Monthly Award Winners for Feb’10

February 28, 2010 by Greg Brandow · Comments Off
Filed under: Horse Racing, award 

Feb 2010 Award Winners

Feb'10 Award Winner Honorable Mention
Horse of the Month Quality Road Blind Luck
Jockey of the Month Rafael Bejarano Victor Espinoza
Trainer of the Month Todd Pletcher Bob Baffert


Horse of the Month

Quality Road declared himself the leader of the (male) handicap division, pending the return of Summer Bird from a leg injury, with a record-setting romp in the Donn Handicap (G1) at Gulfstream.  The 12 3/4 length victory in 1:47.49 broke his own track record for a mile and an eighth, set in last year’s Florida Derby.  There’s a good chance this won’t be his only Horse of the Month award this year.

Blind Luck also nominated herself as a division leader with her win in the Las Virgenes (G1) at Santa Anita, but, unlike Quality Road, she needed every inch of the racetrack to get it done.  (video, photo)  For that, she gets Honorable Mention.


Jockey of the Month

Rafael Bejarano won three graded stakes races in February, and finished third three times as well, to earn the Jockey of the Month award.  In addition to just getting Blind Luck up in time in the Las Virgenes (G1), Bejarano won the Buena Vista (G2) with Tuscan Evening and the San Luis Obispo (G2) with Bourbon Bay.

I don’t know if it merits an Honorable Mention, but Victor Espinoza’s five runner-up finishes in February (four in Grade 2′s), without a victory, merits a mention of some sort.  And, of course, it was Espinoza aboard Evening Jewel that got nosed on the wire by Blind Luck in the Las Virgenes.


Trainer of the Month

Four wins and two thirds in graded stakes action would be a pretty good month for any trainer.  For Todd Pletcher, it was just a very good day.  On Saturday February 20th, Pletcher won four of the day’s eleven graded stakes, including three Kentucky Derby preps.  If Pletcher had done nothing else all month, he would still have won Trainer of the Month.  In addition to the win with Quality Road, Pletcher dominated the Kentucky Derby Trail with wins by Rule, Discreetly Mine, Connemara, and Eskendereya.

Last month’s Trainer of the Month winner is this month’s Honorable Mention.  Bob Baffert won twice, with Richard’s Kid and Conveyance, and finished second three times in graded stakes this month. 

Graded Stakes Points

Grade W P S
I 10 8 6
II 7 5 3
III 4 2 1

February 2010 Graded Stakes Results

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Baffert Trainer of the Month for Dec’09

December 30, 2009 by Greg Brandow · Comments Off
Filed under: Horse Racing 

Every month we’ll recognize the top performing jockey, trainer and horse for the month according to a totally arbitrary formula devised to award points for finishing in the money in graded stakes races.

Graded Stakes Points

Grade W P S
I 10 8 6
II 7 5 3
III 4 2 1

 

Horse of the Month:  M One Rifle

Honorable Mention:  Blind Luck

It was a light month for graded stakes action, with only fifteen races, and since no horses finished in the money more than once, we’ll give the Horse of the Month award for December to M One Rifle for winning the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes.  M-1 broke from post 13, grabbed the lead early and never looked back. 

The Honorable Mention goes to Blind Luck for winning the Hollywood Starlet Stakes in faster time than Lookin at Lucky put up in the CashCall Futurity the day before.

Jockey of the Month:  Rafael Bejarano

Honorable mention:  Victor Espinoza

Rafael Bejarano won a Grade 1, a Grade 2, and a Grade 3 in December to earn the Jockey of the Month award.

Victor Espinoza had two wins and two seconds in graded stakes races in December to earn the Honorable Mention.

Trainer of the Month:  Bob Baffert

Honorable mention:  Bruce Headley

Bob Baffert won only one graded stakes race in December, but that win and two second place finishes all came in Grade 1 races and that gave him more than enough points to win Trainer of the Month.

M One Rifle’s win in the Malibu, and a second by Silver Swallow in the Bayakoa, earned Bruce Headley the Honorable Mention.

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