Eclipse Award

Why I Voted for Taiba

Who was the most talented 3-year-old male to race this year? I will not argue with anyone who says the answer is Epicenter (Not This Time). He won the GII Louisiana Derby, finished second in the GI Kentucky Derby and second in the GI Preakness S. From there, he won the GII Jim Dandy S. and the GI Runhappy Travers S. before an injury kept him from finishing the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Other than the Classic, he finished first or second in all of his starts and won four...

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Kimura, Casse Win 2022 Woodbine Titles

Eclipse and Sovereign Award winner Kazushi Kimura earned his second consecutive Woodbine jockey crown at the recently concluded Woodbine Thoroughbred meet with 152 wins. Overall his mounts earned $8.9 million (CDN). Born in Hokkaido, Japan, Kimura joined the Woodbine jockey colony as a 19-year-old apprentice in 2018. He finished his first Woodbine campaign sixth in the standings with 89 wins and his mounts totaled more than $2.3 million in earnings which earned him an Eclipse Award as North America's outstanding apprentice jockey. He also took home the Sovereign Award as...

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'Ring The Bell' Program Returns to Oaklawn to Benefit Aftercare

After some test rings last spring, Oaklawn's fund-raising efforts for local Thoroughbred aftercare began in earnest Dec. 9 with the opening of its scheduled 68-day live racing season. The final six days of the 2021-2022 meeting raised $14,000 through the new "Ring the Bell" program, which gives winning connections following each race an opportunity to donate at least $100 toward aftercare. Money raised is earmarked for the Arkansas Thoroughbred Retirement Program and Rehabilitation Foundation Inc., a collaboration between the Arkansas division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Oaklawn....

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Will Take Charge To Darley Japan

Champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song--Take Charge Lady, by Dehere), whose 13 black-type winners includes this year's GI Hollywood Gold Cup hero There Goes Harvard, will join the stallion roster at Darley Japan in 2023, according to a post on the nursery's website. Will Take Charge has stood his first eight seasons at stud at Three Chimneys Farm. Campaigned by the late Willis Horton during his first two seasons at the races and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Will Take Charge won the 2013 GI Travers S. and GII Pennsylvania...

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2022 Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

Eclipse Award-winning sprinters Star de Naskra and Smoke Glacken are the newest inductees to the Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Fame after a vote by a committee of Maryland racing industry members coordinated by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland Racing Media Association. This year's inductees will be celebrated during a ceremony between races at Timonium Saturday, Sept. 3. The newest honorees, with biographies, photos, videos and complete race records, will be showcased on-line at www.mdthoroughbredhalloffame.com. "With the Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Fame inductees each year we are able to...

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Monomoy Girl Retired

Two-time champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar--Drumette, by Henny Hughes) has been retired from racing after she was discovered to have sustained an injury during training Tuesday at Churchill Downs, co-owner Spendthrift Farm announced Wednesday. "Monomoy Girl went out for a routine gallop Tuesday morning and came back a little off in her right front leg. We had it x-rayed and found a non-displaced fracture of the sesamoid. Obviously, we're very disappointed," said trainer Brad Cox. "She's walking sound today and it's not anything that will require surgery. It's just unfortunate that...

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Swiss Skydiver To Scratch From Phipps

Peter Callahan's Eclipse Award winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), the joint second choice on the morning line for Saturday's $500,000 GI Ogden Phipps S. at Belmont Park, will be scratched from the race after spiking a fever. "Unfortunately Swiss Skydiver had a 104 fever this morning. We are a scratch," trainer Ken McPeek tweeted early Friday. "We've treated her to knock down the fever and will regroup later in the season." Last year's GI Preakness S. upsetter returned from her winter's rest to romp by 2 3/4 lengths in the GI...

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Crispin Awarded Eclipse for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey

Continuing the influx of Puerto Rican jockeys transferring their skills adroitly to racing in the mainland U.S., Alexander Crispin made a name for himself on the mid-Atlantic circuit in 2020. The 22-year-old, who studied at the famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica Agustin Mercado Reveron jockey school that produced John Velazquez, both Ortiz brothers, Manny Franco and myriad other successful Puerto Rican riders, Crispin first landed at Turfway Park in March and bounced around to Belterra Park and Indiana Grand before settling in the mid-Atlantic at Delaware Park in the summer. That's...

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WinStar Named Outstanding Breeder at Eclipse Awards

Leading the way with five Grade I victories in 2020, including a win in the second leg of the Triple Crown and a GI Kentucky Oaks exacta, WinStar Farm was recognized as Outstanding Breeder. It was the third Eclipse Award for Kenny Troutt's operation and second as Outstanding Breeder (2016). WinStar ranked second overall via breeder earnings in 2020, trailing only Calumet Farm, capturing 148 victories from 1,106 starters, and $9,221,764 in earnings. Top horses in 2020 bred by WinStar include: Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) (GI Preakness S. and GI Alabama...

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Adrian Wallace on First-Crop Yearling Sires Classic Empire and Cupid

Three of Ashford Stud's Grade I-winning stallions will be in the limelight in the coming weeks as they are represented by their first crop of yearlings in the sales ring. Three-time GIW Practical Joke (Into Mischief), the regally-bred Cupid (Tapit) and juvenile champion Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) all ranked amongst the top of their class with the sale of their weanlings, and now look to continue the streak with their yearlings. We sat down with Coolmore's Adrian Wallace and discussed two of the young sires. [tdn_vimeo_embed title="Cupid and Classic...

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Perfect Sting Touches Many Over Multi-Decade Career

The $100,000 Perfect Sting S. at Saratoga features a talented field with several older mares who have the potential to be racing at Keeneland come November. The mile-and-a-sixteenth turf race will feature two Chad Brown trainees in Grade III winner Café Americano (Medaglia d'Oro) and the French-bred Altea (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), as well as Graham Motion's three-time graded stakes winner Secret Message (Hat Trick {Jpn}). Last year, the race was run over Belmont's turf and won by Uni (GB) (More Than Ready), who would go on to claim the GI...

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Maximum Security Makes Belated California Debut in San Diego H.

Eclipse Award winner Maximum Security (New Year's Day) makes his first start for trainer Bob Baffert and first since the federal indictment of former trainer Jason Servis in Saturday's rescheduled GII San Diego H. at Del Mar. The homebred was a two-time Grade I winner during his championship campaign in 2019, taking the GI Florida Derby and GI Haskell Invitational S. around his disqualification from an apparent victory in the GI Kentucky Derby. He proved his versatility and did what no other horse of his generation could at the tail...

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