Awards ceremonies can be notoriously unpredictable, but there was one odds-on shot at this year’s Eclipse Awards ceremony at Miami Beach who never looked in danger of defeat: Street Cry's magnificent daughter Zenyatta was, as anticipated, the runaway winner of the vote for the award for the best Older Female.
The unbeaten mare, who remains in training in 2009, won all her seven starts in 2008, culminating in a smooth success in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic. Many observers regarded her as the star of the whole meeting, not just of Ladies’ Day, and the only uncertainty heading into the Eclipse Awards was whether she could collect the Horse Of The Year award in addition to that for Older Female. As it was, Zenyatta had to settle for a clear second in the Horse Of The Year poll, collecting more than a quarter of the 240 votes as Curlin took the prize. These two dominated voting, with Big Brown and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Raven's Pass, a son of Elusive Quality, the only other horses to figure in the poll.
