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2001 Eclipse Award Winners

Date: 02/18/2002

The 2001 Eclipse Awards were handed out on Monday February 18th. It was a close race between Point Given and Tiznow in all the fan polls for Horse of the Year, but when the people who count voted it wasn't nearly so close. Point Given defeated Tiznow 35-13 in the Daily Racing Form voting, 86-35 in the National Turf Writers Association, and 35-17 in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). As expected, Breeders' Cup winners dominated the winners' list with Tiznow (Classic), Johannesburg (Juvenile), Tempera (Juvenile Fillies), Squirtle Squirt (Sprint), Fantastic Light (Turf), and Bank Hill (Filly and Mare Turf) all taking home honors. The one that may surprise some was Xtra Heat winning for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, an award that typically goes to routers while she is purely a sprinter.

In our online poll, Point Given was a very narrow winner for Horse of the Year. Other winners selected by our readers were: Tiznow, Johannesburg, Xtra Heat, Fantastic Light, Banks Hill, and Pompeyo. They were way off on Sprint honors with Squirtle Squirt a distant second to Xtra Heat and Older Filly with Spain getting over 4 times as many votes as Gourmet Girl.

All the winners for 2001 are listed below with the actual vote totals. A link to an article about the winner is included where available. You can look up past year's winners here.


Horse of the Year and Three-Year-Old Colt or Gelding: Point Given

Vote totals:
  Horse of the Year: Point Given 3, Tiznow 0, Johannesburg 0
  3-Year-Old Colt or Gelding: Point Given - 30, unanimous

More Point Given Photos


Two-Year-Old Colt or Gelding: Johannesburg

Vote totals:   Johannesburg 30, Siphonic 15, Officer 2


Two-Year-Old Filly: Tempera

Vote totals:   Tempera 30, Habibti 10, You 3.8, Cashier's Dream 2.8, Belterra 1, Forest Heiress 0.3


Three-Year-Old Filly: Xtra Heat

Vote totals:   Xtra Heat 30, Exogenous 8.5, Flute 7, Unbridled Elaine 2.5


Older Colt, Horse or Gelding: Tiznow

Vote totals:   Tiznow 30, Sakhee 15, Lido Palace 2, Captain Steve 1

(c)2001 Deborah Kral
Older Filly or Mare: Gourmet Girl

Vote totals:   Gourmet Girl 30, Tranquility Lake 11, Spain 7


Sprinter: Squirtle Squirt

Vote totals:   Squirtle Squirt 30, Xtra Heat 15, Delaware Township 2.3, Shine Again 0.3, Swept Overboard 0.3


Male Turf Horse: Fantastic Light

Vote totals:   Fantastic Light 30, Val Royal 11, With Anticipation 7


Female Turf Horse: Banks Hill

Vote totals:   Banks Hill 30, Lailani 8.75, Tranquility Lake 3.75, England's Legend 2.75, Starine 1.25, Janet 1, Golden Apples 0.5

Steeplechase: Pompeyo

Vote totals:   Pompeyo 25, Praise the Prince 20, Lord Zada 2, Quel Senor 1

Owner: Richard A. Englander

Vote totals:   Richard A. Englander 2, Juddmonte Farms 1, The Thoroughbred Corp. 0

Breeder: Juddmonte Farms

Vote totals:   Juddmonte Farms 2, Harry T. Mangurian Jr./Mockingbird Farm 1, The Thoroughbred Corp. 0


Trainer: Bobby Frankel

Vote totals:   Bobby Frankel 3, Bob Baffert 0, Scott A. Lake 0


Jockey: Jerry Bailey

Vote totals:   Jerry Bailey 3, Laffit Pincay Jr. 0, Ramon Dominguez 0, John Velazquez 0

Apprentice Jockey: Jeremy Rose

Vote totals:   Jeremy Rose 3, Hector Rosario Jr. 0, Kris Prather 0, Julian Pimentel 0

How the Awards are Decided

In the equine categories, each voting group's first choice counts 10 points, five points for second and one for third giving a maximum of 30 points. For the Horse of the Year vote, each group's favorite gets one point for a maximum of three points. In the human categories, each group receives one vote for a maximum of three. To see the details for all the voting from Blood Horse, check here.

More about the Eclipse Awards:

Photos ©2001,2002 Cindy Pierson Dulay, licensed to About except for Gourmet Girl which is courtesy of Deborah Kral

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