Roy and Gretchen Jackson Eclipse Awards

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Eclipsing The Jacksons

January 23, 2007

The 2006 Eclipse Awards were announced last night in Beverly Hills and there were a few surprises in the equine categories and a big disappointment on the human side.

I was slightly surprised that the voters went for Wait A While in the three year-old filly division. I thought they select the sentimental choice, Pine Island. But I certainly can’t argue with them. Wait A While won a grade two on dirt, a pair of grade ones on the turf, and was the only one of the three finalists to have defeated older mares last year.

While I can’t quarrel with the voters about Wait A While, I’m more than a little astounded that Miesque’s Approval was awarded the Eclipse in the Turf Male division. His Breeders’ Cup Mile win was his only grade one victory of 2006 and both of his competitors had much more compelling resumes.

The Tin Man won a pair of grade ones, including the Arlington Million last year. In that contest he defeated English Channel, a three time grade one winner in 2006. English Channel also defeated Miesque’s Approval in his first start of the year, the Canadian Turf Handicap at Gulfstream Park back in March. That race was little more than a prep for his ’06 campaign, while Miesque’s Approval coming off a win in the Sunshine Millions Turf. Perhaps voters considered Miesque’s Approval’s win in the G2 Maker’s Mark Mile in April as good as a grade one as he did defeat 2005 BC Mile winner Artie Schiller and G1 winner Good Reward. In any event, I’ll be scratching my head over this one for awhile.

The organizers of the awards dinner bent over backwards to ensure that Barbaro and his connections were showered with accolades during the Eclipse ceremony. Roy and Gretchen Jackson and the folks at New Bolton Center certainly deserved the Special Eclipse Award they received on Monday evening. But it would have been nice if the Jackson’s were awarded an outright Eclipse for Outstanding Owner, instead of sharing the honor with Darley.

Sentiment aside, the Jacksons owned a Kentucky Derby winner, grade one winner Showing Up, the best grass three year-old in the country, and two other stakes winners, including G2 winner Stormy Kiss. From 109 starts they won 28 races (25%) and amassed over $4.3 million in purses. Darley had nearly three times as many starts in North American in 2006, 293 to be exact. Their 63 winners (21%) included Bernardini and G1 winner Dubai Escapade, etc., and the stable’s overall earnings were a shade over $6.4 million. Voters didn’t need to know that the Jacksons race out of about 24 mares, a fraction of Sheikh Mohammed’s band, and operate on a fraction of his resources. The numbers are right there and with far fewer starters they were on par with Darley.

Sentiment included, for better or for worse Mr. and Mrs. Jackson (along with Dr. Richardson) have been the face of horse racing in 2006 and the game couldn’t have found better ambassadors. I’ve never bought into the notion that what horses ‘do for the game’ should be factored in when deciding equine Eclipse Awards. But with owners it’s a different story. Being an ‘Outstanding Owner’ goes beyond being lucky enough to have a few good runners under your silks, signing sales tickets and paying the trainer bills on time. The Jacksons have given Barbaro every chance to survive and thrive and have invested a tremendous amount of money and time (daily visits) to his recovery They are the epitome of what racehorse owners should be and it’s disappointing that they were not awarded their own Eclipse for Outstanding Owner, and in a landslide. And that’s not a knock against Sheikh Mohammed. He and his riches have had a generally positive impact on the racing and (especially) bloodstock world. But I don’t think he attended the races, even once, in North America last year.

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Matt O'Neil has been a racing enthusiast since the mid-1980's. He is a freelance writer and thoroughbred marketing consultant and editor of the breeding journal Owner-Breeder International. Contact Matt O'Neil