the most during the calendar year, this year it was turned into a popularity contest. This year it was not given to someone who performed brilliantly for 12 months. This year the voters ignored pure accomplishment and voted against someone because they did not like the way he looked, or handled himself at press conferences.
I say this, even though Lukas' persistent arrogance and constant posturing makes him a boorish personality. I say this even though Billy Mott has been a close personal friend, since we met at Churchill Downs in 1984.
While there is no question Mott earned the 1995 Eclipse with a Hall of Fame performance, and would have deserved another had 1996 balloting been based on the first six months of the year, the simple truth is that Mott made several tactical training mistakes with Cigar that led to his defeat in the $1million Pacific Classic August 10.
IN THE AFTERMATH OF THAT defeat, it is equally true that Mott's entire stable slid into a slump for the rest of the year.
Few trainers in racing ever responded so brilliantly to pressure as Mott, as he successfully trained Cigar to a desperate victory in the $4 million Dubai World Cup in March. In July, at Arlington International Racecourse, Mott was equally sharp, getting the oft-injured Cigar to put in a great performance to equal the immortal Citation's 16 race winning streak.
But six months of fine work should not have been enough to keep D. Wayne Lukas from the 1996 Eclipse Award, had Lukas not lost many votes through constant self promotion and insufferable lobbying for his own cause.
Cigarmania was at fault too, as it certainly cost at least two other fine horsemen important Eclipse Award votes: Dick Mandella and Nick Zito, who won several Grade 1 stakes while upsetting Lukas and Mott trained stars on both coasts. But in the end, there is no escaping the fact that D. Wayne Lukas was robbed.
Lukas, a winner of three Eclipse Awards earlier in this decade, merely won 32 stakes, including 12 Grade-1's and $15 million this year, including his second straight Kentucky Derby (with the ill-fated Grindstone) and third straight Belmont stakes (with the erratic Editor's Note). He trained Boston Harbor to a Juvenile championship and a Breeders' Cup victory and $100,000 races in Florida, California, Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey, Louisiana and New York.
His top filly, Serena's Song, may have lost her last seven races, but she did not fail to fire and won Graded stakes on both coasts to complete a stellar career with a good second in the Breeders' Cup Distaff and record earnings of $3.2 million for a North American filly.
LUKAS EVEN WON MAJOR STAKES on the grass, most notably the Hollywood Derby with the 3 year old Marlin while still another Lukas 3 year old -- Honour And Glory -- only lost the sprint title to Lit De Justice on Breeders' Cup Day. In fact, it could be argued that Honour and Glory's stirring victory over older horses in the Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park in May and the Kings Bishop at Saratoga in August were the two most impressive triumphs of 1996 -- this side of Cigar's World Cup win.
To all of this and to the voters who overlooked him in the three ply Eclipse Award poll (conducted among members of the Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers), Lukas was uncharacteristically modest: "The Awards are nice and we think we did enough to deserve it, " he said. "But, my hat's off to Billy. He did great work with Cigar and the horse was good for racing."
In digesting those relatively humble remarks, it is hard not to wonder what the Eclipse Award voting might have been had Mr. Lukas been as gracious in other moments of triumph and defeat throughout the year. But love him or hate him, the truth is D. Wayne Lukas, not Billy Mott deserved the 1996 Eclipse Award as America's top trainer. Like it or not, few trainers in modern history ever had a better year.
Across the board: Corregio, three for three in hurdle competition was voted the nation's top steeplechase horse and the human Eclipse Award winners other than Mott were:
Owner: Allen Paulsen who did expose Cigar to many challenges.
Breeder: Farnsworth Farms which bred 11 different horses and won 23 stakes, including Distaff champion Jewel Princess.
Jockey: Jerry Bailey, who has been the top American rider since his winning ride aboard Sea Hero in the 1992 Kentucky Derby.
Apprentice jockey: Neil Poznansky, a 24 year old rider who won 132 races in Canada this year without anybody noticing until the Eclipse Award ballots were printed and distributed with his seasonal record in black and white.
Steve Davidowitz is the author of "Betting Thoroughbreds.".
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