Maybe it’s time to establish rules for the Eclipse Awards. In other words, after 45 years, it would be nice if guidelines were drawn as to who is eligible to be on the ballot. A system that worked years ago might not work as well now given the paucity of starts horses make today compared with when the Eclipse Awards first started, while the establishment of the Breeders’ Cup has clearly changed how voters view the championship landscape.

California Chrome pulled Raul Rodriguez around the Santa Anita walking ring at a double-time hippity-hop last Saturday afternoon as the fans packed along the paddock fence oohed and ahhed. It was like old times.

Good old times, as it turned out. Twenty minutes later, California Chrome was standing in the Santa Anita winner’s circle, catching his breath and twitching his ears, having just dispatched the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes with just enough authority to convince all but the most skeptical observers that he was back in the game.

If my memory is correct, it was at about this time last year that I predicted American Pharoah would win the Triple Crown. (Actually, when I looked back, I noticed somebody writing under my name predicted Dortmund would win the Kentucky Derby.)

So, forget predictions for now, and let’s concentrate on what I would like to see happen in 2016.

Peter Miller, fresh off the best year of his career, was enjoying a little bit of rare “me time” Wednesday at a North San Diego County card club when his phone chirped a text alert.

“Ignore it,” whispered the devil on one shoulder. “You’re two hundred bucks up and on a roll.”

“Answer it,” insisted the nagging voice of conscience. “You’re a horse trainer, not a poker player.”

So, he looked. It was from Kevin Havell, who manages the training center at San Luis Rey Downs. Havell’s message was simple, and surreal.

“A tornado just blew the roof off your barn.”

When the Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer is dispensed next Saturday night, the winner will be the latest answer to a riddle that has surrounded the title since its inception: Is the trainer of the year the trainer of the Horse of the Year or the trainer who had the best overall season?

There is no definitive answer in the past performances. At the 44 awards ceremonies since the Eclipse era began in 1971, the Horse of the Year’s trainer has won the award only 12 times, and there has been no particular rhyme or reason to why it happens when it does.

Once upon a time, there was a horse named California Chrome … and here we go again.

Apologies to the memory of Joe Hirsch for that lead, which he deployed with the original punch line “… but only once” in tribute to five-time Horse of the Year Kelso. California Chrome, a one-time Horse of the Year, is no Kelso. But he is the only Horse of the Year in action right now, and he has a loyal and passionate following, which makes his return to the races Saturday in the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita a cause for celebration.

The place to be for a devoted racing fan on Saturday is front and center at Santa Anita Park, where 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome makes his return to the races in the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes.

Unless you are Hope Hudson.

The 16-year-old Missouri girl, an ardent fan of California Chrome, instead will be at Golden Gate Fields with her family that day to watch Chrome’s 3-year-old full sister try to win a maiden race.

Her name is Hope’s Love.

The money and glory is in running long. That’s what the purse structure in North America says, and the American Graded Stakes Committee tells a similar story by the way it awards grades to stakes.

If you’re an owner who wants to win a lot of money, get a horse that can perform at their best in races at a mile or longer. If you’re an owner who wants to win graded stakes, you really better have a horse that can run at the top level in races at a mile or longer.

At first glance, it would appear as if the freshly turned 4-year-old Chiropractor will be facing the toughest test of his life on Saturday when he is thrown in against such grizzled veterans as Obviously, Bal a Bali, and Big John B in the $200,000 San Gabriel Stakes at nine furlongs on the Santa Anita grass.

Not so.

Eclipse Award ballots are due Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern, which gives you less than 48 hours to tell me why the following 1-2-3 selections do not meet with your approval:

Two-year-old male: 1-Nyquist, 2-Mohaymen, 3-Airoforce

The undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner with three Grade 1 victories should be a unanimous selection.

Two-year-old filly: 1-Songbird, 2-Rachel’s Valentina, 3-Carina Mia

Not to repeat myself, but this undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner with three Grade 1 victories should be a unanimous selection.