Lewis Cenicola, who was a jockey and trainer but was best known as the exercise rider for two-time Horse of the Year John Henry, died late Sunday night. He was 66.

Cenicola was found to have pancreatic cancer less than three months ago, and it subsequently spread to his liver. He was under hospice care when he died at his home in Arcadia, Calif., just a few furlongs from Santa Anita. He is survived by his wife, Donna. They had no children. Funeral services are pending.

Animal Kingdom, the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner, took another step toward his 2012 return to the races by working four furlongs in 50.40 seconds Sunday morning over the dirt surface at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.

The stars were out Saturday at Palm Meadows. Among the most prominent names on the work tab, each of whom worked five furlongs were, Ruler On Ice (58.23), Jackson Bend (59.42), Awesome Feather (1:01.44), and Adios Charlie (1:00.03).

Ruler On Ice is also expected to make his 2012 debut in the Donn. Jackson Bend is being pointed for next Saturday’s Grade 3 Hal’s Hope. Awesome Feather will put her undefeated mark on the line in the Sunshine Millions Distaff while Adios Charlie is expected to return in the Sunshine Millions Classic.

DQ policy needs an overhaul to let results stand

Over the years there have been many arguments (including on these pages) about whether the official order of finish should be changed when the stewards agree that an infraction has occurred.

Make your selection for the top horse in each division and on Jan. 16, watch as the winners are announced live on DRF.com with live streaming video of the 41st Annual Eclipse Awards dinner in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The most consistent Thoroughbred who jumped in 2011, Decoy Daddy made seven starts in classy company, won three times, finished second twice, and topped $124,000 in earnings. He won two of American steeplechasing’s most historic stakes.

But he probably won’t win the Eclipse Award. He won’t even win best horse to compete in green, yellow, and white silks.

Although jockey Javier Castellano trailed fellow Eclipse finalists Ramon Dominguez and John Velazquez in money won in 2011, he ended the year on top in another key category: Grade 1 victories.

In North America’s elite stakes at the Grade 1 level, the Venezuelan-born Castellano notched 11 victories, most of any rider, with Stay Thirsty’s triumph in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga being the most recognizable.

Rosario Montanez was a constant presence in the winner’s circle in 2011. Before losing his apprentice allowance in August, he knocked out 120 wins and $3.4 million in mount earnings and finished the year with 165 wins and earnings of $4.8 million. The numbers were among the best for an apprentice jockey in North America, and Montanez has been honored as a finalist for the Eclipse Award for champion apprentice jockey.

Coglianese Photos

Of all the story lines to emerge from the Breeders’ Cup, few if any were more heart warming than Perfect Shirl’s victory in the Emirates Airline Filly and Mare Turf, a stirring example of persistence and patience rewarded for breeder-owner Charles Fipke and trainer Roger Attfield.