Seven Year Old Horse- NIGHT SHIFT x ROBERTO x BOLD COMMANDER
Owner / Trainer - RBGSTABLE

2002 Record: 16/ 8-2-2
2002 EARNINGS: $6,071,020

2002 Stakes:

WON: Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic(G1), Japan Classic(G1), Coalminer Cup(G1), Windy City Turf Classic(G1), Dawn to Dusk Cup(G2) John Scott Appreciation Stakes(G1), Buck Dharma Handicap(G3)
2nd: Breeders Bowl Turf(G1), Lots Of Luck(G1)
3rd: Doomben Cup(G1), Longstickgoboom Stakes(G2)
4th: San Francisco Capitan Handicap(G1), Gallant Socks Handicap(G3)

Voters have spoken, and they say when it comes to serving up racing on the turf, they prefer theirs with a dash of Cayenne - Joe Cayenne, that is, Sim Racing Form Eclipse Award turf male of the year for 2002.

But 2002 wasn't all a year of glory for the 8-year-old RGBStable horse. After rolling up eight wins - seven of them among graded-stakes competition - Joe Cayenne came limping home last in Sweden's Grade 2 At Night Cap on Dec. 14.

The sim-racing world was abuzz. Was Joe Cayenne injured? . Of course he was, the question was whether it would cripple his chances to win the Eclipse.

And in the end, with so little 2002 racing left to go and so many laurels already earned by Joe Cayenne, the answer was "no."

This championship season didn't start with a bang, however. For his 2002 debut, Joe Cayenne finished in fourth place - a disconcerting 25 lengths behind the winner Dusty Dance -- in Idaho's Gallant Socks Handicap, a Grade 3 event over 14 furlongs on the dirt.

But then Joe's trainer sent the Night Shift x Roberto x Bold Commander progeny back to the grass, and the show was on.

Joe Cayenne's next three races were victories, all in graded stakes company. He blitzed the field by 5 ½ lengths in Louisiana's Grade 3 Buck Dharma Handicap, then won easily in a pair of Grade 1 races, the John Scott Appreciation Stakes at Ascot and the Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic of Dubai.

A midseason slump saw the champion finish fourth, third, third and second in a quartet of stakes races, all of them graded, three of them Grade 1. But he bounced back with four wins in his next five starts, taking the Grade 3 Dawn to Dusk Handicap on the lawn at Longchamp, an expensive allowance race in New York (his only run not among a graded stakes field), the Grade 1 Windy City Turf Classic in Illinois, and Ascot's Grade 1 Coalminer Cup. A seventh-place finish in Kentucky's Grade 2 Bluegrass Cup Turf was the only disappointment in that stretch.

After finishing a competitive second to fellow Turf Male Award nominee Project Thor in the Breeder's Bowl Turf, Joe Cayenne picked up his last victory of 2002 on the lawn in Japan. He ran one of his finest races of the season to win the 12-furlong, Grade 1 Japan Classic, just three weeks before that disappointing day in December when his year came to an end.

His season mark: 16 starts, 8 wins, 2 places, 2 shows, and $6,071,020 in earnings.

That made Joe Cayenne more than deserving of Sim Eclipse honors in 2002, limp or no limp.

The Best of the Rest (Sim Eclipse Turf Male finalists, not in order of finish):

Green Bow: This 5-year-old Rainbow Quest x Secretariat x Crimson Satan) horse campaigned by Mano2 had a fine 2002, as well, winning six of his 16 starts, all of them on the turf. He captured Grade 1 championships at Hong Kong's Might and Power Turf Classic Ascot's Big Turf Race, and the Sim Appreciation Week Thanks Snowchief and Roys stakes on the lawn in Vermont. His other three wins were a Grade 3 event and a pair of allowances. Green Bow's final 2002 record was 16 starts, 6 wins, 1 place, 4 shows, and $1,227,050 in earnings.

Project Thor: A definite contender wherever he ran, this 7-year-old son of With Approval out of a Dust Commander x Minnesota Mac mare thundered to four wins in 2002. The RPilling connections campaigned Project Thor all over the globe, capturing championships in two of the most prestigious events in racing - the Grade 1 Movieland Turf Cup and Breeder's Bowl Turf. Project Thor's final marks for 2002 were 18 starts, 4 wins, 3 places, 4 shows, and $2,237,750 in earnings.

