Breeders’ Cup Photo ©
With another fantastic and memorable edition of the Breeders’ Cup in the history books, talk has turned to the year-end Eclipse awards. Some of the categories have clear-cut standout candidates that should win in a landslide, but a few are much more contentious.
To start, American Pharoah is a shoo-in for Horse of the Year and champion 3yo male honors, while Songbird (2yo female), Nyquist (2yo male), Runhappy (male sprinter), and Beholder (older female) are also heavily-favored to win their titles. Female turf horse is more wide-open, with Tepin, Stephanie’s Kitten, and Found all worthy of consideration, but Tepin’s three grade I wins and her romp in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. I) should be more than enough to secure the title. The same goes for the female sprinter award–La Verdad went 6-for-7 in 2015, with her lone defeat being a runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I), and should win this award quite comfortably in the end.
Slightly more contentious is the older male award, in which Honor Code and Liam’s Map are the primary contenders. Honor Code won three graded stakes races this year, including the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) and Whitney Stakes (gr. I), and while he ended the year with two defeats, one was a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I). In contrast, Liam’s Map ended the year with consecutive wins in the Woodward Stakes (gr. I) and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I), but was beaten a head by Honor Code in the Whitney. It could be a close vote, but at this point, I think Honor Code has the edge and deserves the title.
But the two most contentious awards of all are the champion 3yo filly and champion turf male awards. The latter lacks a standout because the two biggest races of the year for turf males–the Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. I) and the Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. I)–were both won by fillies. There has been some support for Flintshire, the European shipper that won the Sword Dancer Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga in dominating fashion, but my belief is that the Eclipse awards should be for U.S.-based runners, and generally should not be given to foreign-based horses that won a single race in the United States. This leaves Big Blue Kitten and The Pizza Man as the most logical choices, and I think Big Blue Kitten has the advantage off his wins in the United Nations (gr. I) and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (gr. I), as well as his second- and third-place efforts in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. I), Arlington Million (gr. I), and Manhattan Stakes (gr. I).
As for the 3yo filly award, this one is extremely wide-open. Among the dirt fillies, I’m a Chatterbox and Stellar Wind compiled the best records, but neither one more than one grade I race, and I’m a Chatterbox was soundly beaten in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (gr. I). Stellar Wind fared better in the Distaff, finishing second, but didn’t race much in the second half of the year and could only finish fourth in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I). Keeping all this in mind, one can make a case that perhaps Lady Eli should be given the award, as she went 3-for-3 on turf this year, culminating with a spectacular win in Belmont Oaks (gr. I). I think she was the most talented filly in her crop, and if voters can overlook her short campaign, she could be a deserving choice for the award.
