Sixteen Stages of Rooting for Your Favorite Horse to Win an Eclipse Award

It’s that time of year again – when we get close to the Eclipse Awards, horse racing’s version of the Oscars, ESPYs, Grammys … you get it. The thing is, it’s an excruciating time for racing fans, since you wait on pins and needles to find out if your favorite horse, trainer, jockey or owner will get the year-end recognition that you feel they’ve earned beyond question. Below are the 16 stages of rooting for your personal hero to win an Eclipse Award.
1. You find out that your horse has been short-listed as a finalist in his or her category, and you’ve never been so happy to see a Thoroughbred’s name in print:
2. It’s time to get online, find your friends and start discussing the boundless merits of your horse:
3. But once online, you notice people making arguments *against* your critter:
4. You genuinely can’t believe that your horse isn’t universally loved by the rest of the online racing community:
5. You may even decide to write a well-informed think piece on your site about the merits of your horse:
6. Finally, it’s here: Eclipse Awards night! You’re feeling a strange mixture of nervousness and excitement:
7. You start thinking about how you’ll deal with it if your horse doesn’t win an award:
8. You turn on the Eclipse Awards and call in your moral support team to help you relax as you wait to hear about your horse’s award:
9. Finally, your horse’s category is announced! Basically, this is you for the duration of the introductions:

10. And:

11. But then! Your horse is announced as this year’s champion. At first you can’t believe it:
12. You realize it’s true:
13. To the outside world, you try to appear cool, calm and collected:
14. But internally you’re all:
15. And
16. Finally: it’s time to celebrate! You know what to do:
Be sure to tune into the Eclipse Awards on Saturday, January 17 at ntra.com, drf.com, hrtv.com or on HRTV!