During an evening when the great mare Zenyatta finally claimed her well-deserved Horse of the Year crown, another top filly, this one with connections to Washington, added an Eclipse Award to her long list of triumphs. After receiving 238 out of 239 votes, Redmond resident Dr. Mark Dedomenico took to the podium at the 40th Eclipse Awards on Monday, January 17, to accept the three-year-old filly championship trophy for his well-traveled Blind Luck.

  Owned in partnership with John Carver, Peter Abruzzo and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, the daughter of Pollard's Vision had finished second in the Eclipse balloting to She Be Wild in 2009. In 2010 she added a trio of Grade 1 wins, including the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes, to her two Grade 1 victories earned as a juvenile. She also earned $1,679,662 in 2010, more than any other horse in her division, and has never run further back than third in 16 lifetime starts.

  "Her success lies in her consistency," said Hollendorfer. "It's her best attribute. All the good ones try hard all the time."

  Dedomenico added, "We call her the Energizer Bunny."

  In her first start since finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (G1), Blind Luck was the runner-up to Always a Princess in her 2011 debut in the El Encino Stakes (G2), which was run at Santa Anita the day before the Eclipse ceremonies in Florida. She improved her lifetime record to 9-5-2 and earned $2,418,712.

  Since winning her first two starts as a juvenile (a $40,000 maiden claiming race at Calder and a starter allowance at Del Mar), Blind Luck has competed exclusively at the Grade 1 and Grade 2 level.

  In her second 2011 start, 2009 Washington horse of the year Reba Is Tops won an about 6 1/2-furlong allowance/$62,500 optional claiming race over Santa Anita's downhill turf course on January 21 to put her over the $400,000 mark ($408,629). It marked her 13th win and 23rd placement in 27 lifetime starts. In her previous outing Reba Is Tops had finished in the Grade 3 Monrovia Handicap. A seven-year-old daughter of He's Tops-Miss Kyama, by Present Value, who is trained by Mark Glatt, Reba Is Tops races for the partnership of Kenny Marshall, Gordy Jarnig and Eric M. Schweiger. The bay distaffer was bred by C.E. "Rich" and Ann Richardson.

  Reba Is Tops may make one more start before being bred to Broken Vow as she is nominated to the $70,000 Wishing Well Stakes, also at Santa Anita, on January 30.

  After being fractious prior to the start of the $150,000 Palos Verdes Stakes (G2), 2008 WTBOA Summer Yearling Sale graduate and two-time Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger managed to finish third to Euroears in the six-panel Santa Anita race on January 22. Bred in Kentucky by Dr. Rodney Orr and ridden by Russell Baze, the son of Hold That Tiger-Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road, sports a record of 5-1-6 from 12 starts and the Jeff Bonde-trained runner has earned a WTBOA sale record of $785,864 for Alan Klein and Philip Lebherz. It marked Smiling Tiger's ninth graded stakes placement.

  2010 Belle Roberts Stakes winner Mizzen You won her third race in-a-row, all at the $16,000 claiming level, when she took a one mile race at Golden Gate on January 21 by 3 1/2 lengths. Ridden by Francisco Duran and trained by Frank Lucarelli for Remmah Racing Inc., the 2007 WTBOA Summer Yearling Sale graduate, who was bred by Clemans View Farm, has earned $85,163. The five-year-old Washington-bred daughter of Mizzen Mast-Bearlee Naked, by Old Trieste, was claimed out of the race by trainer William E. Morey for the partnership of Rick Mendoza, Michael Nentwig and Roger Newman.

  Three-year-old Formal Plan, who was a 2010 WTBOA Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale two-year-old graduate, took a maiden special weight race at Portland Meadows on January 18 by eight lengths in her first outing. Bred in California by Willow Creek Farm, the daughter of Formal Gold-Choice Plan, by Game Plan, races for trainer Jennifer Tooley and Bradley Brooks.

  Dan J. Agnew's homebred filly La Pinot, a three-year-old California-bred daughter of Benchmark-La Duncan (Arg), by Victory Speech, won her first start, a 5 1/2-furlong $30,000 maiden claiming race at Santa Anita on January 14, 2011, by 2 1/4 lengths.

