Racing Dudes' 2018 Eclipse Awards

Accelerate or Justify? The debate has raged on social media and amongst horse racing fans ever since Accelerate crossed the wire first in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Did his accomplishments outdo a Triple Crown winner? Has the Triple Crown lost its luster after occurring twice in the last four years? Those questions will be taken into account when the media casts their ballots for the 2018 Eclipse Awards, which honor the top horses and people in all major divisions. The finalists were recently announced, and although we weren’t asked to vote, here is how each member of the Racing Dudes writing team would have cast his ballot:

	Jared Welch	Aaron Halterman	Mike "Slim" Spector	Curtis "Magic" Kalleward	Brandon "B$" Bauer	Mike Somich	RacingDudes.com Consensus
Horse of the Year	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify
Two-Year-Old Male	Game Winner	Game Winner	Game Winner	Game Winner	Game Winner	Game Winner	Game Winner
Two-Year-Old Female	Newspaperofrecord	Newspaperofrecord	Newspaperofrecord	Newspaperofrecord	Bellafina	Jaywalk	Newspaperofrecord
Three-Year-Old Male	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify	Justify
Three-Year-Old Female	Monomoy Girl	Monomoy Girl	Monomoy Girl	Monomoy Girl	Monomoy Girl	Monomoy Girl	Monomoy Girl
Older Dirt Male	Accelerate	Accelerate	Accelerate	Accelerate	Accelerate	Accelerate	Accelerate
Older Dirt Female	Unique Bella	Abel Tasman	Abel Tasman	Abel Tasman	Vale Dori	Abel Tasman	Abel Tasman
Male Sprinter	Roy H	Roy H	Roy H	Roy H	Roy H	Mind Your Biscuits	Roy H
Female Sprinter	Shamrock Rose	Marley's Freedom	Marley's Freedom	Marley's Freedom	Marley's Freedom	Finley'sluckycharm	Marley's Freedom
Male Turf Horse	Expert Eye	Stormy Liberal	Glorious Empire	Stormy Liberal	Stormy Liberal	Glorious Empire	Stormy Liberal
Female Turf Horse	Enable	Sistercharlie	Sistercharlie	Sistercharlie	Sistercharlie	Enable	Sistercharlie
Steeplechase Horse	Zanjabeel	Zanjabeel	Optimus Prime	Zanjabeel	Zanjabeel	Optimus Prime	Zanjabeel
Owner	Team Justify	End Zone Athletics	Sol Kumin	Hronis Racing	Hronis Racing	Sol Kumin	TIE - Sol Kumin & Hronis Racing
Breeder	WinStar Farm	WinStar Farm	Glennwood Farm	Glennwood Farm	Glennwood Farm	WinStar Farm	TIE - Glennwood Farm & WinStar Farm
Trainer	Bob Baffert	Bob Baffert	Bob Baffert	Chad Brown	Bob Baffert	Bob Baffert	Bob Baffert
Jockey	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Mike Smith	Mike Smith	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Jose Ortiz	Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Apprentice Jockey	Edgar Morales	Edgar Morales	Reylu Gutierrez	Reylu Gutierrez	Reylu Gutierrez	Weston Hamilton	Reylu Gutierrez

Did we get it right? Who did we miss? Let us know in the Comments section below or on Twitter! You can follow each of us at @racing_dudes, @SaratogaSlim, @CurtisKalleward, @BbauerRacing, and @Somobomb18. The 48th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held at Gulfstream Park on January 24th, 2019.