Monday, Feb. 2, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.
Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.
Now that the trophies have been given out, the tuxedos put back in the closets and the celebration hangovers over, where will the 2003 Eclipse Award winners be showing up next?
At least five will be moving on to their second careers in the breeding shed.
That means more than half of the nine major Eclipse Award-winning equines will have only the hardware on the mantle and the memories from the track to savor in 2004.
Older Male and Horse Of The Year winner, Mineshaft, suffered a minor leg injury that prevented the gold trophy winner from participating in the year-end championship on Breeders' Cup Day in the Classic. But, his record of seven wins and two runner-up efforts from nine starts that included four Grade I victories was enough to get the big honor. Mineshaft now stands at owner Will Farish's Lane's End Farm for a $100,000 stud fee.
Turf Male winner High Chaparral garnered his Eclipse with a repeat victory in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Although his 2003 victory was clear-cut, he shared last year's Turf win with Johar in the first dead heat of Breeders' Cup history. The first repeat Turf Champion winner since John Henry turned the trick in 1983-'84, he also retired to stud duty in Europe.
Turf Female winner Islington only won 2 of 6 starts last year, but, both were quality victories. She captured the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf beating the best in that division from either side of the pond. She is a boodmare at Ballymacoll Stud in Ireland.
Sprint winner Aldebaran didn't even need a victory in the Breeders' Cup Sprint to win the Eclipse. Nor, did he win at the popular American sprint distance of 6 furlongs from his five wins in eight starts last year. With career earnings of $1.7 million he now stands stud at Darby Dan Farm.
Three-Year-Old Filly winner Birdtown had only three wins and four seconds from eight starts last year. But, here select victories in the prestigious Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes carried the category. The Eclipse in tow, she retires for a date with Empire Maker.
Of the four set to come back to action this year, Azeri may be the strangest returnee. The Older Female Eclipse winner missed the Breeders' Cup after she injured herself in a prep for the championship. Snapping her 13-race consecutive win streak in the Lady's Secret Handicap, she finished a gallant third. The defending Horse Of The Year, Azeri was retired by her connections after that Sept. 28 event. A change of mind later in the year by Michael Paulson -- who controls the Azeri ownership of the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust -- has Azeri now returning to the track under the care of her new trainer, D. Wayne Lukas.
The glamour award of Three-Year-Old Male went to Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Funny Cide. Although he failed in his final three starts last year in the Belmont Stakes -- with the Triple Crown on the line -- Haskell Invitational and Breeders' Cup Classic, his two May victories in Triple Crown races were enough to take the Eclipse Award. The spring classic odyssey by the New York-bred gelding and his colorful ownership entourage made him the clear-cut equine ambassador for the sport in 2003. He returned recently in an allowance race at Glufstream Park to win his 2004 debut with ridiculous ease. His next scheduled start in Saturday's Donn Handicap at the same Florida track.
And, of course the freshman winners return to compete in the glamour group of 2004.
Two-Year-Old Male winner Action This Day is getting ready for his sophomore debut at Santa Anita. This lighty-raced runner won this Eclipse with only two victories in three lifetime starts. However, the second win was the title-deciding Breeders' Cup Juvenile. In a vacant division, Action This Day is currently the center of Derby-fever attention. He is scheduled to start in Sunday's Sham Stakes with many eyes trained on his performance. He needs to prove that his Breeders' Cup Juvenile victory was not a fluke. Win, lose or draw, his trophy is secured.
Two-Year-old Female winner Halfbridled does not have the same "prove-it" comeback as Action This Day. She had nothing left to prove as she dominated the juvenile filly division last year. A unanimous Eclipse Award winner, she won four of her lifetime starts last year with impressive performances. Her final win, in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, proved beyond doubt that she was the best last year. Breaking from post 14 in the 1 1/16 mile Juvenile, she looped her rivals and won with authority -- leading many observers to believe she may have been the best juvenile of either gender last year. Halfbridled is training toward her 2004 debut in the Feb. 15 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita.
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