HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – On a night that celebrated the best achievements in racing on the track, it was the reflection on life-changing events off the track that provided the most poignant moments at the 47th annual Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park on Thursday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The wave of support for Gun Runner has reached from sea to shining sea. An award he secured at Del Mar in the Breeders’ Cup Classic more than two months ago was officially made his on Thursday night at Gulfstream Park, when Gun Runner was announced as the Horse of the Year for 2017 at the 47th annual Eclipse Awards dinner.

Gun Runner also was named champion older dirt male, downing Arrogate – the only horse to finish in front of him in 2017 – in both categories.

Well, at least it will sound different.

Nick Luck and his spotless elocution will be at the helm of the 47th Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park on Thursday evening, when the two-legged representatives of the industry enjoy their annual orgy of back-patting while the real stars of the show languish in the barns.

Luck will be the first non-American (as opposed to un-American) Eclipse emcee in the history of the event, unless you count Kenny Mayne, who was beamed here from another planet and turned his hosting of the awards into a edgy exercise in abstract expression.

The administrators of the Eclipse Awards have voted to issue a Special Eclipse Award this year to the people who responded to two disasters affecting the racing community in 2017 – the hurricane in September that put more than 800 horses at risk in Puerto Rico, and the wildfire in December that killed 46 horses at San Luis Rey Downs training center.

Medaglia d’Oro was represented by more Grade 1 winners than any other North American stallion in 2017, and that translated into five individual finalists when the 2017 Eclipse Awards candidates were announced last week, leading all stallions.

In order to be eligible for an Academy Award, a movie must comply with a long list of requirements laid out by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. A feature film must be at least 40 minutes in length.

At the very least, it must be shown in a theater in Los Angeles County between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 for no fewer than seven consecutive days, three times a day, for a paid admission.

It took one morning of Breeders’ Cup-week training for Talismanic to become a favorite of North American racing photographers. It took two minutes, 26 seconds of Breeders’ Cup racing for Talismanic to become an Eclipse Award finalist with a chance to be named champion turf male of 2017.

“Oh yeah, Beach Patrol. Nice horse. Really nice horse! Can’t win the big one, though.”

So a racing conversation might have gone as recently as this past Aug. 11, at which point Beach Patrol was, perhaps, testing his connections’ patience. Like, c’mon already, horse – go ahead and win a race.

It’s an admirable approach, trainer Mark Casse’s orientation toward “what-if” questions.

What if, for instance, World Approval had during the summer of 2016 honed in on turf races at one mile or, at most, 1 1/8 miles?

Not really worth thinking about, according to Casse.

“I don’t look in the rearview mirror,” Casse said. “I’ve said a million times that training horses is like putting puzzles together: You try the pieces until you find one that fits.”

For Caledonia Road, an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly of 2017 is not guaranteed, but it’s pretty darn close to it.

Of the first 33 winners of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, an overwhelming 29 went on to be voted champion 2-year-old filly. (She’s a Tiger, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2013, finished first in the Juvenile Fillies, but was disqualified and placed second for interference.)