Imagine his surprise the other night when Jay Robbins was sitting at home in Carlsbad, Calif., not far from Del Mar, innocently enjoying the broadcast of the Eclipse Awards on HRTV and getting a kick out of California Chrome being named 2014 Horse of the Year.

As the Chrome crew made its way to the stage to accept the golden trophy, led by trainer Art Sherman and co-owner Steve Coburn, Robbins heard broadcast announcer Larry Collmus introduce the newly crowned champion as “the first-ever California-bred to win the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.”

How soon they forget.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Bayern, California Chrome, and Main Sequence will be the focus of attention at the 44th annual Eclipse Awards on Saturday night here at Gulfstream Park, as they will vie for Horse of the Year and are in line for divisional titles, too.

Bayern and California Chrome are two of the finalists for champion 3-year-old male, and the winner of that division could very well secure Horse of the Year, too. Shared Belief is the other finalist for champion 3-year-old male.

Chad Brown said he’d be wearing his tuxedo, just in case. As a first-time finalist for outstanding trainer, Brown figures it’s best to put a good foot forward Saturday night at Gulfstream Park when the industry convenes for the Eclipse Awards dinner, advertised as black tie optional at $400 a pop.

“It’s not something you set out to do, win an Eclipse Award,” said Brown, 36. “I’m not even sure how the voting works. I don’t know, do I even have a shot?”

Hats off to the 29 horses and 14 individuals who separated themselves from the crowd in 2014 and ended up Eclipse Award finalists, as announced far and wide Wednesday.

At this point, and for purposes of harmless publicity, they all shall be considered equal under the Eclipse Award banner, even though some are certainly more equal than others. If you don’t think so, check out the seating chart for the dinner at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 17.

Barbara D. Livingston, the chief photographer for Daily Racing Form since 2008, has been named the recipient of the 2014 Eclipse Award for photography, the organizers of the awards announced Tuesday.

Also named as Eclipse Award winners Tuesday were freelance writer John Scheinman for feature/commentary writing and Joe Clancy, the editor of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, in the news category.

Eclipse Award ballots are due at 2 p.m. Sunday. Here’s how mine looks as of New Year’s Day in the 12 equine categories:

Steeplechaser: 1. Demonstrative; 2. Divine Fortune; 3. Makari. In a division with just six Grade 1 events, Demonstrative won three of them, and Divine Fortune won two. Demonstrative came out on top in three of their five head-to-head meetings. (Just imagine how much better the sport would be if the best of any of the flat-racing divisions squared off so often.)

There are only 281 people with a say in who wins the Eclipse Awards, a fact that makes the appeal of this column limited. Still, if you’ve got nothing better to do …

It should be noted that the obvious oddity in the likely results of this year’s voting will be that the reigning two-time Horse of the Year will not be a champion of anything – the undefeated, reigning two-time Horse of the Year, who was perfect in his four 2014 starts.

It seems as if everyone with a digital platform and a key to the quarter pole has weighed in by now on the subject of 2014 Horse of the Year. Clearly, there is nothing left to say.

That said, there is always room to burst a few lingering bubbles, starting with this:

There are many worthy candidates for Horse of the Year.

Racing has an Eclipse Awards problem that looks likely to continue when the 2014 champions are announced in January: For the fifth time in the last six years, the statuette for best older male probably will be redundantly bestowed upon a grass horse who is already being honored as the turf champion, instead of being awarded to the nation’s leading older dirt horse.

Winners of the 2013 Eclipse Awards, selected by voters from Daily Racing Form, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Click on a winner to read DRF's profile. Winners were announced Jan. 18 at the 43nd Annual Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.