photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

Bill Mott doesn’t typically press hard with his first-time starters, so on Jan. 26, the tote board at Gulfstream Park spoke volumes about newcomer Close Hatches, a filly from the first crop of the Juddmonte Farms stallion First Defence who was vying for favoritism in a big field.

photo by: Justin N. Lane

As 2013 began, the bar was already set high for Beholder.

photo by: Shigeki Kikkawa

As he glanced at the board following the running of the fifth race at Golden Gate Fields on Oct. 19, track announcer Michael Wrona was taken aback by the fact that the debuting 2-year-old he had just called to victory had run six furlongs in 1:09.53.

photo by: Tom Keyser

In the week leading up to the Nov.

photo by: Justin N. Lane

She’s a Tiger holds the dubious distinction of being only the second horse ever to have her number taken down from first in a Breeders’ Cup race.

photo by: Tom Keyser

If sheer confidence by itself could somehow directly influence the numbers on the odds board, then Ria Antonia would have been a rather short 3-2 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies instead of a big longshot.

Wise Dan was named 2012's Horse of the Year at the 42nd annual Eclipse Awards on Saturday night at Gulfstream Park after earning titles as champion older male and champion turf male earlier in the evening. 

The Wiseman's Ferry gelding, who races for breeder Morton Fink, is the first homebred to be named Horse of the Year since Ghostzapper in 2004. 

In-depth pedigree profiles of the 2012 Eclipse Award champions: 

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Wise Dan became the first horse since John Henry in 1981 to win three Eclipse Awards in the same year, including Horse of the Year, at the 42nd annual Eclipse Awards on Saturday night at Gulfstream Park.

He was announced as Horse of the Year at the end of the evening after having earlier won divisional titles as both champion male turf horse and champion older male. His three awards are the exact same three that went to John Henry in 1981.

If money truly talks, what could it tell us about Royal Delta, a $3.7 million earner and $8.5 million auction purchase? It would probably say that she is the best racemare of her generation and the second-hottest broodmare prospect in the history of Thoroughbred breeding (behind only $9-million dual champion Ashado). But we knew that anyway.

courtesy Three Chimneys FarmFlower Alley

I’ll Have Another’s rapid rise to national prominence last spring elevated the profile of his young sire, 2005 Travers Stakes winner Flower Alley, just as Three Chimneys Farm was dealing with the loss of their signature stallion Dynaformer, who passed away several days before the Kentucky Derby.