Horse of the Year vote a difficult race to call

When I first started voting for horse racing’s Eclipse Awards some 16 years ago, the first rule I learned was there are no rules.

The same is probably true for media members who vote for Hall of Fame inductions in other sports. While one voter may check off Pete Rose or Roger Clemens on his ballot, for example, another might vow never to vote for them.

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

In most years, the Eclipse Awards are fairly easy to decipher. When you look at a horse’s Daily Racing Form past performances and review tape from stakes races, most championship horses will pass the eye test.

But this year was muddy. In the Horse of the Year category alone, you could make a case for Bayern, California Chrome, Main Sequence, Shared Belief, Untapable and Wise Dan, to name a few.

It’s not because none of them had a great season. It’s because they all had great seasons, but in different ways.

I’ll spare the suspense and give my top three choices for Horse of the Year: California Chrome, Bayern and Untapable.

The resumes on the six horses I mentioned are so strong that I looked for intangibles. That led me to California Chrome. He captivated the public with wins in the San Felipe, Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby and Preakness. A heroic loss in the Belmont Stakes did not diminish his stature.

I know California Chrome then lost three races in a row, including the controversial Breeders’ Cup Classic to Bayern. But I gave trainer Art Sherman and owners Steve Coburn and Perry Martin bonus points for starting him in the Grade I Hollywood Derby on grass.

The colt never had run on grass, so it was a huge risk. He won easily. Those little edges were enough to put California Chrome over the top.

Bayern was brilliant in victory, awful at times in defeat. He has a Horse of the Year resume, including wins over California Chrome and Untapable.

As for Untapable, her only loss was against males in the Haskell. Theoretically, if she had won the Haskell, she could have been my top choice.

I have no problem with transparency in voting. Here are my top choices in other categories — 2-year-old male: American Pharoah; 2-year-old filly: Take Charge Brandi; 3-year-old male: California Chrome; 3-year-old filly: Untapable; older male: Palace Malice; older female: Don’t Tell Sophia; male sprinter: Work All Week; female sprinter: Judy the Beauty; male turf horse: Main Sequence; female turf horse: Dayatthespa; steeplechase horse: Demonstrative; owner: Ken and Sarah Ramsay; breeder: Ken and Sarah Ramsay; jockey: Javier Castellano; apprentice jockey: Drayden Van Dyke; trainer: Art Sherman.

■ HONORING JACK WILSON — When I started in horse racing, I had the honor of meeting newsmen such as Joe Hirsch and Red Smith in the New York press boxes. Another giant of the turf was Jack Wilson, who called the charts for the Daily Racing Form for four decades in New York and South Florida. He was the best at what he did, and an even better person.

Wilson died this week at age 80. Horse racing press boxes are emptier nowadays. But back then, they were full of unique men who added class and character to an always colorful sport.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.