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ARCADIA, Calif. -- As a championship event, the 2016 Breeders Cup delivered, and especially in tremendous renewals of the Classic and Distaff. But while there is some important stakes racing left this year, mainly on Thanksgiving weekend, most of this years Eclipse Award divisions were decided by the time official went up on the tote board following Saturdays Classic.Lets take a look at the 10 equine Eclipse Award divisions on the flat, and the impact this Breeders Cup had on them, with a brief comment on Horse of the Year honors at the end:Older Dirt Male: California Chrome had this title wrapped up months ago with a compelling body of work highlighted by powerful victories in the Dubai World Cup and Pacific Classic. His narrow loss in Saturdays Classic, without any excuse, by the way, will have no bearing on him winning this divisional championship in a landslide.Older Dirt Female: Beholder might have temporarily ceded leadership in this division when Stellar Wind beat her for a second time in the Zenyatta after first edging her in the Clement L. Hirsch, but Beholder wrested it back Friday with her gutsy win in the Distaff. Taking nothing away from Songbird, who was gallant in narrow defeat in the Distaff after setting the pace, but the Distaff pace never really developed the way it figured to do so. In fact, the pace in the Distaff was downright moderate. Beholder ran better than her tiny win margin would suggest because she overcame a setup that wasnt entirely favorable. So Beholder will get what will be her fourth Eclipse Award, all earned in different years, and that is quite a feat.3-Year-Old Male: It would have been impossible to imagine a colt who hadnt even started in a stakes race on Aug. 26 could win this championship. But on Aug. 27, Arrogate delivered an explosive performance winning the Travers Stakes, a performance so exceptional that it suddenly put him in the conversation with Nyquist and Exaggerator for divisional honors. And when Nyquist proved unable to follow up on his strong Kentucky Derby win, apparently being cooked for good in a senseless Preakness speed duel, and when Exaggerator proved that his big wins this year were entirely functions of wet tracks and perfect pace setups, the path for Arrogate became more clear. He had to win the Classic to close the deal, which he did in a performance just as impressive as his Travers, but for a different reason. To run down a loose-on-the-lead monster like California Chrome is incredible stuff. Arrogate is hands down the champion 3-year-old male, and I cant wait to see what he does next year.3-Year-Old Female: When she romped in the Cotillion on Oct. 1, Songbird obliterated any potential scenario that could have denied her another divisional championship this year. But her game effort in the Distaff while racing near an inside that some thought might not have been the best part of the Santa Anita main track on Friday only enhanced the case that she should be a unanimous champion. Really, shame on any Eclipse Award voter who does not have her on top of their ballot.2-Year-Old Male: Without question, Classic Empire clinched this title by virtue of his determined victory in what felt like a very strongly run Juvenile. How strongly run was the Juvenile? Well, even after acknowledging that the Juvenile Fillies run earlier on Saturdays card was a weak renewal, the time of the Juvenile was faster by 2.52 seconds, which is an enormous gap. Classic Empires resume, which also includes a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders Futurity and Grade 3 Bashford Manor, and which has a solitary blemish when he wheeled after the start of the Hopeful, is considerably stronger than any of his contemporaries. However, Not This Time ran a terrific race finishing second in the Juvenile, and while he has no championship claim over Classic Empire, the two might have kindled in the Juvenile what could become a delicious rivalry.2-Year-Old Female: At first glance, you might think Champagne Rooms $69.20 upset in what was a slow Juvenile Fillies just confused further what was already an unsettled division. And sure, going forward from this race, you would probably want Juvenile Fillies runner-up Valadorna, who was coming off just a maiden win, or American Gal, who had an even more absurd trip than she figured to get from the 12 hole. But by winning the big one, and the Grade 2 Sorrento in August, Champagne Room simply has better credentials than anyone else in her division, and it will take something out of the box for anyone to displace her from the top by seasons end.Male Turf: This is one division where I doubt the corresponding Breeders Cup race will have a meaningful impact on the Eclipse Award vote. Highland Reel was a daylight winner of the Turf, beating Flintshire by 1-3/4 lengths. But everyone who watched the race (which I really hope means everyone who will vote in the Eclipse Awards) knows that Highland Reel absolutely walked on the lead in the early stages. And I mean walked, and that brings into question the conclusiveness of the result. When you couple that with the fact that this was Highland Reels only U.S. start of the year, well, I think the award should and will go to Flintshire. Victories in the Grade 1 Manhattan, Grade 1 Sword Dancer, and Grade 2 Bowling Green, and his seconds in the Turf and in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic give Flintshire a body of work that Highland Reels base on balls, somewhat fluky Turf cant equal.Female Turf: The scenario was somewhat clear here. Lady Eli had to do something special winning the Filly and Mare Turf, and Tepin had to do nothing against males in the Mile, for Lady Eli to have a shot to carry the vote. Lady Eli ran very well in the Filly and Mare Turf, but was nailed late. Tepin did a lot more than nothing in the Mile, finishing a rallying second to Tourist, beaten only a half-length. Tepins performance in the Mile was more than enough to cap a body of work on the year that included six group or graded stakes victories, led, of course, by her historic Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.Male Sprinter: The infected cut that caused Lord Nelson to be scratched from the Sprint (he was also retired) might prove very costly in terms of this divisional title. In Lord Nelsons absence, the 3-year-old colt Drefong posted a clear-cut victory in the Sprint that was impressive because he withstood being inside of severe pace pressure, which is never a good place to be. The Sprint was Drefongs second Grade 1 victory (he won the Kings Bishop in his prior start) and second stakes win of any sort in a perfect 4-for-4 season. It should be noted that Lord Nelson, who was the divisions leader before the Breeders Cup, collected three Grade 1 wins this year. But fair or not, Breeders Cup events obviously carry importance well beyond typical Grade 1 races, and Drefong is now the likely male sprint champion.Female Sprinter: This division might leave you feeling cold with the way no one in it really stepped