Will Farish stepped to the podium to accept the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, took a deep breath, and said, "Wow."
That summed up the 2003 campaign of Mineshaft, the colt Farish raced in partnership with James Elkins and Temple Webber Jr. Mineshaft was an overwhelming winner for both Horse of the Year and champion older horse in results announced Monday night at the 33rd annual Eclipse Awards dinner, a black-tie affair at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood, Fla.
Funny Cide was the most popular horse who raced in the United States in 2003, and he proved a popular winner at Monday night's Eclipse Awards dinner, garnering a huge cheer, particularly from the tables shared by his large ownership group, when he was announced by actor Joe Pesci as the champion 3-year-old male of last year.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Just as the Kentucky Derby may have been the deciding factor toward getting Funny Cide his Eclipse Award, so too was the Kentucky Oaks in determining the 3-year-old filly champion of 2003. In a year in which no filly dominated the division, Oaks winner Bird Town scored a narrow victory over Six Perfections to win the Eclipse Award.
One month before the Breeders' Cup, few people had even heard of Action This Day, let alone factored him into their handicapping for the Juvenile.
Yet, with one sweeping move, vaulted from unknown to champion. His last-to-first flourish was not only good enough to win the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile last October, it catapulted him to the head of the 2-year-old class.
In the weeks leading up to the Breeders' Cup, the speculation was that Halfbridled would be the strongest favorite among the eight races. When Azeri got hurt, it made sense that Sightseek would inherit that title in the Distaff.
Okay, so would be the second-strongest favorite on the card. Still impressive for a 2-year-old filly in a 14-horse field. But, when Halfbridled drew post 14 for the race, many handicappers figured they'd take a shot against her.
They figured wrong.
They never did meet on the track, but if they had, a race between Azeri and Sightseek might well have been as close as the one they had in the Eclipse Award voting for the top older filly or mare of 2003.
In one of the tightest votes of the year, was named a narrow winner at the Eclipse dinner Monday night after getting 123 first-place votes to Sightseek's 107. Another 17 votes were scattered among four other horses.
Islington raced in four countries in 2003, but her lone appearance in the United States, a victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 25, was enough for her to earn the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding filly or mare on turf.
received 90 votes, beating out Heat Haze (74) and Six Perfections (66). Tates Creek, Ipi Tombe, and Bien Nicole also received votes. Heat Haze won 4 of 7 starts in 2003, all in stakes, but was only fourth in the Filly and Mare Turf.
Aldebaran lost the battle, finishing a disappointing sixth behind Cajun Beat in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, but won the war when he was named champion sprinter at Monday night's Eclipse Awards ceremony. is the first sprint champion since Smoke Glacken in 1997 to earn the honor without winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
A flawless campaign in the season's most important races earned the Eclipse Award for champion steeplechase horse of 2003.
Voters heavily supported McDynamo with 225 first-place votes. McDynamo made only three starts in 2003, but looked simply spectacular winning each of those Grade 1's under Craig Thornton.
Trained by Sanna Hendriks and owned by Michael J. Moran, McDynamo won his first start of 2003 in the Royal Chase Handicap at Keeneland on April 25. The 6-year-old came from off the pace with a strong move in the stretch to win the 2 1/2-mile race by 7 1/2 lengths.
