Here are some of the things California Chrome did not do in 2016.

He did not win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He did not win the most Grade 1 races, nor did he compete anywhere other than California and Dubai.

He also did not get up on his hind legs and recite the Gettysburg Address, or rip the Pipeline off Oahu’s North Shore, or dope-slap Garry Kasparov over a friendly game of cutthroat chess.

But that’s only because he didn’t try.

Trainer Chad Brown knew that Practical Joke had the mental makeup to be a good horse well before the colt proved it on the racetrack.

But Practical Joke did prove himself a talented runner, winning his first three starts, including two Grade 1 stakes, before finishing third in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. Those accomplishments made him a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male.

In Shackleford, Dale Romans trained a horse that won the Preakness and Metropolitan Handicap. In Kitten’s Joy, Romans trained a horse that won seven graded stakes and became an exceptional stallion. In Roses in May, Romans trained a horse that won the Dubai World Cup.

Still, when Romans talked about Not This Time, he said many times he thought he could be the best horse he ever trained.

“He checks off every box,” Romans said. “He’s got intelligence, he’s got pedigree, he’s got looks and turn of foot, and he’s already run fast. What else do you need?”

In a span of 65 days, Classic Empire gave trainer Mark Casse one his most impressive wins and one of his most bizarre moments in racing. In the end, Classic Empire may give his trainer an Eclipse Award as well.

Nyquist will be trying to add this year’s 3-year-old male Eclipse Award to the Eclipse Award he earned last year as champion 2-year-old male, which would emulate some of the accomplishments of American Pharoah, who completed that double one year ago.

Exaggerator was the only 3-year-old male to win three Grade 1 races in 2016, the highlights of an ambitious campaign that saw him perform in the best races of the division until his retirement in October.

Stellar Wind had much to live up to in 2016, with limited opportunities.

She got a late start to her campaign, raced just four times, but accomplished enough to be an Eclipse Award finalist as older dirt female, following a 2015 campaign in which she was named champion 3-year-old filly.

Stellar Wind’s 2016 campaign did not begin until June, which was part of a grand plan by trainer John Sadler and Hronis Racing, owned by brothers Kosta and Pete Hronis.

Beholder carried a lot of history into 2016 – she had campaigned four years already, earned three championships, won nine Grade 1s including two Breeders’ Cups, and had won 15 of 20 starts while earning more than $4 million.

On the racetrack, what more could she accomplish?

That was the challenge for trainer Richard Mandella and jockey Gary Stevens after owner B. Wayne Hughes chose to race Beholder one final season in 2016, at age 6. Was it the right decision? What if she lost a step?

In a span of 65 days, Classic Empire gave trainer Mark Casse one his most impressive wins and one of his most bizarre moments in racing. In the end, Classic Empire may give his trainer an Eclipse Award as well.

Maryland horsemen steadily named Kevin Gomez on their horses throughout 2016, and his accomplishments have made him a finalist for the Eclipse Award as leading apprentice rider.

Gomez is the son of jockey Oscar Gomez, who rode in Guatemala before moving to the United States. Oscar Gomez began riding at the New York Racing Association tracks in 2000, and since 2009 has been a mainstay at Finger Lakes.

Kevin Gomez, 22, emigrated from Guatemala in 2007 to be near his father.