Acclamation Comeback Not Ruled Out

Acclamation serviced his first mare as a stallion at Bud Johnston’s Old English Rancho in Sanger recently, but Johnston still holds hope that the 7-year-old Unusual Heat horse can make it back to the race track, where he earned an Eclipse Award as champion older male of 2011.

Acclamation was named California-bred Horse of the Year for the second straight year Monday night at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s annual awards dinner.

“We’re concentrating on the breeding season now,” Johnston said a few days before the award was announced, “but I would love to try him in the Breeders’ Cup this year (at Santa Anita Nov. 1 and 2). There are a lot of things to consider and resolve before something like that could happen, but he loves to train, he looks good and he acts wonderful.”

Acclamation has not raced since winning the Grade I Eddie Read at Del Mar on July 21, 2012. An attempted comeback was aborted early last October when a sprain in the horse’s left leg reoccurred.

Trained by Don Warren and also owned by Johnston’s wife, Judy, and Mary and Peter Hilvers, Acclamation has an 11-2-6 record from 30 starts, with earnings of $1,958,048. He stands at Old English Rancho in Sanger for “an advertised stud fee” of $20,000.