The Envelope, Please

Didn't have to do much head scratching when I filled out my Eclipse ballot this year. Several of the categories required little to no thinking. Let's get through those first, before moving on to the ones that required at least some examination.

2YO Male: Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile). Duh.
3YO Male: Arrogate (Unbridled's Song). Stole the second half of the season. What a horse.
3YO Filly: Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro). Obviously.
Older Dirt Male: California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit). Only a dumb ass would vote against him.
Older Dirt Female: Beholder (Henny Hughes). Indisputable.
Steeplechase: Rawnaq (Ire) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}). It's on to Cheltenham for a very nice jumper.
Apprentice Jockey: Luis Ocasio. Leads in every category that matters.

As for the others:
2YO Filly: Champagne Room (Broken Vow). This was one of those divisions where you didn't feel good about voting for anyone, but I've always gone with the theory that when in doubt, go with the Breeders' Cup winner. Sent off at 33-1, Champagne Room was an afterthought in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and then beat up a rather mediocre field. But no 2-year-old filly won more than one Grade I race, so I don't see how you can't go with the one who won the most important Grade I race. You can make an argument that Shane's Girlfriend (Adios Charlie) was the best 2-year-old filly in racing last year as her win in the GIII Delta Princess S. was off-the-charts sensational, but there's no way you can give a horse an Eclipse off a Grade III win. And she might not be as good as Unique Bella (Tapit), a runaway maiden winner for Jerry Hollendorfer and Mike Smith in November at Del Mar.

Male Sprinter: Drefong (Gio Ponti). While A.P. Indian (Indian Charlie) had a terrific year, winning five stakes, including two Grade I's, Drefrong proved that he was the best sprinter in the country with his win in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. It was decisive and indicative of a horse with superior talent. He's the best dirt sprinter in the country and he's by Gio Ponti? Go figure.

Female Sprinter: Much as was the case with the 2-year-old filly division, no one came close to stepping up and dominating among this group. Finest City (City Zip) only won two races all year, but one was the right one, the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare sprint. One finalist, Paulassilverling (Ghostzapper) did not win a Grade I race this year. The other, Haveyougoneaway (Congrats) did win the GI Ballerina S. but was soundly beaten by Finest City in the BI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, as was Paulassilverlining.

Male Turf Horse: Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Yes, he got beat by Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, but I avoid voting for these one-and-done Breeders' Cup winners from Europe at all costs. What they did overseas does not matter and, unless there is no one else out there even remotely worth voting for, you can't give a horse an Eclipse Award off one day, one race. Flintshire won three stakes in the U.S. and battled Highland Reel to a second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup. But it wasn't just that he won those races, but how he won. He was electric, particularly in the GII Bowling Green S. That was the day he somehow got in a world of trouble under Javier Castellano in a four-horse field, got caught behind a snail-like pace, dropped back to last and then unleashed a turn of foot that was crazy impressive.

Female Turf Horse: Tepin (Bernstein). Miss Temple City (Temple City) is a very deserving champion and I almost feel guilty not voting for her. She won three Grade I's in 2016, including two against the males. Meanwhile, Tepin may not have finished up her year the way she started, as she lost in her final two races of 2016. But she did something historic, going over to Royal Ascot and winning the G1 Queen Anne S.. Add to that wins in the GI Woodbine Mile and the GI Jenny Wiley S. and this mare for the ages had another sensational year.

Trainer: Chad Brown. He's been knocking on the Eclipse Award door for sometime and this is the year he kicked the door down. He finally topped Todd Pletcher (who didn't even make the final three in this Eclipse category) in earnings with $23.1 million to Pletcher's $21.2 million. He also won an incredible 42 graded stakes races. But the biggest feat he accomplished in 2016 is that he put to rest the knock that he can't train a dirt horse. While Brown's speciality may still be grass runners, he showed he is far from a one-track pony by winning, on the dirt, the GI Cigar Mile H., the GI Champagne S., the GI Hopeful S., the GII Pennsylvania Derby, the GII Gazelle S., the GIII Gotham S. and a handful of other dirt stakes.

Jockey: Jose Ortiz. I'm guessing Mike Smith will win in this category because he seems to win every major race out there, thus the nickname “Big Money” Mike Smith. And while a Smith victory would certainly not be a travesty, he's not the right pick. Just 23 years old, Jose Ortiz did what no jockey is supposed to do. It's widely accepted that the New York riding colony is the best there is, and Ortiz dominated it. With the exception of the Belmont fall meet, during which he rode most of the time at Keeneland, he won every New York riding title during the year and did so without the consistent backing of a major outfit. If that's not enough, he led the nation in wins with 351 or 296 more than Smith.

Horse of the Year: California Chrome. When casting a Horse-of-the-Year vote, I always take into account these words “of the year.” After what happened in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, you'll get no argument from me if you want to claim that Arrogate was the fastest, best horse to race in 2016. But as mentioned in this space before, his year truly did not begin until the Aug. 27 GI Travers S. By that time, Chrome had already traveled to and won in Dubai and had won five races total, including the GI Pacific Classic. Arrogate's just going to have to wait for 2017 to get his Horse of the Year title.