Classic Empire Named Champion Juvenile
Updated: January 21, 2017 at 10:13 pm
John Oxley's Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) has been unanimously chosen Eclipse champion 2-year-old male, receiving all 248 first-place votes. Winner of the GIII Bashford Manor S. and GI Breeders' Futurity, the bay colt capped his championship season with a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Classic Empire is the second son of Pioneerof the Nile to secure a juvenile championship in three years, following in the footsteps of 2014 winner American Pharoah, who subsequently raced into the record books as the 12th Triple Crown winner in 2015.