Eclipse Awards: Making the cases for older dirt champions
Older in horse racing used to mean seasoned and accomplished. Now it is more likely to mean sold and breeding.
Thoroughbreds who have turned 4 used to be in one of the most prestigious categories in racing. Champions from Citation, Kelso and Forego to Cigar, Zenyatta and even latter-day Flightline gave the handicap division cachet.
Breeders’ Cup makes difference in turf divisions.
A lack of depth brought on by the rush of would-be champions to the sales ring has changed that. It also has made some cases for Eclipse Awards more difficult. Cases in point come this year when certain winners are easy to identify, but it will be difficult to choose three worthy finalists in each category.
These are the four older males and four older females who may stand out for voters who will decide in the coming days the trophy winners for 2024. They are listed here alphabetically within each division.
Older dirt male
Full Serrano
Pluses: His win at 13-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile validated his close second at 7-1 in a hotly contested Pacific Classic (G1). Since he came north from Argentina to join John Sadler’s stable, the Argentina-bred 5-year-old horse by Full Mast collected two wins and a second.
Minuses: With only two graded stakes and an allowance race since August in his U.S. past performances, Full Serrano’s file is thin compared with his division rivals. His first two races this year in Argentina were on turf, so a group placing there in January should not be under consideration.
Highland Falls
Pluses: A stalking, four-length victory at 7-1 in the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) was the highlight of 2024 for this Godolphin homebred by Curlin. Three months before that, the 4-year-old Curlin colt trained by Brad Cox came from mid-pack to win the Blame (G3) at Churchill Downs.
Minuses: A 5 1/4-length loss July 20 as the 7-10 favorite in the Monmouth Cup (G3) cannot be ignored. Neither can a fourth-place result March 3 in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) and an empty ninth Nov. 2 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.
Mullikin
Pluses: Wins in the John A. Nerud (G2) at Aqueduct and by 5 3/4 lengths in the Forego (G1) at Saratoga brought Mullikin’s winning streak to four races for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. Then a third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and a second in the Cigar Mile (G2) meant Mullikin went 6-for-6 hitting the board.
Minuses: Spun another way, those last two races were losses for the 4-year-old Violence colt owned by Siena and WinStar farms. Mullikin failed as a 3-1 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup. He also spent his entire year in one-turn races, a demerit for voters who believe routing means more in this division.
Pluses: Victories in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January and the Met Mile at Saratoga in June made National Treasure the only two-time Grade 1 winner among older dirt males in 2024. The 4-year-old Quality Road colt owned by the SF Racing partnership and trained by Bob Baffert also finished second by a nose Sept. 28 in the California Crown (G1) at Santa Anita.
Minuses: There was that fade to fourth in the Saudi Cup (G1). The mud might have excused his sixth-place finish in the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga, but it still was a defeat for a 9-10 favorite. He missed the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile because of foot trouble that sent him into early retirement.
Older dirt female
Adare Manor
Pluses: A three-race winning streak punctuated the 5-year-old campaign for Adare Manor, who scored by a combined 12 1/2 lengths in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn, the Santa Margarita (G2) at Santa Anita and the Clement L. Hirsch (G1) at Del Mar. She went 3-for-3 as an odds-on favorite racing for owner Michael Lund Petersen.
Minuses: It may be picking a nit to say the Uncle Mo mare trained by Bob Baffert started her year with a three-quarter-length defeat in the Beholder Mile (G1), but that razor’s edge might make the difference between a championship and just a really good year. Adare Manor also was scratched from a meeting against males in the Pacific Classic (G1) and retired before the Breeders’ Cup.
Pluses: The reigning division champion bookended her 5-year-old season with Grade 1 triumphs in the La Troienne at Churchill Downs and by 6 1/2 lengths to repeat in the Spinster at Keeneland. She also fended off Soul of an Angel to win a thrilling renewal of the Molly Pitcher (G3) at Monmouth Park. Her only two losses were by a head at Saratoga in both the Ogden Phipps (G1) and Personal Ensign (G1).
Minuses: Those defeats stand out more because the Juddmonte homebred mare sired by Curlin and trained by Cox set the bar so high with her Eclipse Award-winning campaign in 2023. She did not face more than five rivals in any race this year. A lame knee diagnosed in late October sent her into retirement and cost her a chance to defend in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Raging Sea
Pluses: A division-leading four graded-stakes victories at three tracks were highlighted by a 6-1 upset of Idiomatic in the Personal Ensign (G1). That was sandwiched between wins in the Doubledogdare (G3), the Shuvee (G2) and the Beldame (G2). The 4-year-old Curlin filly finished second to would-be horse of the year Thorpedo Anna in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Minuses: In her only other Grade 1 start, the Alpha Delta Stables homebred trained by Chad Brown finished fourth in the Ogden Phipps at Saratoga. Raging Sea never took part in a race with more than seven starters, and she never had a three-digit Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.
Sweet Azteca
Pluses: Her victory in the Beholder Mile (G1) showed she was more than a one-turn pony. Pam Ziebarth’s homebred filly followed with dominant sprint wins in the Great Lady M (G2) at Los Alamitos and the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3) at Del Mar. Sweet Azteca’s 4-year-old season also included a 12-length allowance romp in February at Santa Anita.
Minuses: Trainer Michael McCarthy kept the 4-year-old daughter of Sharp Azteca out of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint because she was abnormally quiet during the week before pre-entries were due. Her sprint-heavy past performances also might be a deal breaker for voters.
Who should win?
This ended up being easier than I first thought. National Treasure and Idiomatic were a cut above the rest of their championship competition.
What made this exercise seem more difficult was the memory of what an older champion used to look like. Two Grade 1 wins in a given year used to be run of the mill. Now they signal something special, relatively speaking.
National Treasure’s year was not as good as, say, the 2010 season his sire Quality Road had. Three Grade 1 wins back then were not enough to overcome Blame, who had the same number of top-level victories not to mention that memorable upset of Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that clinched the division championship.
Idiomatic had her own hard act to follow. Even though she was marginally less accomplished than she was in 2023, she and Adare Manor stood head and shoulders above their rivals. Nevertheless, their absence took some spice out of the Breeders’ Cup and left a hollow impression of their division.
In spite of all this, National Treasure and Idiomatic will be worthy champions, even if horses of their like are getting fewer and farther between.