Columnist Ralph Siraco: Bailey, Frankel are denied at the wire

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Jan. 6, 2003 | 8:51 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

As the final days of 2002 came to a close it was crunch time for two records in racing. While the deadline for Eclipse Award voting passed in the final days of the year, jockey Jerry Bailey and trainer Bobby Frankel had already been assured the trophies for their categories. However, each was still in contention for all-time yearly records.

Bailey was chasing Mike Smith's 1994 plateau of 68 stakes victories in a single year. Frankel was trying to topple the $17,842,358 D. Wayne Lukas amassed while setting the single-year earnings record in 1988.

Although Bailey rode in four stakes races at Calder Race Course in the final days of 2002, he fell one victory short of Smith's record. Slews Final Answer rolled to an easy daylight victory in the Auld Lang Syne Handicap on Dec. 31 to give Bailey stakes win number 67 to close out the year.

Frankel also came close. But again, there was no cigar.

Entering the final day of the year, Broadway Bobby's trainees had racked up earnings of $17,739,940. The Eclipse Award winner needed both starters he saddled at Santa Anita on Dec. 31 to win in order to eclipse Lukas' record. When his first starter, Sumitas, finished fifth, Frankel was mathematically eliminated.

While Frankel and Bailey missed their respective record-setting attempts, each completed 2002 as top earners in their categories. Bailey topped all jockeys with $22,871,814 earned, beating Edgar Prado, who finished with $18,024,429. Frankel's $17,739,940 led runner-up Bob Baffert by more than $5 million. Baffert runners earned $12,029,115 while Steve Asmussen finished third at $10,246,909.

Russell Baze topped the nation's jockeys with 431 victories. It was the 10th time in the past 11 years that Baze surpassed the 400-win plateau. By contrast, Bailey finished 25th on the winners list with 214 quality victories while Baze finished 22nd on the earnings list.

Asmussen won a dogfight with Scott Lake that went down to the final days of 2002 before he could claim the top spot for most wins by a trainer. Asmussen amassed 407 victories from his sprawling national stable while Lake fell just one victory short of becoming the only trainer to win 400 races in a year and still not take the totals title. He finished 2002 with 399 wins.

Baffert beat Frankel in wins while taking 133 races for the 11th spot while Frankel checked in 18th with 117 quality victories. Finalists for the 2002 Eclipse Awards also were announced Friday. Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Azeri made the final four for Horse of the Year, joining European star Rock Of Gibraltar, Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner War Emblem and Left Bank, who won three of four races last year.

The Other 2002 Eclipse finalists:

The winners will be crowned at the 32nd Eclipse Awards dinner in at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 27.