Eclipse Special Edition
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Gamine Gives Sire A Second Winner... 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit) did his part, ripping Michael Lund's 'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) was through his competition in three starts and clinching the Eclipse something of a lightning rod in 2020, but she possessed arguably Award as champion 2-year-old male with a sizzling finish in the the most raw ability of any horse in training and while she GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) won her finished a distant runner-up to Swiss Skydiver in the 3-year-old second Eclipse Award in the last three years, adding to her filly category, she easily 3-year-old filly championship outdistanced Serengeti with the 2020 Eclipse as Empress (Alternation) to take champion older female. home the Eclipse for champion Purchased by Spendthrift for female sprinter. The $220,000 $9.5 million at Fasig-Tipton Keeneland September yearling November, the chestnut is turned $1.8-million Fasig- nearing her 6-year-old debut. Tipton Midlantic topper Other Wide-Margin became the second straight daughter of Into Mischief to Winners... both win the GI Breeders' Cup Vequist (Nyquist) provided Filly & Mare Sprint en route to her sire from his very first crop a championship following on to the races, securing the the exploits of Covfefe in 2019. Eclipse as champion 2-year-old Trainer Bob Baffert had his filly on the strength of hands on a third Eclipse winner victories in the GI Spinaway S. for 2020 in the form of 'TDN Gamine | Sarah Andrew in September before turning Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip). Denied a potential Horse of the tables on GI Frizette S. the Year crown by his stablemate on the first Saturday in winner Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) in the GI Breeders' November, the burly chestnut had a phenomenal season of his Cup Juvenile Fillies. own, with victories in the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita, GI Whitney Channel Maker (English Channel) capped a very productive S. and GI Awesome Again S. Knicks Go (Paynter) also received a season with a third in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf and proved a smattering of first-place votes and has since returned to win the handy winner of the Eclipse Award as champion turf male. GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational. The soft-ground loving 6-year-old got underfoot conditions to suit when racing away to a 5 3/4-length win in Saratoga's GI 'Quality', 'Monomoy' Aid Cox's Cause... Sword Dancer Invitational S. in August, but the going was substantially quicker when he led past every pole to take out the It was a banner season for trainer Brad Cox, whose four GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational ahead of his Breeders' Cup winners on Breeders' Cup weekend helped secure for him his effort. He is set to represent the U.S. in the $1-million Middle first statuette as America's Outstanding Trainer. Distance Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia next month. TDN NORTH AMERICAN • PAGE 2 OF 19 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JANUARY 29, 2021 Tighter Contests... Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal). The final count of first-place votes The male sprint category was expected to come down to a was 115-106. Moscato (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) took home the choice between the horse with the more complete campaign Eclipse for Champion Steeplechase horse. versus a more brilliant and Among the human statistically faster runner whose categories, in addition to Cox, campaign was truncated. In the Irad Ortiz, Jr. was named end, the veteran Whitmore outstanding jockey for the (Pleasantly Perfect)-- third year in a row; WinStar the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint Farm received the Eclipse for winner--got the nod over champion breeder; and Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}), the Godolphin was named GI Carter H. and GI Met Mile outstanding owner. hero who was forced to miss the second half of the season. The Home Team... Whitmore received 132 first- Media Eclipse Awards were place votes to Vekoma's 83. The announced earlier this month. evening's most hotly contested Among the winners were the championship was the turf TDN's Joe Bianca and Patty female division. For the third Wolfe in the 'Audio/ straight year and for the fourth Channel Maker | Sarah Andrew Multimedia Internet' category time in six years, 'TDN Rising for a piece written and Star' Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) gave trainer Chad Brown narrated by Bianca and produced by Wolfe entitled ATo Hell and another Eclipse Award winner in the category. But it was a Back: Belmont Marks a Deserved Triumph for New York City.