The 2011 Eclipse Awards have crowned the respective champions in the various divisions.  Congratulations to all the winners – and candidly congratulations to anyone who was nominated or had a horse that was nominated.  The ceremony was filled with laughs, tears, and tension as the Horse of the Year announcement approached, how fitting that Big Drama was named the winner in the Male Sprinter division.  It was great to see the absolute joy of people like Mike Repole with Uncle Mo and hear him in his New York accent delivering a message that would have made a Southern Baptist minister proud as he stirred the crowd; Marylou Whitney gave a speech for the ages and one of the best that I’ve heard in any venue.  I was touched by the care and love that Ken Ramsey shows with the way he always is beside his ill wife, Sarah’s side, as he accepted their award.  It was nice to see Harold Plumley on stage as the breeder of Dubai Majesty; Mr. Plumley and I both called Paris, TN our home for many years and as a kid I was always playing on or against a baseball or football team that his company sponsored.  The moment that everyone was waiting for was announcement of Horse of the Year, which everyone knew was going to be close.  Each side had compelling reasons for their horse – Blame and Zenyatta both had great years, they both won the award for their division; but in the end the horse that brought the fans to the track in droves, created national media attention the likes of which this sport hasn’t seen in years – that was the horse that won and that horse is Zenyatta.

Blame winning the Whitney at Saratoga

With the debate over this vote starting the instant the Breeders’ Cup Classic was over, it was clear that for this year’s Eclipse Award the only fair way to honor both horses was to paint both of them for this event.  I am very honored to be a repeat guest of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters at their events.  To be there painting on both Blame and Zenyatta was a thrill, but I can also say that while so many people formed their opinions over the last couple months – I painted every day on these paintings for over a month and that same question kept going through my mind over and over again  . . . and it seemed that whichever one I was painted on at any given moment that was where all my attention was. As it was my honor to work on these paintings at the Eclipse Awards, it is also my honor to share both of them with you here.

Bob at the Eclipse Awards

The Eclipse Awards are just around the corner and the big question of who will be Horse of the Year will be answered.  I’ll be at the Fountainbleau along with a few hundred other people from the horse racing industry.  There will be the usual gathering of owners and breeders.  With Gulfstream Park just around the corner there will be plenty of jockeys and trainers, more than just the handful nominated for the awards.  The media will be there as both horse racing networks (TVG and HRTV) and ESPN will have their people there . . . and then there’s me . . . just a guy with his paint brush, palette, and a couple canvases.  I’ll be there working on the final stages of two paintings of the horses at the center of the storm for HoY: Zenyatta and Blame.  To some the obvious painting was to paint the Breeders’ Cup Classic with both horses (which has been voted the moment of the year in horse racing), but that might not do justice to both horses’ accomplishments; so, I’ve painted Zenyatta winning the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn.  Oaklawn uses a light pink saddle cloth for all entries in the Apple Blossom, which goes great with the Moss silks as she is painted in front of a backdrop of pastel spring blossoms.  Blame is painted winning the Whitney at Saratoga as he wins an exciting stretch duel over the pre-race favorite Quality Road.   After working on these two paintings for a couple weeks it was announced that Marylou Whitney would be receiving a special Eclipse Award for her lifetime contributions of to the sport.  It’s nice that the Whitney name is promenently displayed on the Blame saddle cloth; not only are the two HoY candidates represented in the paintings, but so too are all three of the groups receiving special Eclipse Awards: Team Zenyatta, Claiborne Farm (partners on Blame and where he has gone to stud), and Marylou Whitney on the saddle cloth . . . see, I knew there was a reason I wasn’t painting the BC Classic.

I am honored to paint at the Eclipse Awards as the guest of the National Turf Writers & Broadcasters Association in conjunction with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.  The proceeds of the painting of the Horse of the Year will be donated to the NTRA Charities.  I’m proud of the relationship and mutual respect I have with the NTWBA whom I began painting for 5 years at ago at their awards banquet and first painted for them at the Eclipse Awards 3 years ago.

I have no idea how the vote for Horse of the Year turned out; both of these paintings were started long before the votes were counted.  Next week, I’ll post the two paintings . . . until then . . . “down the stretch they come!”

Here is the painting I started drawing back in July.   The subject is Backtalk, the Smarty Jones colt, raced by Paul Bulmahn’s Goldmark Farm.  The painting shows Backtalk winning the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga in 2009 using track photographer Adam Coglianese’s wonderful finish line photo of the race.  This canvas is 48″ x 66″, while time involved in finishing the painting will take several months; it’s a great time to share the step by step development of a painting.  In addition to the full painting, I anticpate showing close ups of specific areas with each subsequent layer to demonstrate the increased detail and the increased richness of color.

