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The Eclipse Awards may be tonight, but the 2012 racing season is not fully completed until the announcement of the 1st Annual And Down The Stretch They Come Racing Awards, henceforth to be known as The Stretchies.
What are The Stretchies? Simply TFTribe and I voting on an assortment of racing categories and moments of the year. We each submitted three names in each category ranked as 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Points were assigned (10, 5, 2), tabulated, and VOILA! - The Stretchies were born.
Without further ado (and the absence of any acceptance speeches)...
And the winners are:
| Award | Winner |
| Horse of the Year | Wise Dan |
| Older Colt | Game On Dude |
| Older Filly/Mare | Groupie Doll |
| 3YO Colt | I'll Have Another |
| 3YO Filly | Questing (GB) |
| Turf Colt | Wise Dan / Little Mike |
| Turf Filly/Mare | Zagora (FR) |
| Sprint Colt | Trinniberg |
| Sprint Filly/Mare | Groupie Doll |
| Juvenile Colt | Shanghai Bobby |
| Juvenile Filly | Beholder / Executiveprivilege |
| Race of the Year | Preakness / Ladies' Classic |
| Best Jockey | Dominguez /Bejarano |
| Best Trainer | Dale Romans |
and the full voting by Tribe and myself for each category:
| 1st (10 pts.) | 2nd (5 pts.) | 3rd (2 pts.) | ||||
| Award | Matt | Tribe | Matt | Tribe | Matt | Tribe |
| HOY | Wise Dan | Wise Dan | Royal Delta | Little Mike | Groupie Doll | Game On Dude |
| Older Colt | Wise Dan | Game On Dude | Game On Dude | Shackleford | Shackleford | Fort Larned |
| Older Filly | Groupie Doll | Groupie Doll | Royal Delta | Royal Delta | Zagora (FR) | Awesome Feather |
| 3YO Colt | I'll Have Another | I'll Have Another | Paynter | Bodemeister | Bodemeister | Paynter |
| 3YO Filly | Questing (GB) | Questing (GB) | Grace Hall | Grace Hall | My Miss Aurelia | My Miss Aurelia |
| Turf Colt | Wise Dan | Little Mike | Little Mike | Wise Dan | Point of Entry | Point of Entry |
| Turf Filly | Zagora (FR) | Zagora (Fr) | Marketing Mix | Marketing Mix | Tapitsfly | Winter Memories |
| Sprint Colt | Trinniberg | Trinniberg | The Lumber Guy | The Factor | Caliabrachoa | The Lumber Guy |
| Sprint Filly | Groupie Doll | Groupie Doll | Dust and Diamonds | Groupie Doll | Musical Romance | Musical Romance |
| Juvenile Colt | Shanghai Bobby | Shanghai Bobby | Normandy Invasion | Power Broker | Power Broker | Overanalyze |
| Juvenile Filly | Beholder | Executiveprivilige | Executiveprivilege | Beholder | Kauai Katie | Dreaming of Julia |
| Best Race | The Preakness | Ladies' Classic | BC Classic | Met Mile | Met Mile | Cigar Mile |
| Best Jockey | Dominguez | Bejarano | Smith | Napravnik | Napravnik | Velasquez |
| Best Trainer | Romans | Romans | Motion | Pletcher | C. Brown | Baffert |
Yes, TFTribe voted for Groupie Doll twice in the Sprint Filly category -- she was that good.
We also selected our favorite track, best bet and worst bet of 2012:
Favorite Track
TFTribe: "Prairie Meadows -- (I know, right?) Made three bets there all year, all double digit odds, all wins."
Matt: "Santa Anita -- For some reason, I picked some good winners at SA this year."
Best Bet of 2012
TFTribe: "Poseidon's Warrior, Vanderbilt Handicap -- True story, I was trying to beat Shackleford in the slop and settled on him since his mud stats were ok, but I also figured his name couldn't do anything but help his chances while swimming through all the crap. I'm an idiot, but this time it worked."
Matt: "Mizdirection, Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint -- Simply unbelieveable that one of my best plays in 2012 was a turf sprint. I loved this filly when the entries came out for this race, especially her ridiculous 20/1 ML odds. Sadly, I didn't get anywhere near 20/1, but I had a good amount of cash on her when the gates opened."
Worst Bet of 2012
TFTribe: "Daddy Long Legs, Kentucky Derby -- Ugh, terrible bet. I'm an idiot, like usual it didn't work."
Matt: "I played in the EMD cash tourney on Gottstein Futurity day, got off to a good start, was near the top of the leader board, and then simply threw about $120 away on successive bets at DMR and EMD. I knew better but went on major tilt for the better part of 30 to 45 minutes. A simply horrible stretch of wagering."
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