  Three-year-old Washington-bred Codys a Bobcat, a son of Posse-Touriga, by Friendly Lover, owned and bred by Dale Mahlum and trained by Frank Lucarelli, took a $32,000 maiden claiming race at Golden Gate Fields by 3 1/4 lengths on January 14. The new winner was ridden by Leslie Mawing.

  John and Janene Maryanski's twice Emerald Downs stakes-placed Hallelujah Trail, a five-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Gilded Time-Runaway Aly, by Alydeed, won her sixth race in 15 tries when she took a six-panel allowance race at Golden Gate on January 15 raising her earnings to $161,550. Washington-bred stakes distaffers Point of Reference, owned and bred by Jack and Ivor Jones, and Gadget Queen, who is also owned by the Maryanski, finished third and fourth. Both of the Maryanskis' runners are trained by Blaine Wright.

  David and Jill Heerensperger's five-year-old Bourbon Bay earned his fourth Grade 2 stakes victory when the gelded son of Sligo Bay (Ire)-Coral Necklace, by Conquistador Cielo, drew away with an almost two-length win over Champ Pegasus in the $150,000 San Marcos Stakes held at Santa Anita on January 17. The Neil Drysdale trainee improved his record to 6-2-3 from 15 starts and has earned most of his $509,424 while racing for the Medina couple.

  Susan and Allen Branch's It Tiz, a four-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Tiznow-Star of the Woods, gamely took the mile Megahertz Stakes over Santa Anita's turf course on January 23 to give the Mark Glatt-trained filly her fifth win in 14 starts and pushed her earnings total to $259,295.

  Three-year-old Wilkinson, the son of Lemon Drop Kid who took the $100,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds on January 22 to earn his first stakes win, is out of graded stakes-placed Tasha's Delight, a granddaughter of the stakes-winning Ben Adhem mare Rain Chaser, who is a half-sister to Grade 1 stakes winner and Washington horse of the year Delicate Vine and stakes winner Missa Bet. The three half-sisters, each who was also a stakes producer, are out of 1986 Washington broodmare of the year Fool's Miss, a daughter of Saltville.

  Five-year-old stakes winner Win Willy, a son of Monarchos who is trained by Glenda Roberts' son-in-law McLean Robertson, took the $75,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park on January 16, increasing his earnings to $579,460.

Vincent Joseph Barnese

  Former Washington jockey Vince Barnese, 48, passed away in January 2011. Born on December 31, 1962, in Van Nuys, California, he rode his first winner in 1982 at Northlands Park. Vince switched his gear to Longacres in 1983, winning 15 races as an apprentice at the Renton track. From 1983 through 1991 he was aboard 218 winners at Longacres, where he finished 10th in the rankings in 1987 with 62 winning rides. He also rode during the Emerald Racing Association meetings at Yakima Meadows after Longacres closed and during the first two seasons at Emerald Downs, where he rode a total of 15 winners. He retired from race riding in February 1997.

   In his 17 years as a rider, Vince rode in 5,660 races with a record of 484-529-584 and earnings of $2,860,657. He won the 1984 Washington Stallion Stakes aboard C.J. O'Morn and placed in 1999 Longacres Mile with Chan's Dragon, the 1987 Mercer Girls Stakes with Nifty Misty Dawn and the 1987 Labor Day Handicap with Uncle Ade.

  He is survived by his wife, Julie; daughter, Krystal; and son, Casey.

Gary G. Shore 

  Gary Shore, 77, passed away on December 28, 2010, from the multiple complications from open heart surgery. 

  Born in 1933, Gary had been Joe Gottstein's golf caddie in his younger days and was an avid racing fan for 60 years. Among the many horses he bred and/or owned was seven-race winner Galatar. His devotion to the care and love of horses was well known. He leaves many friends at Emerald Downs and in the Kirkland area. Gary also liked to frequent Santa Anita Park. 

  He is survived by his brother, Fred (Shelley) Shore; nephew, Mike (Kris) Shore; niece, Lisa Boyce, and her children Max and Haley; and cousins, Jeff and Patrick Jennings.