Backtalk progress #1 drawing on canvas day 7

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Backtalk finished painting

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The painting is finally finished after the better part of 4 months.  The progression of photos shows the development of the whole painting from drawing through the first layer to cover the canvas and through each subsequent layer – 5 layers passing over the entire surface of the painting to get the colors exactly where I wanted them in rich vibrant tones and the details kept refining with each later.  You can back a cake without eggs, you can even take  it of the oven after five minutes instead of the thirty the recipe calls for, however if anyone is going to taste it, then the chef can’t rush it or take short cuts. No matter how much icing you put on a bad cake, it’s still a bad cake. I hope you appreciate that when I paint, perfection is the goal.  While I understand nobody’s perfect and perfection in art is a myth, that’s still no excuse for not trying to achieve it.   I’m very pleased with the Backtalk painting and hopefully sharing it with you each step of the way, has helped you appreciate the process and left you wanting seconds.

Lisa Hall at the at the Aiken T-bred HoF along with Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stables support came up with a fun contest for kids; a coloring book competitoin.  I am attaching a photo of the winners that was taken at the Dogwood Stable office this past Friday.  Mary Jane Howell and Jack Sadler of Dogwood Stable are in the back and the winners from left to right are: 3rd place – Savannah Spoon, 1st Place – Jaslyn Croft, 2nd Place – Karlee Barton.  This was a fan event for the kids and I was happy to provide some poster, post cards, and Dream Race books for the winners.  Congratulations to the winners.

I’ve been painting live at sales in Kentucky for several years and for the last few years I’d be joined most days by a man that loved to talk and when he wasn’t talking he was smiling from ear to ear.  When I arrived in Lexington last week for the Fasig Tipton, I was informed by Gary Falter that his business partner and our mutual friend, Ben Young, had passed away.  It was then that I realized I didn’t really know anything about Ben, for all his talking he was a private fellow.  As it turns out Ben was an  actor, even appearing in a few movies with John Wayne.  Ben’s claim to fame was that he was the Camel smoker in the cigarette ads;  which may explain how Ben spent many of his remaining years flying all over the world to pick up bone marrow to be used in life saving transplants.  All I ever knew of Ben was that he loved horses and horse racing.  He moved to Kentucky from California five years ago to be in the heart of the industry.  He later took a night watchman job at Calumet just for the thrill of working at the legendary farm.  Ben and Gary would breed a few horses together, one of which was sold at Saratoga to Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Planation. The beautiful tall filly by Point Given would be named Points of Grace.  I saw her for the first time the night she went through the Saratoga sale.  She then went to the Ocala farm to be trained by Johnny Collins at Live Oak.  I got to see her there on several occasions, afterwards I would always give Ben a report on this spectacular big red filly.  Live Oak & Johnny took their time getting her to the track where she is still racing and winning.  Ben and I had a secret that when she finally would win her Grade 1 race he was going to have me paint her as a gift to Gary.  Ironically, I learned of Ben’s passing the day after Awesome Gem won the G1 Hollywood Gold Cup gaining his first Grade 1 (read the previous blog about Clyde Haugen and Awesome Gem).  Plans are being made for a memorial service for Ben in August or September, at which time his ashes will be scattered at the Calumet cemetary along the graves of Citation, Bull Lea, and Whirlaway.  During Ben’s last days he assured his friends that he’ll be in heaven holding the gates for everyone, but what else would you expect from a Point of Grace?

I lost my racing buddy, Clyde Haugen, about 18 months ago.  He owned shares of about 20 different horses through West Point Thoroughbreds.  Clyde was my only local client here in Indian Harbour Beach, FL., but he had become much more than a client.  He passed away just a couple days before leaving to watch his favorite horse, Awesome Gem race in Hong Kong.  Clyde and I had a standing agreement that I would paint all of his Grade 1 winners;  he called me from the Belmont winner’s circle when Lear’s Princess upset Rags To Riches to win her G1. “Get the paints out!”  Time went by and Clyde and West Point had other G1 winners, but Awesome Gem was so close many times, but unable to win that elusive Grade 1 stakes race.  I told Clyde that Awesome Gem didn’t need a Grade 1 win for me to paint him; Clyde was so happy as he took it as a honor for Gem.  Less than a week later, Clyde passed away.  I went to the dog track where we had watched many races together and left my Awesome Gem pin over the bar, where it still hangs to this day.

Last week on my drive to Kentucky for the Fasig Tipton sale I was listening to the races on sirius radio; Awesome Gem went to the post as an under dog in the Hollywood Gold Cup.  As I drove through the mountains of Kentucky I listened as the seven year old Awesome Gem came through on the rail and captured his Grade 1 while breaking the $2 million mark in earnings.  I thought of how Clyde would gather his family together for the big races and how this horse helped bring his family consisting of five daughters scattered all across the country together through racing.  Clyde fought cancer for over 20 years and offered encouragement to so many people who were fighting their own battles with the disease.  I’ve been with him when he’d overhear complete strangers talking about cancer, only to have Clyde go into a motivational type pep talk and offer to stay in contact if he could be of help.  Clyde was a good man, a good friend, and good human being . . . and all he ever wanted was Awesome Gem to win a Grade 1; was that too much to ask?  Evidently, it wasn’t. Somewhere Clyde is smiling while I was driving with tears in my eyes thinking of my friend and his favorite horse.

