Awesome Again: Uncrowned Champion

by Steve Ragone
He never won an Eclipse Award. He never got much respect either, not even from his own barn. Although he lost just three times in twelve starts, no one mentions him in the same breath as others with similar records. A win in the Breeders' Cup doesn't necessarily assure Horse of the Year honors. Many horses have won competing there without garnering a coveted Eclipse Award. What if a horse goes undefeated for an entire year too? Well, in Favorite Trick's case, even if you're beating two year olds, it makes a big difference. If you're Cigar, unquestionably. What if you've pulled off an undefeated season in the handicap division, culminating in a victory over the best Classic field ever assembled?

In Awesome Again's case, it made absolutely no difference.

Standing in the shadow of stablemate Touch Gold, Awesome Again was the forgotten member of the Stronach shedrow in 1998. Trainer Pat Byrne and jockey Pat Day hailed Touch Gold as one of the most talented individuals they'd ever been around. While Touch Gold struggled to win anything all year, Awesome Again quietly strung together six wins in as many starts, including victories over champions Silver Charm and Skip Away.

Still, doubters outnumbered believers insurmountingly, and Awesome Again's dominance was dismissed as easily as Silver Charm's and Skip Away's failures forgiven. This unlikely convergence of bad karma resulted in, quite possibly, the greatest season never to be remembered. It concerned Sonny Hine enough just prior to and following the Breeders' Cup for him to contend Awesome Again had been ducking the top horses. This statement was perplexing since Awesome Again had defeated Silver Charm in his second start of the year. Also, Awesome Again had shipped to Saratoga, where Skip Away was stabled, for the Whitney and Saratoga Cup.

Ironically, that August, Hine asked Monmouth officials to change the distance of the Iselin to 1-1/8 miles in return for Skip Away shipping to run in that race. Monmouth obliged, and Skip Away nosed Stormin' Fever for the Grade 2 win. Awesome Again annexed the Grade 1 Whitney at 1-1/8 miles, and then the Grade 2 Saratoga Cup at 1-1/4 miles, both with relative ease. The "ducking" argument was a joke.

It didn't matter. Three years of Sonny Hine table pounding, coupled with the silent disbelief of his own camp, had aligned the stars to conspire against Awesome Again. There would be no Eclipse Award. Likely, there will be no Hall of Fame plaque either. But when push came to shove, none of them could beat Awesome Again in 1998.

The protem older horse divisional leaders, Skip Away and Gentlemen, failed to win either race in which both ran. Ultimately, only one horse was able to beat all of the best, while none was able to defeat him. The horses left in Awesome Again's 1998 wake counted the following jewels on their respective resumes: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Travers, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Breeders' Cup Classic, Pimlico Special, and so on.

Had Awesome Again been able to complete the Jim Dandy-Travers double in 1997, perhaps he would have been viewed in a different light when he returned as a four year old. After winning the Jim Dandy, he finished third in the Travers. His season ended after the Super Derby, in which he finished fifth while suffering a back injury. It would be the last time a horse would beat him to the finish line.

His four year old season was as good as any since Cigar. Not once in 1998 did he lose ground to a horse in the stretch in any race. He won in a variety of ways, displaying versatility possessed by only the greats. He wired them in the Whitney, tracked down and blew by Silver Charm in the Stephen Foster, and closed from far back to win the Breeders' Cup Classic. Whatever it took, he did it. He wasn't in the limelight long enough to give rise to much criticism, nor garner many accolades. Instead, he was an aberration. An aberration that defeated the most talent laden Breeders' Cup Classic field ever assembled, and in doing so completed a perfect season in relative anonymity.

Awesome Again, for certain, a champion uncrowned.