Tiznow Tis Horse of the Year© Greg Melikov
Jan 8, 2001
Finalists have been announced for the 2000 Eclipse Awards. Only Kona Gold was a unanimous selection -- he's Sprinter of the Year.
Unfortunately, Kona Gold will suffer the same fate as Artax last year when it comes to Horse of The Year. He won't win.
Artax, my selection, was 4-2-0 of 7 after April 1999, winning three Grade 1 stakes. His only off-the-board performance on Preakness Day was a quirk -- a drunken fan ran onto the track, causing rider and horse to change course at the eighth pole.
Artax won the seven-furlong Carter Handicap in 1:20 at Aqueduct by 1 3/4 lengths on May 2, 1999, shaving a fifth of a second off Dr. Fager's track record set on Nov. 2, 1968. He captured the six-furlong Forest Hills Handicap in 1:07 3/5 at Belmont by 6 1/2 lengths on Oct. 16, 1999, chipping a fifth of a second off Groovy's track record established June 21, 1987. The
son of Marquetry won The Sprint in 1:07 4/5 -- knocking a fifth of a second off the six-furlong BC record set by Elmhurst in '97 and equaling Gulfstream's track record by Mr. Prospector on March 31, 1973.
Charismatic, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but never raced again because of a career-ending injury in the Belmont, was the Horse of 1999. That's because sprinters rarely win the honor.
Kona Gold has great credentials this year. He won five of six stakes, losing by a nose to stablemate Son of a Pistol in the San Carlos Handicap in March. In the BC Sprint, he not only shattered the Churchill Downs track record but set a BC Sprint mark for six furlongs: 1:07 3/5.
Enter Tiznow, a late blooming 3-year-old who won the 2000 BC Classic. Winning this race doesn't automatically guarantee Horse of the Year honors. Since 1990, only Cigar in '95, AP Indy in '92 and Black Tie Affair in '91 captured both.
But when horses tail off at the end of the year, like Lemon Drop Kid in 2000, it helps to take the big one. That's why Tiznow will be named Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards dinner Jan. 30 in New Orleans.
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