Watchmaker: I'm a Chatterbox jumps to head of division with Cotillion win

By winning Saturday’s Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx, I’m a Chatterbox spared us all a potential Eclipse Award debate that given the nature of things today, likely would have turned vicious and ugly.

The 3-year-old filly division historically has been the property of dirt performers. Of course, it wasn’t long ago that one would have said the same thing about the older male division. But the last four older male Eclipse Award winners – Acclamation in 2011, Wise Dan in 2012 and 2013, and Main Sequence in 2014 – did not win a single race on dirt in those championship seasons.

This got some folks with pull so worked up that this year, for Eclipse Award purposes, the older male division and older female division, for that matter, were renamed the “Older Dirt Male” and “Older Dirt Female” divisions. And for Eclipse Award purposes, these divisions now carry the vague qualifier that they will be “limited to performances on dirt and main track surfaces in North American races …” It isn’t clear how many performances are required or if one is enough, but I digress.

Considering this year’s group of 3-year-old dirt fillies has taken turns beating each other in the division’s really big races, many believe the best 3-year-old filly to break from a starting gate on this continent this year was Lady Eli. I’m a part of this group, and I don’t think it’s even close. But Lady Eli had a double whammy going against her.

First, Lady Eli is a turf specialist. There was an audible sigh of relief late last year from those who are loathe to vote for a turf specialist in a division that historically belongs to dirt horses when Take Charge Brandi put on her late season charge to neutralize Lady Eli’s candidacy and take the 2-year-old filly title.

Second, because of her brutal misfortune to contract laminitis, Lady Eli has not raced since July 4. In this era of the Breeders’ Cup, it would take an extreme set of circumstances (like sweeping the Triple Crown, for example) for a horse to have a legitimate case for a divisional championship when he or she missed the entire second half of the year. But the fact that Lady Eli’s candidacy remained viable spoke to her brilliance and also said something about the underwhelming records of her dirt contemporaries.

Even before the Cotillion, I’m a Chatterbox was widely regarded as this year’s most consistent 3-year-old dirt filly. She swept the Silverbulletday, Rachel Alexandra, and Fair Grounds Oaks at Fair Grounds to start the season and followed with a creditable third in the Kentucky Oaks after perhaps being too far back early. I’m a Chatterbox was rightfully disqualified from first in the Coaching Club American Oaks but showed a lot running the way she did in that race off a nearly three-month layoff, and she was a game second in the Alabama after being compromised by a slow early pace.

However, as admirable as I’m a Chatterbox’s record was going into the Cotillion, she couldn’t be considered a legitimate divisional Eclipse Award contender because she did not have a Grade 1 victory. Think what you want about our graded stakes system, a horse simply cannot be a true championship contender without a Grade 1 win, especially in a division in which there are many Grade 1 opportunities, and there are many such opportunities for 3-year-old fillies on the dirt.

For that reason, not to mention the residual benefits in the breeding arena, the Grade 1 Cotillion was a critical race for I’m a Chatterbox, and with so much on the line, it was satisfying to see her win with total authority.

Now, I’m a Chatterbox is more than just a legitimate contender for her divisional title. She is the favorite. You still might think Lady Eli is more brilliant and talented, and I do. But you can think that and still recognize that I’m a Chatterbox’s consistency and accomplishment throughout the season makes her, at least at this point in time, the better Eclipse Award candidate.

Thanks to American Pharoah, there were obviously no Eclipse Award implications in the Pennsylvania Derby. It was, however, an opportunity for Frosted to show what he can do away from the shadow of American Pharoah, and he showed he can do well.

Frosted, who was the only one to rally meaningfully into the slow pace when fourth in the Kentucky Derby and was a game second in the Belmont and third in the Travers, looked like a winner late on the backstretch. In fact, the perfect inside-out, off-the-pace trips Frosted and I’m a Chatterbox had were almost mirror images of each other. Really, it’s pretty startling when you watch the replays back to back.

In any case, after his surprising show of speed in the Travers that softened up American Pharoah (Keen Ice’s connections owe the Frosted camp big time), Frosted returned to the closing style that works so much better for him, and it’s easy envisioning him being a major player next year as an older male.