Eclipse Awards

Canadian-based Moira (Ghostzapper) was given an A-plus steer by Flavien Prat and outlasted Godolphin's fast-finishing Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal) to scoop the statuette as the nation's leading Turf Distaffer for 2024. Kept in training after being purchased or $3 million at Fasig-Tipton November in 2023, Moira was also victorious in the GII Beverly D. S. and was a cracking second first off the layoff in the GI Diana Stakes at Saratoga. Ghostzapper is the sire of nine champions (Moira is a previous Canadian Horse of the Year). In between her...

Snap Decision (Hard Spun), making a remarkable fifth straight appearance as a finalist in this category, finally took home that elusive Eclipse statue. The 10-year-old veteran secured the championship with a gritty victory in the G1 American Grand National. Making his fourth straight appearance in the Far Hills race and still looking for his first win, Snap Decision was headed late, but battled back, refusing to be denied in a thrilling finish. Snap Decision opened 2024 with his third straight win in the G2 Temple Gwathmey Hurdle Stakes in April...

Idiomatic (Curlin) joined a select list of dirt distaffers to win back-to-back Eclipse Awards Thursday evening. Though she had the target on her back for most of the season, she won three of her five tries, including a towering title defense in the GI Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, a race sponsored by her owners, Juddmonte. A scheduled showdown between Idiomatic and eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in the Distaff, one of the most anticipated races of the year, had to be scrapped when Idiomatic suffered a...

She is not the oldest living Eclipse Award winner--that honor is believed to belong to 1994 Champion Turf Female Hatoof (Irish River {Fr}), who is still going strong at Darley's Gainsborough Farm at age 36--but she's close. As the hours tick down before the newest class of champions are honored Thursday evening, it's a thrill to remember 1995 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Serena's Song (Rahy--Imagining, by Northfields), who just turned 33 at the Bandoroff family's Denali Stud near Paris, Kentucky. This year the sport celebrates the 30-year anniversary of her spectacular...

Thursday's 54th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards will honor the memory of the late Edward Bowen who passed away earlier this week. The decision, made by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, will honor the memory of the longtime author, racing journalist, and script writer for the Eclipse Awards since the event's inception in 1971. "For more than half a century, Ed Bowen's words described the most memorable moments of the sport as captured each year during the Eclipse Awards," said...

Hall of Fame quarterback and an analyst on Fox's NFL broadcasts, Terry Bradshaw has bought into three 2-year-olds trained by Ken McPeek. McPeek said Bradshaw owns 20% of each. McPeek has also added another Fox broadcaster, Curt Menefee, to his roster of owners. Menefee has bought into one of the three horses owned by Bradshaw. The other owners in both horses will consist of partners in McPeek's Magdalena Racing Partnership. This won't be Bradshaw's first foray into Thoroughbred racing. He co-owned Mission Impazible (Unbridled's Song), who won the 2010 GII...

Tickets to the 54th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards--presented by John Deere, Keeneland, The Jockey Club and the NTRA--are sold out, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Tuesday. The event will be held on Thursday, Jan. 23 at The Breakers Palm Beach and will be hosted by Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak, with Caton Bredar serving as the announcer throughout the awards ceremony. The Eclipse Awards will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV and Racetrack Television Network (RTN),...

Jenna Elliot, the groom of 2025 Steeplechase Horse Eclipse Award finalist Snap Decision, has won the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes after random selection, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced Monday afternoon. Drawn at random from 340 other entries, Elliot and a plus one will be guests of the NTRA and Resolute Racing at the 54th Eclipse Awards Jan. 23 at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida. They will also be guests of Resolute at the Pegasus World Cup Jan. 25. As part of the promotion, fans were encouraged...

It's an interesting year when it comes to the Eclipse Awards, which will be announced next week. As always, there are the categories that are no-brainers where the winners should be unanimous. But there are several divisions this year that aren't so clear-cut, which will make for an interesting ceremony come Jan. 23. Here's a look at my ballot: Two-Year-Old Male: Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) Became the obvious pick after winning the 2024 GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Scary thing is that he might be no better than the third...

Dornoch (Good Magic), Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Fierceness (City of Light) in the Three-Year-Old Male category were among the finalists for the 2024 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing, the National Thoroughbred Racing Associaiton (NTRA) said in a Sunday release. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during the ceremony, presented by John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club, on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers And Broadcasters and Daily Racing Form will offer a live announcement on FanDuel TV of the finalists for the 2024 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards on Sunday, Jan. 5 at Noon ET, the NTRA said via a press release on Friday. The network will televise live the 54th annual awards show itself, which is held at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida, on Thursday, Jan. 23. New to this year's event, will be an Eclipse Awards Charity Golf Tournament benefitting the Thoroughbred...

Fans will have a chance to win a trip to the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Ceremony, presented by John Deere, Keeneland and The Jockey Club, as well as attend the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park as part of the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes. The grand prize winner of the sweepstakes will receive airfare, hotel, and two tickets to the Eclipse Awards to be held Jan. 23 at The Breakers Palm Beach, as well as tickets to the Pegasus World Cup held at Gulfstream Park Jan. 25. There is...