Justify Honored as Horse of the Year to Headline 2018 Eclipse Awards

Racing
Triple Crown winner Justify, shown winning the Belmont Stakes, was voted Horse of the Year at the 2018 Eclipse Awards on Jan. 24. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The 2018 Eclipse Awards were held Thursday, Jan. 24 at the Sport of Kings Theater at Gulfstream Park, where a Triple Crown-winning season by Justify highlighted the proceedings as he captured Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male .

Many of the remarkable racehorses and individuals from a memorable 2018 season were honored. Continue reading for a complete list of the Eclipse Award recipients.


Horse of the Year: Justify

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owners: China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm

2018 record: 6 starts – 6 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $3,798,000

Signature win(s): Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, Santa Anita Derby

Notable: Became the 13th Triple Crown winner in the sport’s history and the first to win the series without racing as a 2-year-old. Amassed a perfect career racing record in the span of 16 weeks before retiring to stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.


Champion Older Dirt Male: Accelerate

Trainer: John Sadler

Owner: Hronis Racing

2018 record: 7 starts – 6 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $5,005,000

Signature win(s): Breeders’ Cup Classic, TVG Pacific Classic, Santa Anita Handicap Presented by San Miguel Indian Bingo and Casino, Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes, Awesome Again Stakes

Notable: Won five Grade 1 stakes in 2018, including four in a row by a combined margin of 20 lengths to close out his campaign. Finished a neck shy of an undefeated season.


Champion Older Dirt Female: Unique Bella

Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer

Owner: Don Alberto Stable

2018 record: 4 starts – 3 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $680,000

Signature win(s): Beholder Mile Stakes, Clement Hirsch Stakes, Santa Maria Stakes

Notable: The champion female sprinter of 2017 raced at longer distances in 2018 with success, winning three graded stakes and finishing second in another. Retired due to an ankle injury in August with nine wins and two seconds in 12 career starts.


Champion Turf Male: Stormy Liberal

Trainer: Peter Miller

Owners: Rockingham Ranch and David A Bernsen

2018 record: 7 starts – 4 firsts – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $935,360

Signature win(s): Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Notable: After running second in a Group 1 race in Dubai on the Dubai World Cup undercard in March, Stormy Liberal streaked to four straight wins to close out his 2018 season, which culminated with a repeat victory in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. His other stakes wins came in the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes and Green Flash Handicap.


Champion Turf Female: Sistercharlie

Trainer: Chad Brown

Owner: Peter Brant

2018 record: 5 starts – 4 firsts – 1 second – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $2,054,200

Signature win(s): Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Beverly D. Stakes, Diana Stakes, Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes

Notable: A group stakes winner in France as a 3-year-old, Sistercharlie enjoyed a breakout campaign as a 4-year-old in winning four Grade 1 races. She earned a signature win in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in her final start of the year for owner Peter Brant, a finalist for outstanding owner.


Champion 3-year-old Male: Justify

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owners: China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm

2018 record: 6 starts – 6 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $3,798,000

Signature win(s): Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, Santa Anita Derby

Notable: Broke the “curse of Apollo” to become the first Kentucky Derby winner without a race as a 2-year-old since Apollo in 1882, and then won the Preakness and Belmont to become the sport’s 13th Triple Crown winner. Became the second horse to exit the Triple Crown races undefeated after Seattle Slew in 1977. 


Champion 3-year-old Filly: Monomoy Girl

Trainer: Brad H. Cox

Owners: Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group (Stuart Grant), and Bethlehem Stables

2018 record: 7 starts – 6 firsts – 1 second – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $2,818,200

Signature win(s): Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, Longines Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Acorn Stakes, Central Bank Ashland Stakes

Notable: Monomoy Girl was a clear choice for champion 3-year-old filly after finishing first in all seven races in 2018 – her only defeat came when she was disqualified for interference – and closing the season with a victory over older females in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff. She earned another signature win in the spring in the Longines Kentucky Oaks.