Stormy Prospector: Trainer Bertamiran worked this 8-year-old son of Storm Bird into the winner's circle on three different occasions among 17 starts in 2002. Amazingly, all three victories were in Grade 1 events - the San Francisco Captain Handicap, Sword Swallower Stakes and Canada Turf. His final statistics for 2002 included 17 starts, 3 wins, 2 places, 1 show, including several dirt events, and $1,591,750 in earnings.

Volotile Nijinsky: This 5-year-old son of Semi Northern out of a Nijinsky II x Delta Judge mare was probably Joe Cayenne's biggest challenger for the honors. Aside from two dabbles on the dirt (both placings) Volotile Nijinsky stuck to the grass, running there 16 times, almost always at a mile, and winning nine races. Titleist's title contender started his season in style with a championship in the Grade 1 A.S.R. Mile on the grass in Italy, and followed that up with back-to-back Grade 2 wins. He captured Ascot's Grade 1 All Comers Stakes, and two more Grade 1 crowns in the Canada Mile and the G.S.R. Mile, the latter again on the lawn in Italy. Each of Volotile Nijinsky's nine wins was a stakes race, eight of them graded. His final tally for 2002 was 18 starts, 9 wins, 3 places, 2 shows, and $2,953,000 earned.

Race ID	Trk	RST	S	D	Race	Time	SP#	#	PP	C1	C2	C3	FIN	Jockey	Odds
1607.5215	SW	3yo+	T	12	At Night Cap -G2	2:30 2/5	3	14	13	14 15-1/2	14 29-1/2	14 dist	14 dist	R Rickford	2.60
1586.5015	JP	3yo+	T	12	Japan Classic -G1	2:29	120	14	8	8 5-3/4	7 8-1/4	3 3	1 1-1/2	W Ratzlaff	4.40
1558.0714	IL	3yo+	T	12	Breeders Bowl Turf -G1	2:29	116	14	9	5 5-1/4	5 7-1/2	4 4-1/4	2 4-3/4	P Munoz	5.30
1537.5315	A1	3yo+	T	12	Coalminer Cup -G1	2:30 4/5	107	10	10	2 1-3/4	2 2	1 3-1/4	1 1-1/4	M Zerr	1.90
1523.0315	KY	3yo+	T	12	Bluegrass Cup Turf -G2	2:29 3/5	95	9	7	7 7-1/2	7 12-1/2	6 18-3/4	7 24-3/4	I Hoge	1.90
1488.0715	IL	3yo+	T	10	Windy City Turf Classic -G1	2:00 2/5	121	14	4	2 ns	1 1	1 2-1/4	1 4-1/4	W Kozak	6.80
1474.0404	NY	3yo+	T	10	Alw-49200	2:03 2/5	99	9	1	2 4	2 5-3/4	2 2-1/4	1 5-1/2	P Lewis	.30
1460.3515	E3	3yo+	T	12	Dawn to Dusk Cup -G2	2:29 3/5	115	11	7	5 4-1/4	5 6	2 1/4	1 5-3/4	B Wu	1.70
1446.5911	IR	3yo+	T	12	-G1	2:30 1/5	108	11	9	6 4-1/4	6 6	3 1-1/2	2 3-1/2	A Reed	4.00
1432.4913	E5	4yo+	T	12	The Longstickgoboom Stakes -G2	2:30 2/5	98	6	6	3 3-1/2	3 6	3 10-1/2	3 15-1/2	L Perry	1.20
1411.5515	A3	4yo+	T	10	Doomben Cup -G1	2:01	104	11	3	11 9-1/4	10 14-1/2	7 15-1/4	3 12	F Miller	2.40
1369.0115	CA	4yo+	T	12	San Francisco Capitan Handicap -G1	2:30 2/5	106	8	2	2 3	2 3-3/4	1 1-1/2	4 5-1/4	M Dorsey	1.00
1341.5113	DB	4yo+	T	12	Sand Castle Golden Turf Classic -G1	2:30 4/5	108	13	13	3 3	3 4-1/4	2 2	1 3-1/4	M Hull	1.80
1320.5315	A1	4yo+	T	12	John Scott Appreciation Stakes -G1	2:30 3/5	108	9	3	3 4-1/2	3 6-1/2	2 2-1/4	1 6-1/2	R Kowalkowski	1.20
1278.0503	LA	3yo+	T	11	Buck Dharma Handicap -G3	2:15 1/5	116	8	2	4 3	3 4-1/4	2 1	1 5-3/4	D Hogin	.60
1264.3002	ID	4yo+	D	13	Gallant Socks Handicap -G3	2:43 3/5	104	14	6	5 8	3 13	3 16-3/4	4 25	A Randle	2.40