@ razor-thin battle, as Rushing Fall--who sold for $5.5 million at FTKNOV--got just the better of GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BREEDERS’ CUP CHAMPIONS THAT WERE CROWNED ECLIPSE AWARD WINNERS FOR THEIR AMAZING PERFORMANCES IN 2020. HORSE OF THE YEAR: AUTHENTIC THREE-YEAR-OLD MALE: OLDER DIRT FEMALE: AUTHENTIC MONOMOY GIRL MALE SPRINTER: FEMALE SPRINTER: WHITMORE GAMINE TWO-YEAR-OLD MALE: TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY: ESSENTIAL QUALITY VEQUIST VISIT BREEDERSCUP.COM/RECAPS-2020 TO VIEW THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP RACES. TDN NORTH AMERICAN • PAGE 3 OF 19 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JANUARY 29, 2021 HORSE OF THE YEAR CHAMPION 3-YEAR-OLD MALE AUTHENTIC (c, 3, Into Mischief--Flawless, by Mr. Greeley) $350,000 yrl >18 KEESEP O-Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables & Starlight Racing; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert 2020 Record: 7-5-2-0, $7,170,000 Major 2020 Races GI Haskell Invitational S. ! GI Kentucky Derby ! GI Longines Breeders= Cup Classic TJCIS PPs ! Equineline catalog-style pedigree Authentic | Breeders= Cup Eclipse Sportswire Over the summer many would have thought Tiz the Law (Constitution) would be taking home the award for top sophomore male, but Authentic seized the throne after a sensational fall campaign during which he took home the season=s two biggest prizes. A good-looking debut winner at Del Mar in November of 2019, the leggy bay demolished the field in the GIII Sham S. at the start of 2020, despite ducking in harshly in the lane. Following suit with a game victory in the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita in March, the $350,000 KEESEP acquisition tasted defeat for the first time at the hooves of Honor A.P. (Honor Code), finishing second in the June 6 GI Santa Anita Derby after breaking a step slow, traveling wide and drifting in the stretch. Off to a sharp start next out in the nine- furlong GI Haskell Invitational S. July 18, Authentic took the field wire-to-wire, holding off a determined Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) by a nose. ECLIPSE AWARDS 2020 First-Place Votes Champion 3-Year-Old Male: Authentic, 236; Tiz the Law, 2. TDN NORTH AMERICAN • PAGE 4 OF 19 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JANUARY 29, 2021 Many doubted his ability to see out the GI Kentucky Derby=s 10-furlong distance after that effort, but the May foal silenced all doubters with a front-running victory over favored GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. victor Tiz the Law. The Bob Baffert pupil did not get his preferred position on the front end in the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3 and came up a neck short of champion filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) after a gritty stretch duel. Facing his elders for the first time including champion stablemates Improbable (City Zip) and Maximum Security (New Year=s Day) in the Nov. 7 GI Longines Breeders= Cup Classic, Authentic went straight to the lead on a Keeneland oval favoring speed and ran his rivals off their feet for a 2 1/4-length score. Following that career-high, the colt was retired to the Spendthrift stallion barn, where he will stand alongside his red hot sire Into Mischief. CHAMPION 3-YEAR-OLD FEMALE SWISS SKYDIVER (f, 3, Daredevil--Expo Gold, by Johannesburg) $35,000 yrl >18 KEESEP O-Peter Callahan; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Ken McPeek 2020 Record: 10-5-2-1, $1,842,980 Major 2020 Races GII Santa Anita Oaks ! GI Alabama S. ! GI Preakness S. TJCIS PPs ! Equineline catalog-style pedigree Swiss Skydiver (R) beating Authentic in the Preakness | Horsephotos Swiss Skydiver dominated the 3-year-old filly division in 2020 and even defeated some of the top older males of her generation, making her the clear-cut choice. Kicking off her sophomore season with a third in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at Fair Grounds in February, the $35,000 KEESEP buy rebounded with a trio of decisive victories in the Mar. 28 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, May 1 GIII Fantasy S. and June 6 GII Santa Anita Oaks. TDN NORTH AMERICAN • PAGE 5 OF 19 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JANUARY 29, 2021 Trainer Ken McPeek tried his charge against males for the first time in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland July 11, where she finished a valiant second to Art Collector (Bernardini). Returning to winning ways with a facile victory in Saratoga=s prestigious GI Alabama S. Aug. 15, Swiss Skydiver checked in second to Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) next out in the delayed GI Longines Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4. Despite that loss, McPeek and owner Peter Callahan had enough faith in their star filly to take on males yet again, this time in the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3. Swiss Skydiver dueled stride-for-stride with fellow champion and GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (Into Mischief) in the lane, turning back that foe in the final strides for a gutsy victory. The chestnut is the sixth filly to win the Preakness and the first since Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d=Oro) in 2009.