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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Saint Liam, who completed his outstanding campaign with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic, on Monday was announced as the 2005 Horse of the Year at the 35th annual Eclipse Awards dinner at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

Saint Liam last year also captured the Donn Handicap, Stephen Foster Handicap, and Woodward Stakes. He easily outdistanced 3-year-old male champion Afleet Alex, 194-56, among voters who cast ballots for Horse of the Year. Others receiving a single vote each for Horse of the Year were Ghostzapper, sprint champion Lost in the Fog, Rock Hard Ten, and Roses in May. There were eight abstentions.

Saint Liam became the second consecutive horse, following Ghostzapper in 2004, to parlay victories in the Woodward and Breeders' Cup Classic to Horse of the Year. He was trained by Richard Dutrow Jr. and owned by William Warren Jr.

Both Saint Liam and Afleet Alex were overwhelming winners in their divisions, with Saint Liam named champion older horse and Afleet Alex champion 3-year-old male. In the two closest votes, Michael Gill edged Eugene Melnyk for champion owner, and Leroidesanimaux topped Artie Schiller for champion male turf horse.

Saint Liam received 250 votes as champion older male horse. Ghostzapper, whose lone start last year was a victory in the Metropolitan Handicap, was a distant second with five votes. Rock Hard Ten (3) and Roses in May (1) also received first-place votes. There were three abstentions.

Afleet Alex, who last year won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes for trainer Tim Ritchey, won by a similarly large margin for champion 3-year-old male. He outpolled Flower Alley, the Travers Stakes winner and Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up, 253-6. There were three abstentions in that category. Afleet Alex's owners, the Cash Is King Racing Stable partnership headed by Chuck Zacney, received a Special Eclipse Award for their charitable work to fight pediatric cancer.

The winners of the racing categories, both human and equine, were announced at the black-tie dinner. Winners were determined by 262 voters - 132 from the National Turf Writers Association, 64 from Daily Racing Form, and 66 from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which includes racing secretaries and members of Equibase. All votes are pooled. Bloc voting was phased out several years ago.

The pooling of votes made a difference in two close categories. In the tightest vote of the year, Atto Mile winner Leroidesanimaux eked out a victory over Breeders' Cup Mile winner Artie Schiller, 119 votes to 116, for champion male turf horse, even though Artie Schiller defeated Leroidesanimaux in their lone head-to-head meeting in the Breeders' Cup. Both the turf writers (65-53) and NTRA (32-26) sided with Artie Schiller, but Leroidesanimaux was so fancied among Daily Racing Form voters (40-19) that he carried the division, despite losing two of the three blocs.

There was a similar outcome in voting for champion owner, in which Gill defeated Melnyk by a 75-64 margin despite Melnyk carrying two of the three blocs. Both the turf writers (34-31) and DRF (17-13) preferred Melnyk, yet the NTRA's overwhelming vote for Gill, 31-13, gave him the Eclipse in a category in which 11 persons or stables received votes. Gill's large, claiming-based stable led the nation in purse earnings, but did not win any Grade 1 stakes races and had no horses that were Eclipse finalists. Melnyk's stable, which finished second in purse earnings, was headed by Flower Alley.

Voters also followed the money in several other categories. In addition to Gill, voters bestowed Eclipse Awards on trainer Todd Pletcher, jockey John Velazquez, apprentice jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, and breeder Adena Springs, each of whom were earnings leaders in their respective categories.

For both Pletcher and Velazquez, each of whom set single-season records for purse earnings, it was their second straight Eclipse Award. Pletcher - whose runners earned $20,867,842 last year and included Flower Alley and older filly or mare champ Ashado - finished far in front of second-place Steve Asmussen, 226 votes to 15, with Bobby Frankel third with five votes.

Frankel, however, became the first trainer to have both the male and female turf champs in the same year, with Leroidesanimaux and female winner Intercontinental. He was the only trainer represented by two Eclipse Award winners.

Both Dutrow and Ritchey, the trainers of the top two candidates for Horse of the Year, finished in a tie for fourth with four votes each.

Velazquez, whose mounts won $24,393,723 last year, also was a runaway winner. He received 195 votes to easily outdistance Edgar Prado (20 votes) and Jerry Bailey (19).

Wilson, the Canadian-based rider who also won her country's Sovereign Award, was an easy winner over second-place Channing Hill, 185-42.

Adena Springs, the breeding arm of owner Frank Stronach's empire, won the Eclipse Award for the second straight year. It was Stronach's third Eclipse as champion breeder. Adena Springs beat runner-up Edward P. Evans, the breeder of Saint Liam, by 129-53 in a category in which 13 persons or stables received votes.

