It's that time of year when I have the privilege --and agony -- of voting for the winners of thoroughbred racing's cherished Eclipse Awards.

The awards are decided by members of the National Turf Writers Association, Daily Racing Form and racing secretaries.

My ballot is something that I started thinking about after Ghostzapper won the Breeders' Cup Classic Oct. 30.

His season of four wins in four races at distances ranging from 7 furlongs to 1¹*₄ miles clearly marked him as the best of the older horses, but was it enough for me to vote for him as Horse of the Year?

After all, there was Smarty Jones to consider. He may have fallen a length short in his bid for the Triple Crown and prematurely retired due to an injury, but that did not reduce the impact the charismatic horse had on racing fans and the public in general.

I went back and forth on the question for two months because there are no specific guidelines on what makes a Horse of the Year. In the end, I decided to treat my decision as if it were a Most Valuable Player award. From that viewpoint, Smarty Jones got my vote.

He did as much to attract the attention of the non-racing public as Funny Cide and the movie "Seabiscuit" did the previous year, and that impact cannot be dismissed.

Unfortunately, there's probably not one soul outside of racing who knows who Ghostzapper is.

That done, I went back to voting for the divisional champions, for which you must vote and rank three candidates for your ballot to count.

As I said, Ghostzapper was an easy pick as champion older male. Second- and third-best? Classic runner-up Roses in May and Funny Cide respectively.

My picks for runners-up to Smarty Jones were Breeders' Cup Turf runner-up Kitten's Joy and Birdstone, who beat Smarty out of the Triple Crown.

I voted for Afleet Alex as champion 2-year-old colt, followed by Roman Ruler and Rockport Harbor, the John Servis-trained 2-year-old who came out of nowhere late to go 4 for 4, including two graded stakes.

For 2-year-old filly, I voted for Breeders' Cup winner Sweet Catomine, followed by Balletto and Runway Model.

My choice for champion 3-year-old filly was Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Ashado, followed by Stellar Jane and Society Selection.

I won't bore you with my three rankings in the other categories, just the first-place vote-getters. I picked Azeri as champion older female, Speightstown as champion sprinter, Kitten's Joy as male turf champion, and Ouija Board as champion female grass horse.

NYRA to go private?

According to Thoroughbred Times Today, former National Thoroughbred Racing Association commissioner Tim Smith is working on a "fledgling business effort" based on proposals to privatize the New York Racing Association.

It currently is a state-licensed non-profit organization.

Called Friends of New York Racing, "it's still in the formative stages -- it's not really up and running," said NTRA public relations consultant Chip Tuttle. "He's reaching out to lots of different people within the New York racing community."

Alternatives to slots

Tom Meeker, CEO of Churchill Downs, Inc., says slots no longer are a solution to racing's problems and more creative means of raising money are needed.

"It used to be that racinos were there to serve the horsemen and tracks -- to stimulate agribusiness and provide a new revenue stream -- but there's been a change in why states approve racings," Meeker said in a keynote address at the annual Racing and Gaming Summit in Tucson, Ariz.

"The goal of developing the economy has yielded to the states looking to simply alleviate their budget concerns; the tail wags the dog."

Horse bits

Storm Bird, the sire of top stallion Storm Cat and 1990 Preakness Stakes winner Summer Squall, was euthanized Dec., 3 following a bout with colic. He was 26. ... Robby Albarado recorded his 3,000th career victory Dec. 9 with Isle of Silver in the sixth race at Fair Grounds. ... The Turf Publicists of America have voted Servis, trainer of Smarty Jones, its 2004 Big Sport of Turfdom Award. ... John Velazquez has been named to replace Jeremy Rose on Afleet Alex for the Triple Crown campaign.