Here's a breakdown of the percentage of the total vote each Eclipse Award winner earned within his division. There were 242 ballots cast; categories in which the total vote below is under 242 reflect abstentions. (For example, Good Night Shirt received 217 of 219 votes in the Steeplechase division, meaning 23 voters abstained.)
It's interesting that you can win an Eclipse with as much as 99 percent, or as little as 20 percent, of the votes cast. Of the 17 winners, 10 received at least 70 percent of the vote, while three received under 50 percent.
For a link to the complete vote breakdown by division, click here.
And here's a set of the winning horses' past performances to tide you over until the 2009 American Racing Manual comes out this spring.
Last year's results, when 267 ballots were cast, were more definitive: 10 of the 17 winners got 90 percent of the vote or more, and no winner received less than 50 percent:
