Eclipse Awards
John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club will be presenting sponsors of the 52nd Annual Eclipse Awards, honoring Thoroughbred racing's champions of 2022, to be held Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, at The Breakers Palm Beach, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Wednesday. "We are grateful to John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club for their partnership in serving as this year's presenting sponsors for the Eclipse Awards," said Tom Rooney, President and CEO of the NTRA. "We're very excited to welcome the Thoroughbred industry to The Breakers to celebrate the...
Each year, the team at the TDN designates horses early in their career who display enough promise to become an eventual graded-stakes winner. In 2017, a total of 80 horses racing on North American soil received the honor, but how many actually went on to achieve success? The class is led by the achievements of its lone Eclipse Award winner, 2020 champion turf female Rushing Fall (More Than Ready). A 2-year-old in 2017, the half-sister to SW & MGSP Milam (Street Sense) earned her tag with a half-length defeat of...
Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and two-time Grade I winner Cyberknife (Gun Runner) are available for inspection at Spendthrift Farm Nov. 9-15 from 1:30-3 p.m. daily. Though Jackie's Warrior made his final career start when third in last weekend's GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint, Gold Square's Cyberknife--the unlucky runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile--will return to the barn of trainer Brad Cox Nov. 15. "Jackie's Warrior has settled in nicely at the farm and is such an impressive specimen, especially for a horse coming off...
by Tom Rooney The Thoroughbred breeding and racing world is descending on central Kentucky this week. The excitement is palpable, Lexington is abuzz, and anticipation is building each day as we get closer to this weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland. And while this event will begin the wind down to the 2022 racing calendar, I am reflecting on my first year as President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). While I've been a Thoroughbred enthusiast my entire life, this is the first year where I've...
Well-known television personalities Britney Eurton, Maggie Wolfendale and Scott Hazelton will co-host the 52nd annual Eclipse Awards to be held Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, at The Breakers Palm Beach, officials from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Monday. Eurton, a fixture on FanDuel TV and NBC Sports and the daughter of California trainer Peter Eurton, returns to the Eclipse Awards in 2023, having co-hosted each of the last three years. Hazelton, whose late father Richard trained some 4,700...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - By trainer Fausto Gutierrez's calculation, a clunker every once in a while surely does not tarnish champion Letruska (Super Saver)'s glittering string of accomplishments. When last seen in competition, the 6-year-old mare was running last as the 3-5 favorite in the GI Ogden Phipps S. June 11 at Belmont Park. As usual, she set the pace, but on that afternoon could not finish and was passed by the four others in the field. Gutierrez said that Letruska wasn't herself that afternoon, possibly a nervous reaction to...
Top sophomore colt Epicenter (Not This Time) and Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) highlighted the Saratoga worktab over the last few mornings as each prepares for big-race engagements July 30. Winchell Thorougbreds' GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. runner-up Epicenter makes his first start of the second half of the season in the GII Jim Dandy S. and went five furlongs over the Oklahoma training track Monday in 1:01.13 in the company of the 3-year-old maiden Flute Master (Gun Runner) (1:03.12). "Visually impressive is what he is,"...
The 52nd annual Eclipse Awards, honoring Thoroughbred racing's human and equine champions of 2022, will be held Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, at The Breakers Palm Beach, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Tuesday. Originally built in 1896, The Breakers remains one of America's legendary resort destinations. Renowned for its seaside glamour and world-class service, the 538-room, Italian Renaissance-style hotel resides on 140 acres of oceanfront property in the heart of Palm Beach. VIP pre-sale for tickets the black-tie...
St George Stable's Letruska (Super Saver) added her name to a select group in defense of her title in Saturday's GI Apple Blossom H. at Oaklawn Park, joining the legendary Paseana (Arg), Azeri and Zenyatta as multiple winners of the track's signature event for the dirt distaff set. In winning for a remarkable 19th time in her 25-race career, the 6-year-old reigning Eclipse Award winner held off a late bid from Clairiere (Curlin) and fellow champion Ce Ce (Elusive Quality), herself an ultra-game winner of this race in the early...
Eugene Melnyk, the owner of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League and a prominent horse owner and breeder who was a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, has passed away at age 62. His death was announced Monday by the Senators, which posted a statement from Melnyk's family on its website, which noted that he died "after an illness he faced with determination and courage." The team did not disclose the exact cause of death. He underwent a liver transplant in 2015. A native of...
The 51st Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony at Santa Anita Park will begin at 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET., 30 minutes later than originally scheduled because of excessive heat in the Los Angeles area. The ceremony will be televised live on TVG and the Racetrack Television Network, and streamed live on other outlets, including www.thetdn.com. The TVG "Green Carpet" show will be airing live at 4:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. ET. The Keeneland Cocktail Party will begin at 3:30 p.m. PT and will be followed by the Eclipse Awards ceremony at 5:30...
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss superstar Life Is Good and his top three-year-old trainees.