ESPN Horse A Team Pharoah sweep?

For all of the electricity and euphoria American Pharoah brought to horse racing in 2015, he also drained much of the excitement from the voting for the Eclipse Awards. Horse of the Year honors for 2015 pretty much became a moot point on the afternoon of June 6 when the Zayat Stables 3-year-old blazed a path to glory by completing the first Triple Crown sweep in 37 years.

Adding a first-ever Grand Slam to his resume by winning the Breeders' Cup Classic only increased American Pharoah's stature among the sport's all-time greats and all but guaranteed that his connections would be appearing at the podium during the Jan. 16 Eclipse Awards dinner as often as the master of ceremonies. Trophies for the champion owner, breeder, trainer and jockey figure to be swept by Zayat Stables, Bob Baffert and Victor Espinoza on a night when racing honors its best of the best for the past 12 months. While some might be taken aback by that type of domination, it should hardly be a surprise after a year in which American Pharoah became such a fan favorite that if a fan poll of the year's most popular horses was taken, the champion's lead pony, Smokey, would probably wind up in the top five.

With those trophies already spoken for and a number of other awards also locked into place, there has been a distinct silence about this year's awards as opposed to the raucous Horse of the Year debate from a year ago. Last year, California Chrome, Bayern, Main Sequence and Shared Belief battled it out for the award, and in 2009 Rachel Alexandra beat out Zenyatta for the prize amidst bitter Internet bickering.

If anything, the biggest quandaries can be found in a couple of categories where calling anyone a champion was stretching matters a bit.

To fill those blanks, here's how this voter filled out his Eclipse Award ballot:

Horse of the Year: American Pharoah. Even if he had lost to Beholder in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the award would have been his. More goes into Horse of the Year than victories on a racetrack and it has been decades since a horse energized the sport as much as he did. This should be a unanimous decision, but someone usually takes a contrarian stand. In most years, Beholder would have been a hands-down choice, but she was second-best to a once-in-a-generation horse. The third spot on my ballot went to Songbird. The 2-year-old filly division might have lacked depth but Songbird was absolutely brilliant during an undefeated season and should be a joy to watch in the coming year.

2-Year-Old Male: Nyquist. He should also be a unanimous selection after a perfect 5-for-5 campaign, capped by a win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Swipe, who was second to Nyquist four times, was, quite naturally, the second choice, followed by Airoforce, who was a graded stakes winner on turf and dirt and missed by a neck in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

2-Year-Old Female: Songbird. No contest. Four starts and four wins by a combined 22 lengths, including a dazzling 5 3/4-length romp in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. If she handles the jump from two to three with aplomb, her connections could have a tough time sticking with plans to target the Kentucky Oaks. There's a race the following day at Churchill Downs that just might be a worthy challenge for her. Rachel's Valentina and Gomo rounded out the ballot.

3-Year-Old Male: American Pharoah. If anyone votes for someone other than the Zayat Stables' star in this category, they no doubt spent the year stranded on Gilligan's Island. The significantly tougher decisions were the second and third spots. In the end, second went to Keen Ice, who beat American Pharoah in the Travers. Runhappy, the dynamic sprinter, was third.

3-Year-Old Female: Found. Judging by the way these fillies took turns beating each other, no one seemed interested in taking home the award. I'm not a big fan of honoring a European who makes just one trip across the Atlantic, but, considering the other options, an exception was warranted. Found beat the Arc winner, Golden Horn, in the Breeders' Cup Turf and that was the most impressive feat by any 3-year-old filly this year. Stellar Wind would have deserved the nod had she outdueled Stopchargingmaria in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, but without that victory I can't call her champion. I'm a Chatterbox was probably the most consistent of the U.S. candidates, but her eighth-place finish in the BC Distaff was damaging to her cause. Lady Eli was a sentimental favorite for overcoming laminitis, but one Grade 1 victory in a three-race campaign was not enough to put her in the top three.

