Several Eclipse races still up in air

LEXINGTON, Ky. – While American Pharoah already had wrapped up 2015 Eclipse Awards as both Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male before the gate opened for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, his emphatic victory provided just the right exclamation point to his year. But what of the other divisions? That’s what the Breeders’ Cup was designed to clarify, and for the most part it did its job Friday and Saturday at Keeneland, leaving only a handful of divisions still to be debated before ballots go out to Eclipse Award voters next month.

There are still several important graded races to be run, particularly on Thanksgiving weekend at Aqueduct, Churchill Downs, and Del Mar, allowing for 11th hour bids to be made. But, for the most part, all was settled last weekend. The slam dunks include Nyquist, who completed his unbeaten season with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to secure champion 2-year-old male, and Songbird, whose dominating victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies left no doubt as to whom the Eclipse Award will go to as champion 2-year-old filly.

Even though Beholder had to scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Classic, she seems certain to easily outpoll Stopchargingmaria, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner, and Wedding Toast for champion older female, which would be the third Eclipse Award earned by Beholder. More challenging, though, are divisions like champion female turf runner, female sprinter, 3-year-old filly, and male turf horse.

Tepin, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and Stephanie’s Kitten, who captured the Filly and Mare Turf, completed campaigns worthy of a championship for female turf horse. Tepin would appear to have the edge, though, having won three Grade 1 races to Stephanie’s Kitten’s two, and having finished in front of Stephanie’s Kitten in their lone head-to-head meeting, the Diana. Found, who beat the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, also could get some support.

Wavell Avenue won the biggest race of the year for female sprinters, the Filly and Mare Sprint, defeating most of the other leading contenders for the title. However, that was her lone stakes win of the year, so voters will have to decide if that trumps the body of work of La Verdad, who was 6 for 6 entering the race and split two decisions with Wavell Avenue. Test winner Cavorting also should get some votes.

There are a multitude of contenders for champion 3-year-old filly, including Lovely Maria, the Kentucky Oaks winner; I’m a Chatterbox, a Grade 1 winner who was disqualified from a second Grade 1 win; Curalina, who was put up in the Coaching Club American Oaks and owns two Grade 1 wins; Stellar Wind, a Grade 1 winner who beat both Curalina and I’m a Chatterbox when just missing against elders in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff; Cavorting, who was the best sprinter of the bunch; and Found. There also could be strong support for Lady Eli, who won all three of her starts this year and was widely believed by many voters to have been a deserving winner last year at age 2, when she was outpolled by Take Charge Brandi.

With fillies beating males in both the Mile and the Turf, the male turf division has no obvious front-runner. Although both lost the Turf, Big Blue Kitten and The Pizza Man had the most-accomplished campaigns, with Big Blue Kitten having won two Grade 1 races and The Pizza Man the Grade 1 Arlington Million. Flintshire’s lone U.S. appearance, a win in the Sword Dancer, gives him a big shot, too.

Honor Code could only manage to finish third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but victories in important races like the Met Mile and Whitney make him the favorite for champion older male over Liam’s Map. Liam’s Map was narrowly beaten by Honor Code in the Whitney, won the Woodward, and overcame a brutal trip to win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Effinex, runner-up in the Classic, and Tonalist also had very good years and seem likely to battle for the third spot among the division’s finalists. The brilliant Runhappy overcame the dysfunction in his camp to win the definitive race for his division, the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and give him a pair of Grade 1 wins and the edge over Sprint runner-up Private Zone in the race for champion male sprinter.

As for the human awards, the star power of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah could prove pivotal. Bob Baffert trails both Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown in purse earnings among trainers, but his handling of American Pharoah was sublime, and he hasn’t won a personal Eclipse Award since three straight wins from 1997-99. But both Brown and Pletcher won a pair of Breeders’ Cup races and have won more graded stakes this year than Baffert.

Victor Espinoza is sixth among jockeys in purse earnings, a list topped by Javier Castellano, Irad Ortiz Jr., and John Velazquez, but he has never won an Eclipse Award as champion jockey. He is second in stakes earnings to Castellano, who has won the Eclipse Award as champion jockey the past two years.

Ahmed Zayat, owner of American Pharoah, leads all owners in purse earnings and is far and away the leader in purse earnings in stakes races. Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who have been named champion owner three times in the last four years, are second on both lists. Zayat also bred American Pharoah. In both 1973 and 1978, the connections of Triple Crown winners – Secretariat and Affirmed – earned Eclipse Awards as both owner and breeder. In 1977, neither the breeder of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew nor the ownership group – which had purchased him as a yearling – won Eclipse Awards. The Ramseys, who have been named champion breeder the past two years, had another big year, led by homebreds and Eclipse contenders Big Blue Kitten and Stephanie’s Kitten.