The other winners were favored to prevail, and did so by fairly wide margins.

The most overwhelming winner was Folklore, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was named champion 2-year-old filly. She received 257 votes out of 260 cast in her division; there were two abstentions. Wild Fit received two votes (one from a turf writer, the other from an NTRA voter), and French Park received a single vote from a turf writer. Folklore's victory marks the record 24th Eclipse Award received by a horse trained by D. Wayne Lukas.

Stevie Wonderboy, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, captured the champion 2-year-old male Eclipse Award. He received 230 votes. First Samurai, the Champagne Stakes winner, was second with 25 votes.

Ashado, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2004, was named champion older filly or mare, becoming the first filly to win those two categories since Life's Magic in 1984-85. Ashado won three Grade 1 races last year. She received 203 votes to easily defeat second-place Pleasant Home, whose 49 votes were earned largely via her upset victory in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Pleasant Home's owner, Ogden Mills Phipps, and trainer, Shug McGaughey, did not go away empty-handed. They were honored for Smuggler, who was named champion 3-year-old filly for her victories in the Mother Goose Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks. Smuggler received 177 votes to outdistance Indian Vale (24 votes), Summerly (20), and Round Pond (16).

The popular Lost in the Fog was named champion sprinter, despite suffering his first career loss in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. He received 209 votes to just 30 for Silver Train, the Breeders' Cup Sprint winner.

Intercontinental, who won the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, received 245 votes out of the 258 cast for champion female turf horse. Cesario, the Japanese filly whose lone U.S. start was a powerful victory in the American Oaks, was second with eight votes.

McDynamo was named champion steeplechase horse for the second time in three years; he also won in 2003. He received 226 votes. Hirapour, the 2004 Eclipse Award winner, Preemptive Strike, and Sur La Tete each received two votes.

In addition to those awards, Penny Chenery received a long-overdue Eclipse Award of Merit more than 30 years after her Secretariat swept the Triple Crown.

Media winners included Bob Ford (commentary), Janet Patton (enterprise reporting), Lynn Roberts (photography), NBC Sports (both national television and feature story), WAVE 3 TV (local television), and Sirius Satellite Radio (audio).

How they voted
Voters were asked to rank the top three finishers in each division. Winners were determined by first-place votes only, from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA/Equibase, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers Association.

Two-Year-Old Male
Stevie Wonderboy, 230; First Samurai, 25; Bluegrass Cat, 1; Henny Hughes 1; Private Vow, 1; What a Song, 1. Voter abstentions, 3.

Two-Year-Old Filly
Folklore, 257; Wild Fit, 2; French Park, 1. Abstentions, 2.

Three-Year-Old Male
Afleet Alex, 253; Flower Alley, 6. Abstentions, 3.

Three-Year-Old Female
Smuggler, 177; Indian Vale, 24; Summerly, 20; Round Pond, 16; In the Gold, 9; Sweet Catomine, 9; Cesario (JPN), 2; Leave Me Alone, 1; Splendid Blended, 1; Sweet Symphony, 1. Abstentions, 2.

Older Male
Saint Liam, 250; Ghostzapper, 5; Rock Hard Ten, 3; Roses in May; 1. Abstentions, 3.

Older Female
Ashado, 203; Pleasant Home, 49; Intercontinental (GB), 2; Stellar Jayne, 2; Dream of Summer, 1; Pampered Princess, 1. Abstentions, 3.

Sprinter
Lost in the Fog, 209; Silver Train, 30; Saratoga County, 11; Ghostzapper, 7; Purge, 1; Taste of Paradise, 1. Abstentions 3.

Male Turf Horse
Leroidesanimaux, 119; Artie Schiller, 116; Shirocco (GER), 17; Powerscourt (GB), 3; Kitten's Joy, 2; Relaxed Gesture, 2. Abstentions, 3.

Female Turf Horse
Intercontinental (GB), 245; Cesario (JPN), 8; Gorella, 1; Ouija Board (GB), 1; Sweet Talker (GB), 1. Abstentions, 4.

Steeplechase Horse
McDynamo , 226; Hirapour (IRE), 2; Preemptive Strike, 2; Sur La Tete, 2; Paradise's Boss, 1. Abstentions, 29.

Horse of the Year
Saint Liam, 194; Aflleet Alex, 56; Ghostzapper, 1; Lost in the Fog, 1; Rock Hard Ten, 1; Roses in May, 1. Voter Abstentions, 8.