up. And Finest City might not fit your ideal profile of an Eclipse Award winner with just two wins in eight starts this year. But thats what the Filly and Mare Sprint is for, to sort these matters out when we need some guidance. Finest Citys Filly and Mare Sprint victory might have been an upset, but it came in the divisions biggest race, and at least she has a Grade 2 sprint victory earlier in the season in the Great Lady M Stakes to make you feel better about the fact that her title argument is simply better than any of her division mates.Horse of the Year: My feeling is, instead of making a quick decision between the only two real candidates for this honor - Arrogate and California Chrome - it would be best to let the Breeders Cup dust settle and then think about it. California Chromes body of work this year is compelling, and is simply better than Arrogates cumulative record. However, Arrogate proved that, at least on Saturday, he was better than California Chrome. I mean, California Chrome had everything his own way in the Classic, so much so that jockey Victor Espinoza couldnt stop looking around behind him, and Arrogate still came and beat him. That was big man stuff. So while respect for body of work is very important, it shouldnt deny a possibly superior horse our games most important year-end championship. We have to let this one simmer for a while. Cheap Air Max Plus China . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. Air Max Plus Wholesale . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. http://www.clearanceairmaxplus.com/ . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. Cheap Air Max Plus . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Cheap Air Max Plus Wholesale . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Julie Foudy played on the U.S. womens national team for 17 years and won two Olympic gold medals during that time. Her first, in Atlanta in 1996, was especially meaningful, because it was also soccers debut as an Olympic sport.They said womens soccer would never get a World Cup -- or be in the Olympics. But in 1991, we got that World Cup. And in 1993, we found out wed get to be an Olympic sport. We were so pumped. My teammates and I had been fighting for it, so we were very excited get womens soccer in the Olympics -- and to have it in our home country.The crowd went absolutely berserk when the U.S. athletes walked in during the opening ceremony. We were the last country because we were the host nation. Youre waiting forever and waiting forever and then you finally get to go. We were rocking really cute red blazers and little white hats with red trim. (I still have the blazer.)I think Bruce Willis and Demi Moore were the first people we saw on the sideline and we high-fived. I was like, How cool is that? Theyre with their kids, high-fiving people. I dont think I realized how special it was to be in your own country at the time because it was our first Olympics.In the semifinal against Norway, we wanted to show the United States how cool our team was. The crowd was huge -- 64,000 fans -- and this was a period when we were still fighting to get recognition and support, so this was our chance to showcase this group.We had lost to Norway in the World Cup the year before and had to watch the Norwegians do this whole slow centipede victory march after they won, and that was still on our minds. How dare they do that? So we get a chance to get them again -- which we were ecstatic about -- and this time around we knew we werent going to fall to them.At halftime we were down a goal and I remember walking into the locker room and feeling like, Were fine. It was just a totally different atmosphere from the year before. This time, in the end, we got to finish them off.It can get super emotional when youre playing at home. The challenge was not being too pumped because you get so excited and so over-hyped. You dont want to be on this roller coaster of emotions, similar to a sugar high where you come crashing back down.The stadium was packed with more than 76,000 fans for the final against China and we had never really had that before, so you can imagine the excitement. It was always the challenge of appreciating the moment and soaking it in, which we were good at, but not letting that moment drain your energy. We actually talked about it a lot.We knew China was very good. The players were skillful, fit and well-trained, but we also knew this: We could be sstronger than them mentally.ddddddddddddI might have missed the dog pile. Shannon MacMillan scored the first goal -- and it was key to get in there and get a goal early to calm the nerves. After she scored, I just remember Mac sliding headfirst into the turf and all of us sliding in behind her. I think I ended up a little short of the celebration. Maybe I thought the grass was a little wetter than it was.When we won, we were up there on the podium, belting the national anthem at the top of our lungs. I remember thinking, does it get any better than this? Youre with your best buddies who youve worked so hard with, and to win the first-ever womens soccer gold in your home country, it was insane. It was surreal.We knew right away that people were mad. Only highlights of the final were aired on NBC -- not the whole game. Here you have a packed stadium with chanting Americans and I remember thinking, Wow, that tells you something. Theyre pretty set in how they cover sports and there will be a paradigm shift after this.At the 2000 Olympics, NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol pulled us all in and apologized for not covering us more in 96. He said, We missed out on that one and I take the blame.There was really a feeling that this could be a pivotal moment for women in sports in this country. All of these women in Atlanta -- some we knew, some we didnt -- we all had similar struggles in terms of acceptance and popularity and Title IX. Here we were collectively so successful, which isnt surprising given that many of us had been given the opportunity to play thanks to Title IX. After having to fight for so much, we thought maybe this was the breakthrough that was needed to get people watching and paying attention.On off days at the Olympics we had to be off our feet, so we would lie down and watch all the other sports on TV. We would watch and cheer the other women on all day. That was super fun. I was ecstatic for softball, for basketball, for the gymnasts, knowing that we all had worked so damn hard to get there.The 1996 Olympics also set the stage for the 99 World Cup to happen. At the time, FIFA did not want a big 99 World Cup. They wanted to keep it regional in smaller stadiums in the East. And U.S. Soccer said, No, we want to go big.That 1996 Olympic team somehow had the confidence to keep saying, We can do better. We can do more. We can do bigger. We should set the standard. Thats what I loved about that group.There was always a shared belief that this could be a tipping point for sport and women. And we helped tip it. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '