Daily Racing Form and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association are launching the Eclipse Horse of the Year 2011 Fan Voter Sweepstakes. The free-to-enter sweepstakes requires fans to select the horse they feel deserves to win the 2011 Horse of the Year Award, which will be announced Jan. 16, 2012 at the 41st annual Eclipse Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, Calif.

After reveling in the exploits of star runners such as Curlin, Rachel Alexandra, and Zenyatta, racing fans could be forgiven for being a bit spoiled. Whether it was those three, or other excellent performers such as Big Brown, Rags to Riches, Indian Blessing, and Lookin At Lucky, handicappers and admirers of the sport had dependable, talented horses to follow.

History will view the 2011 Thoroughbred season as a roller coaster filled with twists, turns, and a strange combination of mediocrity mingled with excellent performances.

In the best season of his career, he posted earnings of $3.57 million and won eight graded stakes, including five by turf mare Never Retreat and the Grade 1 Donn Handicap by Giant Oak. Block’s family, which races as Team Block, is headed by his father, David, and has become the leading breeding and racing operation in Illinois.

Birthdate: Dec. 10, 1966, in Champaign, Ill.

Residence: Deer Park, Ill.

Family: wife, Linda; son, David

The Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has rejoined an umbrella organization of horsemen's groups in the Mid-Atlantic, the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. The Pennsylvania horsemen's group, which represents approximately 3,800 owners and trainers at Parx Racing, has operated as an independent organization for the past ten years.

1.  Delaware Handicap

For the final time, Havre de Grace and Blind Luck engage in one of their patented stretch battles, and Blind Luck emerges by a nose.

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2.  Santa Anita Handicap

Game On Dude survives an inquiry after he, Setsuko, and Twirling Candy are involved in Demolition Derby-type activities in midstretch.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. - Online voting has opened for the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, which honors the racehorse “whose popularity and racing excellence resounded most with the American public and gained recognition for the sport during the past year,” according to a release issued by Secretariat.com., the website which hosts the online poll.

Rapid Redux, the record-setting starter-allowance runner, is on track to make one more start in 2011, but might soon be retired from racing, his trainer, David Wells, said Wednesday morning.

The sentencing date for Sean Alfortish, the former president of the Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association involved in an election-rigging case, has been continued to Jan. 19, according to a spokesperson for the offices of U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

Alfortish, 43, had originally been scheduled for sentencing on Thursday, Dec. 15. Back in August, he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, identity fraud, and health care fraud. Alfortish faces penalties of up to five years in prison and/or $250,000 in fines.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - John Veitch, the former chief state steward of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, should face a one-year suspension in Kentucky for "gross negligence of his duties" in relation to the Life At Ten incident at the 2010 Breeders' Cup, a report released on Wednesday examining Veitch's role in the incident concluded.

Strike the Gold, the 1991 Kentucky Derby winner who became a successful sire in Turkey, died Wednesday after having a heart attack, the Jockey Club of Turkey's longtime adviser Jean-Pierre Deroubaix confirmed Thursday.

Strike the Gold, by Alydar, was 23 and had been the oldest living Derby winner. He died at the Jockey Club of Turkey's Karacabey Pension Stud Farm. He had stood in Turkey since 1999.

"He collapsed and fell," Deroubaix said. "The vet succeeded in waking him up. When he fell he broke his fetlock."

Veterinarians euthanized the horse.