Owner
Michael Gill, 75; Melnyk Racing Stables, Inc., 64; Live Oak Plantation, 42; Phipps Stable, 19; Cash is King LLC, 14; Robert Bone, 11; Eugene and Laura Melnyk, 2; Sam-Son Farm, 2; Harry Aleo, 9; Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren, Jr., 8; Mr. and Mrs. Jerome S. Moss, 4; Stronach Stables, 4; Juddmonte Farms, Inc., 1. Abstentions, 11.

Breeder
Adena Springs, 129; Edward P. Evans, 53; Live Oak Stud, 27; Phipps Stable, 11; John Franks, 9; Juddmonte Farms, Inc., 7; Farnsworth Farms, 5; Wimborne Farm, Inc., 3; John Martin Silvertand, 2; William S. Farish, 1; John Gunther, 1; Liberation Farm, 1; Old English Rancho, 1. Abstentions, 11.

Trainer
Todd Pletcher, 226; Steve Asmussen, 15; Robert Frankel, 5; Richard Dutrow, Jr., 4; Tim Ritchey, 4; Greg Gilchrist, 1; Claude R. McGaughey, III, 1; William I. Mott, 1; Cole Norman, 1; Nick Zito, 1. Abstentions, 3.

Jockey
John Velazquez, 195; Edgar Prado, 20; Jerry Bailey, 19; Garrett Gomez, 12; Russell Baze, 6; Ramon Dominguez, 3; Rafael Bejarano, 2; Eddie Castro, 1; Gary Stevens, 1; Patrick Valenzuela, 1. Abstentions, 2. <

Apprentice Jockey
Emma-Jayne Wilson, 185; Channing Hill, 42; Justin Stein, 11; Kyle Kaenel, 3; Gerald Almodovar, 1; David Cohen, 1; Corey Fraser, 1; Abstentions, 18.

Voter participation rate: 80%

Trainer Charles Frock sat in his living room, surrounded by mementos of his career - including a picture of himself with Rod Stewart and Patrick Swayze riding camels together in Dubai.

On this day, his broken leg, held together by a cast, eight screws and two plates, was propped up in front of him, and he sat wondering how all this came to be.

"One day you're training, working to improve the caliber of horses you have in your stable, and the next day one is dead from herpes and you can't race at all," he said from his Westminster home. "Besides all that, and my leg getting trampled, my brother passed away [Thursday]."

Frock - injured by one of his horses in a stall accident on his Westminster farm Jan. 20 - was the trainer of News Reporter, the first horse to come down with the equine herpes virus that has become a crisis in Maryland. He and fellow trainers in Barn 5 at Pimlico Race Course have not been able to race since his horse was euthanized Jan. 2.

Trainers of horses in Barn 6, where the disease went next, haven't been able to race since the week after that, and no horses at Pimlico have been allowed to leave the track since the Maryland Jockey Club imposed a blanket quarantine Jan. 21.

While Frock's situation may be the worst of anyone's, all 52 trainers at Pimlico are in the same spot.

"Right now, for those trainers, it's the equivalent of not having a job," Laurel Park-based trainer Michael Trombetta said. "They have no income."

Trainers are paid a day rate, a per-day fee by owners for the training and care of their horses. Out of that money, trainers pay for feed, straw, hay, supplies, exercise riders, grooms, hot walkers, insurance, workman's compensation insurance and, in some cases, veterinarians.

"That money is barely enough to cover expenses on a daily basis," said Dale Capuano, who also is based at Laurel and is on the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association board. "Trainers also get [at least] 10 percent of what they earn on their horses [when they finish first, second, third and, sometimes, fourth]. That's where they make their money. Otherwise, trainers are barely getting by."

The impact of the virus reaches far beyond Pimlico, to trainers elsewhere in the state, even those outside of Maryland. Many tracks along the East Coast have closed their doors to any horses not already stabled at each track.

"My horses are at Fair Hill and on my Pennsylvania farm," said trainer John R.S. Fisher. "And I can't take them anywhere, even if they've had no contact with Pimlico or Laurel. I can't make any money. You just have to hope your owners are agreeable. One of mine has been terrific. We talked about the situation and he said, 'Well, there's 11 months and [a few days] left in this year. Surely, you'll be able to win a race for me in that time.'"

Laurel trainer Ferris Allen said this is the time of year when he pursues horses for the spring and summer. "But conversations underway with out-of-state owners about giving me their horses are going nowhere now," he said.


Pregnancy problems
And Dale's father, Phil Capuano, who stables at the Bowie Training Center and has a pregnant mare on his farm, is worried about her safety and the loss of revenue because he can't return her to Pennsylvania - where she was bred - to foal.

"It's awfully scary," Capuano said. The virus also can cause pregnant mares to abort.