This is the painting for Clyde of Lear’s Princess.  He called from the winner’s circle just minutes after she crossed the finish line, “Get out the paints”.

I’m getting ready to leave for a week in Kentucky where I’ll be painting at the Fasig Tipton sale.  I’ll be finishing the painting of Seattle Smooth that I’ve been working on for the past month.  Seattle Smooth raced for Mercedes Stables and was bought as a yearling at the July Fasig Tipton sale in 2006.  She recently retired as a million dollar earning Grade 1 winner. It’s great to be welcomed back to the sale and to be painting another outstanding Fasig Tipton graduate in Seattle Smooth.  Here is the painting in progress -

There has been a lot of talk about great sportsmen who have brought their champions back for a second season when the breeding shed was the obvious next stop on the road to fame and fortune for the thoroughbred star.  One name that is rarely thrown around with all the headlines is George Strawbridge who races under Augustin Stables.  Two years ago his filly Forever Together won an Eclipse Award and to many’s surprise she was back at the track the following year.  Augustin won another Eclipse Award the following year, this time it was another gray filly, Informed Decision who earned the trophy.  Turn the calendar page and both Eclipse Award winners are still racing.  What many may have missed over the Belmont Stakes weekend was Augustin’s Stables’ Dynaformer filly named Rainbow View who raced in a stakes race at Woodbine. It was her first loss in North America, but she’s here after being a champion in Europe last year – Three champion fillies and all of them are still racing and taking on all challengers – have they done as well as they did in the Eclipse Award winning years? Candidly, no – but there are no excuses, just more races as the silent sportsman just keeps sending his stars back out to do what they know how to do, like to, and  in most cases do very, very well – They race!

I’ve been watching Augustin Stables’ runners a little closer than usual lately, since being asked to paint another champion for them.  Lucarno, a Dynaformer, son who won the St. Legers at Doncaster in the UK.  Mr. Strawbridge loves racing, but always seems to find a way to make sure that it’s about the horse and not the hype.  So, the next time you think about Kings in the sport of Kings, think of the man that returned THREE champions back to the track and even brought one over from Europe; all for the good of the sport and the enjoyment of the fans . . . where’s the media when a story like this needs to be told? I hope the Eclipse Award voters can conjur up a few votes for Mr. Strawbridge as the Owner of the Year.

Last summer when I was in Saratoga Chaplain Humberto Chavez asked me if I would do a favor for him.   He explained that a couple years ago a photo was taken of him leading the prayer in the jockeys room on the day of the Belmont Stakes.  Before the races started all the jockeys were still in white undershirts.  I asked Humberto if he wanted as it was in the photo, or he wanted to feature the silks of the carried by the horses in the Belmont that year, or maybe he’d want to select specific individuals that had been supportive of his efforts . . . he chose the later.  In the painting the silks represented are Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stables, Marylou Whitney, Virginia Kraft-Payson, Michael Dubb, West Point Thorourhbreds, Joe Brockkebank, David Donk, Shadwell Farms – along with others on the clothes rack.  There was one other set of silks front and center, the only silks that were worn in this year’s Belmont Stakes: WinStar Farm . . . whose Drosselmeyer would go on to capture the Belmont Stakes.

Before the Kentucky Derby I painted the four WinStar derby qualifiers, then WinStar’s Super Saver goes on to win the Kentucky Derby and now this.  Does anybody see a pattern here?  If I paint ‘em, they win! I’m not sure if I can charge more for that kind of “artistic touch” but it does make for fun conversation – Congratulations again to the people of WinStar and thank you to Humberto and all the people to the Race Track Chaplaincy that do so much to help the families that handle the day to day work required to make this industry go.

  The Hall of Fame will open its doors again this summer at Saratoga and welcome four new members; three horses and one jockey – but to leave at that is an injustice.  Ladies first; Azeri may have ushered in what history might some day refer to the decade of the fillies.  One of the few fillies to take home Horse of the Year honors before ending her career as the top female money winner joining her Paulson stable mate, Cigar who until recently carried that title for all North American horses.  She is as pretty is she is fast.

 Joining her in the Hall of Fame is Point Given who many consider the most talented horse of the era.  He lost as the KY Derby favorite, but came back to win the Preakness and Belmont going away.  I enjoy seeing him at Three Chimneys whenever I’m in KY; he is absolutely one of the best looking horses you can put your eyes on. 

Best Pal is the third horse going in the HoF this year; as of yet I haven’t painted him.  And the sole human inductee this year is Randy Romero who was a rock star in his prime; but you ask any of the Louisiana jockeys that came up on the bush tracks who their hero was and it’s Randy. Across the board guys like Robby Albarado, Kent Desormeaux, Calvin Borel, Jamie Theriot, and Joe Talamo will tell you much they respect Randy.  Robby’s Foundation throw a big cocktail party before the KY Derby and Randy was there; you can see the respect that all these guys have for him – and in this group you have to earn it – and Randy definitely did.