Horse of the Year

A total of 40 nominations have been revealed for the 2021 Horse Racing Ireland Awards, which will be presented in December. Spread across seven categories, the nominees are as follows: Horse of the Year Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) Minella Indo (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}) Chacun Pour Soi (Fr) (Policy Make {Ire}) Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) National Hunt Award Henry de Bromhead Willie Mullins Paul Townend Darragh O'Keeffe  National Hunt Achievement Award Dermot...

Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind), a three-time Sovereign Award winner and Canada's Horse of the Year in 2019, was named Florida-bred Horse of the Year by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association. She also took home honors ad the Florida-bred champion older female and champion turf female for the third time in four years. Owned by Adam Corndorf and Bonnie Baskin's Blue Heaven Farm and trained by Kevin Attard, Starship Jubilee won her first four starts as a 7-year-old, taking the GIII Suwannee River S., the GII Hillsborough S. and...

The team at Three Chimneys could hardly have asked for a better start at stud for champion Gun Runner. The most expensive horse to retire to stud for the 2018 season, he filled a 171-mare book his first year, was the leading first-crop weanling sire the following year with an average exceeding $275,000, and again topped his class with his yearlings in 2020. By most accounts, the son of Candy Ride (Arg) has not done a thing wrong in his early stud career and yet, as his first crop was...

There's A Chance Stable, Medallion Racing, Abbondanza Racing LLC, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher's Horologist (Gemologist) has been crowned the Horse of the Year and champion older female by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey. Bred by Holly Crest Farm, Horologist began her 4-year-old campaign in California under the care of Richard Baltas, but was ultimately turned over to Bill Mott, for whom she posted a two-length victory in the GIII Molly Pitcher S. The 2019 GIII Monmouth Oaks heroine would go on to finish third...

Spendthrift Farm's Horse of the Year and Champion sophomore Authentic (Into Mischief) and Eclipse finalist Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) have had their first mares confirmed in foal. The winner of last season's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic stands his initial season for $75,000 S&N, while dual Grade I-winning Vekoma is standing for a fee of $20,000 S&N in 2021. From his official first day of breeding Feb. 10, Authentic has had two mares reported in foal--Aguilera (Unbridled's Song), dam of multiple stakes winner Bluegrass Singer, and stakes...

Between them, they won two Japanese Horse of the Year titles, three additional divisional awards and four major races on foreign soil. Late Sunday evening, Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) was represented by her first foal when she produced a colt by the brilliant Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}). Trained by Yoshito Yahagi and carrying the green-and-white colours of Carrot Farm, Lys Gracieux retired to stud in 2019 after winning seven of her 22 trips to the post, four of which came at the highest level. The dark bay,...

We watched him grow up before our eyes. Authentic (Into Mischief), freakishly talented, but prone to--well--mischievous behavior during the early part of 2020, was a finished product by year's end and his on-track accomplishments landed him Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old honors at Thursday's Eclipse Awards. The ceremonies were held virtually, fittingly enough and among other locations, at Spendthrift Farm, who campaigned the Peter Blum-bred son of Flawless (Mr. Greeley) in partnership with the 5300-some micro-share holders of MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing. And Authentic...

The 50th annual Eclipse Awards, honoring champions of 2020, will be held virtually Thursday beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. The ceremony, presented by Spendthrift Farm, will be televised on TVG and RTN and streamed by a number of other industry outlets, including on the TDN website. The official digital program can be viewed at NTRA.com. GI Kentucky Derby and GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic (Into Mischief) appears likely to take home Horse of the Year honors, along with champion 3-year-old male for a 2020 campaign that also included...

Authentic (Into Mischief), winner of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic; 'TDN Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip), a dual Grade I winner and runner-up in the Classic; and Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), who capped a four-for-four season with a second victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, are the finalists for 2020 Horse of the Year as Eclipse Award finalists were announced Saturday on TVG. Authentic is one of three individual Eclipse finalists in four separate categories for the all-conquering Into Mischief, whose daughter Gamine was...

American Horse of the Year Azeri (Jade Hunter-Zodiac Miss {Aus}, by Ahonoora {GB}) has been pensioned from broodmare duty. The chestnut will instead become a lead horse, educating weanlings and yearlings at the Northern Horse Park in Japan according to a recent video posted by the park. The news was first reported by Daily Racing Form. Bred by Allen E. Paulson, Azeri raced in his living trust's colors to wins in 11 Grade I races, while picking up titles as Champion Older Mare in 2002/03/04 and a Horse of the...

With COVID-19 preventing the traditional ceremony from taking place, this year's Cartier Awards will be broadcast on Sky Sports Racing from 8 p.m. on Nov. 20. Laurent Feniou, managing director of Cartier UK, said, "In what has proved to be a year in which so many people have faced exceptional challenges, I am delighted for the Cartier Racing Awards to be broadcast on Sky Sports Racing. Despite the cancellation of our traditional dinner and ceremony at The Dorchester, we are thrilled to have the racing public join us to watch...

Trainer Kenny McPeek joins this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast coming off an unforgettable weekend with two Grade I wins including one with filly Swiss Skydiver in the GI Preakness S.