Capuano also was worried Friday because a Pennsylvania horse that had worked out at Penn National, where another horse had come down with the virus, was running at Laurel. Capuano feared that horse would possibly be stabled in the same barn as his horses at Bowie. Pennsylvania is not allowing horses that run in Maryland to return until the virus scare here is over.

"I have four 2-year-olds I want to bring in [to Bowie], but I wouldn't dare," Capuano said. "And I wouldn't dare take my mare to Pennsylvania, either.

"I had her bred there because I wanted to have her foal there because they have slots ... and the bonus money [for horses born in the state] is better. But I wouldn't take her there now because I'd feel terrible if she somehow took this disease there. She's due Feb. 4, and afterward I'd already booked her to a stallion in Kentucky. But I don't know if they'll take her now."

All of it, he said, could in the long run cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"The mare is Silver Tango," Capuano said. "She's earned $400,000 and been a good producer. One of her foals is Dale's Prospect, a stakes winner. Potentially, her foal could be worth whatever. This could potentially cost me a fortune, because right now I'm not taking her anywhere. I'm not changing anything."

King Leatherbury, the third-winningest trainer in thoroughbred racing history, said the current situation "could be devastating."

Leatherbury, who stables his horses at Laurel, said the regional racing restrictions haven't had great impact on him yet because he doesn't have many horses ready to run out of state.



"But the fellows in the bad barns at Pimlico can't race at all," he said. "They will miss at least a month, maybe two, and no one really knows how long this situation will last."

The Maryland Department of Agriculture is waiting on test results from two horses, one in Kent County and the other at Laurel Park, that were euthanized last week.


Decision to stop
Frock said he and other trainers in barns 5 and 6 decided early in the month not to continue to train their horses, for fear the stress would cause more virus breakouts, and that has allowed them to cut the cost of the exercise riders, who get $10 per horse.

Frock's exercise rider, and the rider for several other trainers in the stable area, is Frock's son, Charles Jr., who has seen his income disappear.

"There's nothing much you can change," said fellow Pimlico trainer Tim Hooper, who has also chosen to just walk his horses during the quarantine. "You'd like to help your owners and cut their day rate, but that's almost impossible, because there is nothing else I can do to supplement my income."

Hooper, who spent an afternoon at Laurel this week but primarily spends his free time reading the Daily Racing Form and watching the Laurel races on his home computer, said he has 14 horses in the Pimlico stable now and would normally have more.

"I'd have as many as I could get," he said. "But you can't even claim horses now, and who knows how long this will go on?"

Wayne Wright, the MTHA's executive secretary, said the organization has been involved daily and is working toward finding a way to help those trainers in need of help.

Frock last entered a horse to race Jan. 1. Since then, he said, not racing has cost him not less than $3,000 in purse money and another $6,000 in expenses.

"I have a lot of owners who said, 'I want to buy a horse with you,'" he said. "And that's what they mean - buy a horse with me. So, most of my horses, I own half of them, which means I split the purses and I pay half of the daily expenses.

"So, if the day rate is $20, I pay $10, which means I'm losing $200 a day, that's $6,000 by the end of this month, and to get my horses in shape to race, it will be another month once they lift the quarantine.

"And now I've got a broken leg, so I can't go to the barn here to take care of the seven babies I have, so I have to pay someone to do that. The only good news is we're in the house and it hasn't burned down yet."

Trainer Simon Purdy, who had to euthanize his horse Kalli Calling because of the disease Jan. 12, said he is being hit hard, too.

Kalli Calling and another of his horses are owned by Purdy's wife. When those horses raced, all of their winnings went into the Purdy bank account. One of his horses was to have run last week, two more this week. So far, he's laid off his hot walker.

"This business is very precarious," Purdy said. "It's a gamble. These things happen to us, and we've got to ride it out."

Tuesday's racing bulletin

Tuesday's Five Live selection is Tarlac in the 1400 at Folkestone (all times GMT).
Tuesday's racing comes from Folkestone and on the all-weather track at Southwell.

The meeting at Taunton was abandoned because of frost after a second inspection.

There are no problems at Folkestone where the chase course is good to soft with soft places while the hurdles are soft with good to soft places.

The opening race at 1330 sees the return to action of the exciting Straw Bear who was very impressive on his hurdles debut at Leicester.

Champion jockey Tony McCoy is again in the saddle and should he pass this test his next engagement could easily be the Supreme Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The all-weather fixture at Southwell also has no problems and the ground is standard and they begin at 1350.

Sprinter Aintnecessarilyso in the 1620 has the benefit of top jockey Neil Callan which looks significant.