Through my binoculars, the top 5 horse racing happenings of 2017

My top five for 2017:

1) Arrogate’s victory in the Dubai World Cup in March. Of his 11 races, this was the one to lead the highlight reel. It’s sad that his last three races before his retirement weren’t up to his high standards, but that shouldn’t detract from the greatness he showed at 3 and early in his 4-year-old season. It did mean that I couldn’t rank him better than third among older dirt males on my Eclipse ballot though.

2) Gun Runner’s emergence as best older dirt horse. While the son of Candy Ride showed talent at 2 and 3, 2017 will go down as the year he established himself as a dominating presence among older males. He won four Grade 1 stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and a Grade 3 during the year, his only setback coming in the aforementioned Dubai World Cup. That earned him my vote as best older male and Horse of the Year. We should get one more chance to see him in action on Jan. 27, when he is expected to go in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

3) The development of the brothers Ortiz as top jockeys. Despite missing most of December with a knee injury, Jose Ortiz appears poised to dethrone Javier Castellano as the Eclipse Award winner, with 266 victories and $27.2 million in earnings – tops in North America. Brother Irad’s 2017 was nearly as stellar, with 314 victories, most of any rider through Wednesday, and $22.81 million in earnings. The bros from Puerto Rico also gave the sport some mainstream media exposure through a recent profile in the New Yorker.

4) The first Breeders’ Cup hosted by Del Mar. The Del Mar Turf Club put its best foot forward in hosting the thoroughbred world championships for the first time. The decision to limit the crowd to 37,538 was a good one, as the stands were full but not oppressively crowded. And the weather was lovely. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the series return within five years.

5) Changes in reporting and withholding regulations on parimutuel wagers. The decision by the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service in September to change how multihorse and multirace wagers are calculated had an immediate impact on horseplayers and racetracks. Nationwide, total wagering in November was up 6.4 percent year over year, despite a 1.3 percent decline in the number of races run.

#RJhorseracing featured races

The #RJhorseracing handicappers aren’t about to let 2017 slip away without trying to wring a few more dollars out of the parimutuel pools. This week’s prey: The American Oaks (Gr 1) and the Midnight Lute Stakes (Gr. 3) on Saturday at Santa Anita.

In the Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/4 miles on the turf, the ‘cappers are narrowly backing New Money Honey, the 7-2 third choice on the morning line, over Rymska (5-2) and Daddys Lil Darling (3-1). I like their line of thinking, too.

“Freshened, like her to stalk in early position. (Will) get jump turning home,” writes regular contributor Mas Yoshinaga.

In the Midnight Lute Stakes, they have a dead heat between Masochistic (5-2) and Americanize (2-1) in the top spot, with Calculator (4-1) holding down third. I’ll take a stab here with defending champ Solid Wager (10-1), who should get a good pace to run at.

We’d love to have you join us in the new year. Email me at the address below for details on how you can get involved.

Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter.