The Breeders' Cup Classic duel between Tiznow and Sakhee was voted the NTRA "Moment of the Year."

The Breeders' Cup Classic duel between Tiznow and Sakhee was voted the NTRA "Moment of the Year."

Mike Corrado

Tiznow/Sakhee Battle Voted NTRA's Moment of the Year

Tiznow wins again. In a year with numerous memorable moments, it was Tiznow's dramatic victory over Sakhee in the Breeders' Cup Classic that was voted the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's (NTRA) Moment of the Year.

Tiznow's connections will be honored at the Eclipse Award Dinner on February 18 in Miami Beach with the "NTRA Moment of the Year" award, as voted by the fans at the NTRA's web site, ntra.com. Voters had to choose from 10 entries:

* "Seabiscuit" moves into the top spot on The New York Times Bestseller list.
* Monarchos wins the Kentucky Derby in the second swiftest renewal ever.
* Point Given rolls to a devastating 12 1/4-lengths victory in the Belmont Stakes.
* Bobby Frankel wins two Grade I races on opposite coasts on the same day, both via disqualification (Aptitude, Senure).
* Point Given wins his fourth straight grade I, million-dollar race in the Travers Stakes.
* The Thoroughbred racing industry raises over $13 million in support of
the September 11th victims.
* Squirtle Squirt breaks the Breeders' Cup jinx for Bobby Frankel in the
Penske Auto Centers Breeders' Cup Sprint.
* Undefeated colt Johannesburg shocks Officer and others, drawing away to win the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
* Foreign invaders capture a third straight race in the World Thoroughbred Championships as Fantastic Light wins the Breeders' Cup Turf for Team Godolphin.
* Tiznow takes the Breeders' Cup Classic for a second straight year, coming back against Arc winner Sakhee.

Tiznow's victory received 53% of the vote, finishing well ahead of Point Given's Belmont Stakes victory, which came in second in the balloting. Tiznow and Point Given are two of the three finalists, along with Johannesburg, for 2001 Horse of the Year. This is the second consecutive "NTRA Moment of the Year" award for Tiznow. Last year, the stretch run of the 2000 Breeders' Cup Classic, in which Tiznow held off the challenge of Ireland's Giant's Causeway, was selected as the winner. The first-ever "NTRA Moment of the Year" was Chris Antley holding up Charismatic's leg following the 1999 Belmont Stakes, possibly saving the horse's life.

"The NTRA Moment of the Year award is a great way for the fans to play an active role in the Eclipse Awards ceremony," said Keith Chamblin, NTRA senior vice president-industry relations and marketing. "The Tiznow-Sakhee stretch duel was clearly a moment to remember and years from now, racing fans will look back and recall the stretch duel between Tiznow and Sakhee as one of the most exciting races in Breeders' Cup history, complete with all of the international flavor and spectacle synonymous with the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships."