HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Sunshine Millions has been a favorite of fans and horsemen alike each January since its inception in 2003. But the popular series of races, which once again lead into the Eclipse Award ceremonies at Gulfstream Park later this month, will take a hit this winter with the announcement that purses have been cut from the $900,000 originally earmarked for the five races to only $600,000.

If you want an idea of the regard trainer Chad Brown has for New Money Honey, his quote after he sent out his filly to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf speaks volumes.

“I think the sky is the limit,” Brown said. “A mile [the distance of the Juvenile Fillies Turf] is as short as she wants to run. I think this filly has an unbelievable future.

“It’s not out of the question,” Brown added, “that we give her a spin on the dirt to see how she handles it before the Kentucky Oaks.”

The Eclipse Awards are 46 years old this year, and it should come as no surprise that there have been some interesting and distinctive divisional finalists over that time. But Lady Aurelia, a finalist for champion 2-year-old filly of 2016, might very well be the most unique Eclipse Award divisional finalist ever.

Now that the dust has settled – and, after more than two months, the dust has indeed settled – it doesn’t really matter that Champagne Room was 33-1 when she won the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita. The only thing that REALLY matters is, Champagne Room won the Juvenile Fillies. And with the Juvenile Fillies being the biggest, most important event in the 2-year-old filly division, Champagne Room’s victory makes her not only a thoroughly deserving divisional Eclipse Award finalist, but also squarely the one to beat for the 2-year-old filly championship.

Rare feats will define Tepin’s racing career.

In 2015, Tepin became the first female to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile in five years. In 2016, she reached a unique milestone – the first American-based horse to win the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting in England.

No wonder Tepin is again a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding turf female of 2016, a title she won in 2015.

Take that, boys.

Twice in 2016, Miss Temple City beat males in Grade 1 races on turf at Keeneland – the Maker’s 46 Mile in April and the Shadwell Turf Mile in October.

Add a hard-fought win in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes against fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Dec. 4, and Miss Temple City compiled a record that earned her a place among the three finalists for the Eclipse Award as outstanding turf female of 2016.

Go ahead, admit it: You rooted for Lady Eli at every chance in 2016.

When trainer Chad Brown said the filly was back in training after a frightening bout with laminitis in 2015, the reaction was one of relief – and delight. Lady Eli was undefeated in six starts at ages 2 and 3, and the prospect of her adding to those achievements as a 4-year-old in 2016 gave the distance female turf division a star.

When Frosted was good, he was very good. That’s all anyone needs to remember about him.

His performance in the million-dollar Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Handicap last June 11 was one of those watershed efforts that had to be seen to be believed. It happened on Belmont Stakes Day, with outstanding races carded left and right. But by sunset, as the crowd cleared, all anyone could really talk about was Frosted.

People looked at Frosted one way before the Met Mile, and in an entirely different way afterward.

Here are some of the things California Chrome did not do in 2016.

He did not win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He did not win the most Grade 1 races, nor did he compete anywhere other than California and Dubai.

He also did not get up on his hind legs and recite the Gettysburg Address, or rip the Pipeline off Oahu’s North Shore, or dope-slap Garry Kasparov over a friendly game of cutthroat chess.

But that’s only because he didn’t try.

Trainer Chad Brown knew that Practical Joke had the mental makeup to be a good horse well before the colt proved it on the racetrack.

But Practical Joke did prove himself a talented runner, winning his first three starts, including two Grade 1 stakes, before finishing third in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. Those accomplishments made him a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male.