For Eclipse Award purposes, it’s a tough year to be a turf female

The Breeders’ Cup is still a few weeks away, but at this point in the year, it’s not too early to start discussing the Eclipse Awards. A few divisions are pretty well wrapped up, and it’s one of those that has me intrigued and a bit blue, if I’m being honest. You see, with the mighty Tepin leading the way, it’s a tough year to be a turf female in terms of earning an Eclipse for your exploits.

Tepin has had a nearly perfect year, losing only in her most recent start when she became the victim of a loose on the lead front-runner. Other than that, the Queen of the Turf has been unstoppable, both at home in the U.S. and abroad. Perhaps her most impressive victory of the year came at Royal Ascot in the Group 1 Queen Anne when she had everything against her and still won. Battling an overseas trip, a lack of a nasal strip or lasix, a straight mile, and soft turf, Tepin gamely grabbed the lead inside the final furlong and prevailed by a half length at the wire. After 3 months off, she hopped the border to Canada and took down the prestigious Group 1 Woodbine Mile, making her a Grade/Group 1 winner on 2 continents and in 3 countries. With all that to her name, it’s no wonder she’s the leading Turf Female contender and also a contender in the Older Female and Horse of the Year categories.

Sticking with the older female turf runners, any other year would see the likes of Lady Eli, Miss Temple City, and Sea Calisi at the forefront of their division. Lady Eli, previously undefeated, overcame a life-threatening battle with laminitis to return to top form on the track. In her first start back, she ran a close second in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa. That set her up nicely for a strong, sub-2 minute victorious performance in the 1 ¼ mile Grade 1 Flower Bowl. Miss Temple City may have only 2 wins from 5 starts this year, but those two wins are worth a good bit of weight. Both times she faced males this year, she won, taking home victories in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile and the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile. She also gave a nice accounting of herself at Royal Ascot in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge. Sea Calisi has victories in the G2 Sheepshead Bay and Grade 1 Beverly D., as well as a second and third place finish in 4 starts this year.

Honorable mentions among the older turf ladies include Dacita, winner of the Grade 1 Diana; Celestine, winner of the Grade 1 Just a Game; Al’s Gal, winner of the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor; and Photo Call, winner of the Grade 1 First Lady, and the only one to defeat Tepin this year.

With Songbird all but assured honors as Champion 3-Year Old Filly, fellow sophomores Catch a Glimpse and Time and Motion, both turf stars, will be left on the outside looking in. Catch a Glimpse, Canada’s 2015 Sovereign Award winner for Champion 2-Year Old Filly, Champion Turf Female, and Horse of the Year, has had quite a year. She began 2016 by annexing a quartet of grade 3 events, including the Penn Mile versus males. Ten furlongs then proved no big deal as she took down the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational. However, she then dropped her last two starts as rival Time and Motion came into her own.

It took Time and Motion four starts to break her maiden, but once she put it all together, she improved rapidly over the course of 2016. A pair of listed stakes victories earned her a spot in the Belmont Oaks Invitational where she ran a bang up second to rival Catch a Glimpse. She then turned the tables on that foe in their next starts, winning both the Grade 2 Lake Placid and the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge. Unfortunately for both of these stellar turf fillies, an Eclipse in either the 3-Year Old Filly or Turf Female divisions likely will not happen thanks to the aforementioned Songbird and Tepin.

One turf filly who still has a chance of taking home an Eclipse is 2-year old Lady Aurelia. She raced just once on this side of the pond, winning her debut in smashing fashion at Keeneland. Her 7 ½ length drubbing of the field took just :50.85, a track record at the time. Shipping to Royal Ascot along with Tepin and Miss Temple City, Lady Aurelia then sprinted to a 7 length victory in the Group 2 Queen Mary. Rather than return home with the rest of the American contingent, Lady Aurelia took her winning streak to France where she won the Group 1 Darley Prix Morny. A trip to Newmarkert saw the phenomenal filly lose for the first time, finishing 3^rd in the Group 1 Connolly’s Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes. Depending on how the dirt 2-year old fillies continue to perform this year, Stonestreet’s globe-trotting filly could bring home divisional honors.

As a fan of all these lovely ladies, I find it extremely disappointing that not all of them will take home some hardware at the end of the year. Obviously that’s the cases with many divisions each year, but 2016 has seen a particularly strong group of turf fillies and mares. While it is frustrating that not all of these runners will earn an Eclipse for the year, it has been extremely fun to watch them compete and win at the highest levels and across various countries. This is exactly what racing is all about, and I look forward to seeing them continue to compete next year and beyond.