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.

Belmont Park hosted a pair of Grade 1 events for juveniles on Saturday, and, befitting the stature of the events, both were won by promising runners who are stars on the rise. Union Rags overcame an eventful trip to win by better than five lengths going away in the Champagne, contested for the 141st time Saturday. A little earlier, My Miss Aurelia drew off to a dominant win in the Frizette for fillies.

Both 2-year-olds are now 3-for-3 lifetime, including graded wins this past summer at Saratoga. My Miss Aurelia was victorious in the Grade 2 Adirondack, while Union Rags won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special a day later.

Read more about these two exciting young horses in today's Rising Stars column.

Horse of the Year candidate Tizway, winner of the Whitney Handicap this summer at Saratoga, took a little road trip Wednesday morning, shipping to Belmont to work a mile as he continues to prepare for the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The son of two-time Classic winner Tiznow went the mile in 1:38.47 under exercise rider Andreas Catalan.

Tizway will come into the Classic off nearly a three-month layoff after being forced to miss the Jockey Club Gold Cup with a fever. The horse has been training regularly over Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track, but trainer Jim Bond wanted a better gauge of where he was at in his preparation. So he took him to Belmont, where Tizway won the Metropolitan Mile in near-record time.

Tizway will return to Saratoga tomorrow and will have his final work here eight or nine days before the Classic.

Welcome to our live blog for Travers Day! For live race results and other breaking information, follow us on Twitter (@thepinksheet) or visit Saratogian.com.

2:55 p.m.: With just under three hours to go til the Travers, it looks like we WILL beat the rain out! Some clouds, and it's muggy out, but still pretty bright outside. Track fast (and perhaps favoring speed), turf firm.

The field for our first stakes, the Ballston Spa, is about to head to the paddock. Will be going down with them. Keep an eye on Twitter for race results and photos, as well as stake recaps on Saratogian.com as soon as they're official.

1:14 p.m.: So strange that we are four races into the card and we'd typically only have one race down by now! Chad Brown just won the fourth race on the card with Good Prospect. Don't forget, Brown starts his first Travers runner today.

12:01 p.m.: Won't be difficult to spot Mike Repole (who starts King's Bishop favorite Uncle Mo and Travers favorite Stay Thirsty) today. Most of the friends and family in his entourage are sporting the blue-and-orange colors of his stable. The interesting accessories spotted so far include fedoras, feathered fascinators, ties, and dress shoes.

11:40 a.m.: Pretty Boy Freud just triggered a $102.50 payoff in the opener. Hello!

10:32 a.m.: The press office just reported that no decision has been made yet on the status of tomorrow's race card. An announcement is expected before the end of today's program. Simulcasting at Belmont and Aqueduct has been cancelled.

10:11 a.m.: Uncle Mo's maiden victory is replaying on the infield toteboard.

7:30 a.m.: Here's the scene as the sun rose over the Spa this morning:

We also witnessed a Travers tradition - the mad dash of patrons through the gates to secure picnic tables. It's horse racing's version of Black Friday. The crowd stretched around the corner when I turned into the Union Avenue gate this morning at 6 a.m. At precisely 7, standing on the roof, a roar became audible from the direction of the gates, followed by the sight of hundreds of fans running through the trees. Said photographer and Saratogian blogger Adam Mooshian: "Now I know how Custer felt."

2:35 a.m.: All horses are on the grounds after Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice arrived after an uneventful van ride from Monmouth Park in New Jersey. Arriving just under the wire for a race is nothing new to this gelding - he shipped to Belmont Park the morning of the race and was on a van back to New Jersey less than two hours after crossing the finish line. Saratoga will be the eighth track he's competed over in nine starts.

Happy Travers Day!

4:05 p.m.: The seventh race is getting set to go off, and then the eighth through 10th races are our stakes for the day. I'll be heading downstairs to the paddock and rail for stakes coverage - and for obvious reasons, will not be taking the laptop down with me! You can follow our live coverage (including photos) on Twitter, and I'll be back as soon as the Whitney is over to provide more analysis.

3:58 p.m.: Uh-oh. A few raindrops starting to fall. And the track has just been sealed, meaning management could expect more weather on the way.

2:40 p.m.: Some fascinating pedigrees coming up in the day's fifth race. Gyre is by Bernardini and out of champion filly Bird Town, a half to Birdstone. Another Bernardini colt, Bayamo, is out of Banshee Winds, making him a half-brother to champion filly Banshee Breeze. The Unbridled's Song gelding Dream Steeler is out of Pilfer, making him a half to multiple graded winner To Honor And Serve.

2:20 p.m.: A good day for the locals so far. Cheyenne Nation, trained by Mechanicville native Chad Brown, won the day's first race. Currency Swap, trained by Terri Pompay of Saratoga, won the third race.

1:30 p.m.: Some good news on Bearpath, who was vanned off after yesterday's John's Call Stakes. The horse has a broken humerus and is currently comfortable on stall rest. It's not a good injury by any means, but his connections are taking it day by day. "I have no doubt he's gonna make it," jockey Freddie Lenclud posted on Facebook.

12:54 p.m.: Hello racing fans, and welcome to Whitney Day at the Spa. A field of 11 runners - 10 of them being graded winners - are set to go postward in today's marquee race later, with the winner likely to assume command of the handicap division. The big question mark is the weather. So far, the rain is holding off, but the sky is gray and the air is damp and muggy. Several of the trainers, including Jim Bond, who handles Met Mile winner Tizway, have expressed concerns about a wet track.

We took a closer look at the Whitney in today's Pink Sheet Insider:

Today's 11-race card also includes the Grade 1 Test for filly sprinters and the De La Rose for females on the turf.

We'll be live all day....as a reminder, you can also follow us on Twitter for live race results.