HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Wise Dan is a finalist for champion male turf horse and champion older male, and is the favorite to be named Horse of the Year, when the 42nd Eclipse Awards are presented Saturday night at Gulfstream Park.

Voters have selected Paynter’s recovery from health problems earlier this year as the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Moment of the Year, the NTRA announced Thursday.

Visitors to the NTRA’s website were offered 12 different racing events this year to choose for the Moment of the Year. Paynter’s recovery won with 27 percent of the vote, distancing I’ll Have Another’s win in the Preakness two weeks after he scored in the Kentucky Derby, which got 13 percent of the vote, according to the NTRA.

Being honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit is a great thing and all that, and Nick Nicholson will be humbled and proud to receive it on Saturday evening at the Eclipse Awards Dinner at Gulfstream Park, adding his name to a heady list of Thoroughbred racing’s most respected leaders.

Still, no matter how many nice things people say or how long the round of applause, the Award of Merit will be the only the second-best thing to happen in the Nicholson household this week.

J. Paul Reddam experienced the sort of year in 2012 that keeps most Thoroughbred owners committed to the business, despite its many uncertainties. The Ontario-born Reddam, 57, burst onto the national scene last spring when I’ll Have Another scored wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and entered Belmont Stakes week as one of the more popular, and, according to many, best candidates in recent years to end the Triple Crown drought.

Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds ranked at the top of the North American owners’ list in both earnings and wins in 2011, and the multi-state operation stepped up the pace in 2012, finishing a runaway leader in wins and earnings in North America, and breaking a decades-old single-season win mark.

[bc_video_id:282066:]As a part of the Eclipse Awards festivities, and to salute horseplayers throughout North America, the Eclipses will honor Michael Beychok, who won the $1 million first-place prize and title of 2012 Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association Handicapper of the Year by a single dollar at the 13th annual DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship last January at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

photo by: Tom Keyser

Brilliance in turf miles made Tapitsfly a finalist for the Eclipse Award as outstanding turf female of 2012.

photo by: Benoit & Associates

From Kentucky to Canada to California, Marketing Mix won at major racetracks throughout North America in 2012.

photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

As winner of the 2011 Preakness, there was little that a blaze-faced colt named Shackleford had to do afterward to please his connections.

photo by: Tom Keyser

Sustained excellence in a niche category carried Mizdirection from anonymity to the top of the sport, thanks to an affinity for the Santa Anita hillside turf course that ultimately made her a finalist for outstanding female sprinter of 2012.