The first Saturday of 2012 features a pair of early-season Triple Crown preps on opposite coasts.

The series of New York races leading up to the classics gets underway with the Count Fleet Stakes at a mile and 70 yards at Aqueduct. With the purse rising from $65,000 to $150,000, the event has attracted a solid field, led by Alpha and Stephanoatsee.

Alpha, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Goldolphin, was an impressive maiden winner at Saratoga before running second in the Champagne. He left his race in the starting gate when 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The son of Bernardini is a major player if he arrives in top mental form here.

Stephanoatsee is a half-brother to three graded winners, including Preakness hero Shackleford and Alabama winner Lady Joanne. Trained by Graham Motion, the son of AP Indy, who broke his maiden at Laurel last fall, was seven in the Remsen last November, but was victimized by a slow pace.

New York’s prep series continues with the $200,000 Withers (G3) on Feb. 4, the $400,000 Gotham (G3) on March 3 and the $1 million Wood Memorial (G1) April 7. It will be fascinating to see how the fields shape up with these increased purses.

Meanwhile, Santa Anita cards the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, featuring the 3-year-old debut of Secret Circle. The son of Eddington went 3-for-3 in 2011, capping his season with a victory in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint. However, the one-mile Sham marks his first start beyond six furlongs - a clear turning point for the colt, owned by Mike Pegram and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

Hierro, an impressive maiden winner at the Churchill Downs fall meet for Steve Asmussen, makes his stakes debut here. The colt is by Hard Spun, one of the top freshman sires of 2011.

The finalists for the Eclipse Awards, honoring accomplishments during the 2011 racing season, were released on Thursday.

2-year-old male
Creative Cause
Hansen
Union Rags

2-year-old female
Grace Hall
My Miss Aurelia
Stephanie’s Kitten

3-year-old male
Animal Kingdom
Caleb’s Posse
Shackleford

3-year-old female
It’s Tricky
Plum Pretty
Royal Delta

Older male
Acclamation
Game On Dude
Tizway

Older female
Awesome Maria
Blind Luck
Havre de Grace

Male sprinter
Amazombie
Caleb’s Posse
Regally Ready

Female sprinter
Hilda’s Passion
Musical Romance
Sassy Image

Male turf
Acclamation
Cape Blanco
St Nicholas Abbey

Female turf
Dubawi Heights
Perfect Shirl
Stacelita

Steeplechase
Black Jack Blues
Decoy Daddy
Tax Ruling

Owner
Midwest Thoroughbreds
Ken and Sarah Ramsey
Team Valor

Breeders
Adena Springs
Brereton Jones
Ken and Sarah Ramsey

Trainer
Bob Baffert
Bill Mott
Todd Pletcher

Jockey
Javier Castellano
Ramon Dominguez
John Velazquez

Apprentice jockey
Ryan Curatolo
Kyle Frey
Rosario Montanez

The biggest surprise, in my book, is that Animal Kingdom was named a finalist among 3-year-old males, rather than Stay Thirsty. In a season when the division was all over the place, Animal Kingdom’s powerful Kentucky Derby victory and hard-charging Preakness runner-up effort obviously continue to resonate with voters, even though the colt wasn’t able to compete past June. Stay Thirsty, despite faltering in some of the season’s major races, put together a yearlong campaign with a number of notable wins.

Let’s look at the resumes side by side:

Animal Kingdom
Won: Kentucky Derby (G1), Spiral Stakes (G3)
Second: Preakness Stakes (G1), allowance/optional
Season record: 5-2-2-0, $1,904,900

Stay Thirsty
Won: Travers Stakes (G1), Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), Gotham Stakes (G3)
Second: Belmont Stakes (G1)
Third: Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1)
Season record: 8-3-1-1, $1,325,000

Stay Thirsty’s unplaced efforts in the Derby and Classic, and his lack of a win outside New York, likely would cost him the divisional title; Caleb’s Posse and Shackleford are the clear frontrunners for the award. Still, one would think that this colt deserved to be a finalist. He picked up three Grade 1 wins or placings — including one against older horses — compared to two in the division for Animal Kingdom. He also has five total graded wins or placings to his rival’s three.

The Eclipse Awards will be presented Jan. 16 in a ceremony in Beverly Hills, Calif.

One horse who we already know is being honored at the awards dinner is Rapid Redux, the most famous starter allowance runner in America. The gelding, who notched an incredible 22nd consecutive win on Wednesday at Laurel, will be presented with the Special Eclipse Award – an honor that’s bestowed when a horse’s accomplishments fall outside the usual parameters for the divisional awards. Rapid Redux scored 19 consecutive victories in 2011, tying a record for calendar-year wins.

Greetings and a belated Happy New Year from my corner of The Saratogian's newsroom!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more - and fortunately, Gulfstream Park gave me the perfect opportunity to do so by staging the first running of the Gulfstream Park Derby on New Year's Day.

For the uninitiated, all Thoroughbreds officially turn a year older on Jan. 1, regardless of their actual date of foaling. The Gulfstream Park Derby was open to the newly-turned 3-year-olds of 2012 who are taking their first steps on the road to this year's Kentucky Derby.

The mile-and-a-sixteenth event was won by Reveron, who was making his first start around two turns after posting back-to-back wins at Calder. The colt, who hasn't missed the board in five starts, is by the speedy Songandaprayer, a graded winner best known for running the fastest opening half-mile in Kentucky Derby history before backing up to finish unplaced in 2001. However, Reveron does get a dose of stamina from his female family. Presumably, he'll continue down Florida's series of Triple Crown preps, meaning we'll get to see him against tougher competition and at longer distances.

Finishing second in his stakes debut was Casual Trick, who was an impressive maiden winner at Churchill Downs last fall for Hall of Famer Nick Zito.

As we turn our attention to this 3-year-old crop, make sure to go back and read columnist Michael Veitch's first ranking of the Triple Crown contenders, which was published Sunday. My top 10 list will be out in Thursday's edition of The Saratogian.