4-Year-Old & Up Male: Honor Code. His wins in the Whitney Handicap and Metropolitan Handicap carried the day in a division weakened by the absence of 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome and Shared Belief for much of the year. His late-running style was compromised when no one ran with American Pharoah on the front end in the BC Classic, so a third-place finish there wasn't as disappointing as it might seem. Liam's Map was superb in winning the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and suffered an extremely tough beat by a neck in the Whitney, but opting for the Dirt Mile instead of the Classic took him out of the running for a championship. Big fish in small ponds don't earn big awards. Tonalist, who won the Jockey Club Gold Cup for a second straight year and the Cigar Mile, did enough for third.

4-Year-Old & Up Female: Beholder. She won this award as easily as she won the Pacific Classic when she toyed the boys and beat them by 8-1/4 lengths.

Stopchargingmaria used her BC Distaff to take the second spot on the ballot and Sheer Drama, who won the Personal Ensign and Delaware Handicap, was third.

Male Sprinter: Runhappy. The 3-year-old colt lived up to his name in winning six of seven starts and sealed the deal with a victory against Private Zone in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. It should be fun to watch him again in 2016, though owner Jim McIngvale gets a big thumbs-down for dismissing trainer Maria Borelli so quickly after the Breeders' Cup. Private Zone, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and Appealing Tale completed the ballot.

Female Sprinter: Wavell Avenue. Another perplexing category. There are only a handful of Grade 1 stakes in this category, so when in doubt, go with the Breeders' Cup winner. Wavell Avenue won the division's biggest race, the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, so the championship belongs to her. Lady Shipman, the outstanding turf runner who was second to males in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, took second on my ballot and La Verdad, the BC F&M Sprint runner-up, was third.

3-Year-Old & Up Turf Male: Golden Horn. Here is another exception to my European rule. In the Breeders' Cup Turf, the best Americans, Big Blue Kitten and The Pizza Man, both finished behind Golden Horn, who merely won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in his previous start. Sounds strange to call a horse who finished second in his lone U.S. start a champion, but simply running in the Breeders' Cup a few weeks after capturing Europe's biggest race -- something only seven Arc winners have done in 32 years -- gave Golden Horn the bonus points he needed to be my top choice. The runner-up was another European, Flintshire, who won his lone U.S. start, the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga. Second a year ago in the BC Turf, he skipped this year's race, largely because of Golden Horn's presence in the field, and that was telling for me. Big Blue Kitten, who was third in the Breeders' Cup Turf, was the third choice.

3-Year-Old & Up Turf Female: Found. If you're a filly or mare and you beat the Arc winner in the Breeders' Cup Turf, how are you going to top that? No one could. Tepin, who won five of seven starts and beat males in the Breeders' Cup Mile, edged out Stephanie Kitten's, the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner, for second.

Top Owner: Zayat Stables. Yes, Ahmed Zayat owned the Grand Slam winner and that alone was enough to earn him an Eclipse Award. Yet the manner in which he campaigned his champion, keeping him in training after the Triple Crown and being enough of a sportsman to run him in the Travers, removed all doubt. Ken and Sarah Ramsey and Reddam Racing, who campaigned Nyquist, rounded out the ballot.

Top Trainer: Bob Baffert. The way the Hall of Famer prepared American Pharoah for the Triple Crown was sheer brilliance. Yet the manner in which he kept in top form through the year and had him ready for a career-best effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic off a two-month layoff was a masterpiece. There was a temptation to put Maria Borelli on the ballot, but in the end Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown were second and third, respectively.

Top Jockey: Victor Espinoza. It's a tough break for Javier Castellano, who had a sensational year, but Espinoza was at his very best in the Triple Crown and the BC Classic and that was enough to earn him the trophy. After him came Castellano and Irad Ortiz Jr.

Top Breeder: Zayat Stables. American Pharoah was a homebred. So say no more. Make it 6-for-6 for Team American Pharoah. After a year in which they and a charismatic horse proved that winning a Triple Crown -- or a Grand Slam for that matter -- was not just an idle daydream, that seems a rather fitting reward.