Champion 2-year-old Male: Game Winner

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owners: Gary and Mary West

2018 record: 4 starts – 4 firsts – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $1,496,000

Signature win(s): Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile, American Pharoah Stakes, Del Mar Futurity

Notable: Game winner capped a perfect 4-for-4 season with a dominant 2 ¼-length victory in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The $110,000 purchase at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale won a Grade 1 race in just his second start and won his four races by a combined margin of 14 lengths while never seriously threatened.


Champion 2-year-old Filly: Jaywalk

Trainer: John C. Servis

Owners: D. J. Stable and Cash is King

2018 record: 5 starts – 4 firsts – 1 second – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $1,384,200

Signature win(s): Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Frizette Stakes

Notable: Jaywalk ripped off four straight wins after running second in her career debut, capped by back-to-back Grade 1 wins. Her 5 ½-length runaway win in the Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies cemented the Eclipse Award. John Servis also trained 2004 champion 3-year-old male Smarty Jones and owner co-owner Cash Is King raced 2005 champion 3-year-old male Afleet Alex.


Champion Male Sprinter: Roy H

Trainer: Peter Miller

Owners: Rockingham Ranch and David A. Bernsen

2018 record: 5 starts – 3 wins – 1 second – 1 third

2018 earnings: $1,660,000

Signature win(s): TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes, Palos Verdes Stakes

Notable: Was voted champion male sprinter of 2017 and followed up with another stellar campaign, scoring three stakes wins, including a repeat win in the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint, as well as one second and a close third in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen overseas. Began his 7-year-old campaign with a win in a Grade 2 stakes at Santa Anita Park on Jan. 19, 2019.


Champion Female Sprinter: Shamrock Rose

Trainer: Mark Casse

Owner: Conrad Farms

2018 record: 7 starts – 4 wins – 1 second – 1 third

2018 earnings: $848,076

Signature win(s): Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Lexus Raven Run Stakes

Notable: Emerged in the second half of 2018 with two stakes wins on synthetic surfaces, and then captured back-to-back graded stakes on dirt, finishing with a rallying score in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.


Outstanding Trainer: Chad Brown

2018 wins: 224

2018 earnings: $27,546,057

Leading horses: Sistercharlie, Good Magic, A Raving Beauty, Fourstar Crook, Robert Bruce, Newspaperofrecord, Wow Cat, Patternrecognition, Rushing Fall, Raging Bull, Uni, Separationofpowers, Complexity, Competitionofideas

Notable: Brown amassed 20 Grade 1 victories during a banner season in which he established new career-best totals in wins, purse earnings, and Grade 1 victories and equaled his previous best with 47 graded stakes wins. He won a pair of Breeders’ Cup races – Sistercharlie (Maker’s Mark Filly and Mare Turf) and Newspaperofrecord (Juvenile Fillies Turf) – and also won the betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes with Good Magic, the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve runner-up. This is Brown’s third-straight Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer.


Outstanding Owner: Hronis Racing

2018 wins: 41 (plus 1 in partnership)

2018 earnings: $7,344,810

Leading horses: Accelerate, Catalina Cruiser, Yuvetsi, Gift Box

Notable: Hronis Racing is the racing operation of brothers Kosta and Pete Hronis, whose Hronis Inc. is a family farm in California's San Joaquin Valley. Hronis Racing more than doubled its previous career-best total for purse earnings in a season, led by champion older male Accelerate, whose five Grade 1 wins included the Breeders' Cup Classic, TVG Pacific Classic Stakes, and Santa Anita Handicap Presented by San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. Catalina Cruiser won three of four starts, including a pair of Grade 2 victories.


Outstanding Breeder: John D. Gunther

2018 wins: 13

2018 earnings: $4,247,783

Leading horses: Justify, Vino Rosso

Notable: John D. Gunther not only bred Triple Crown winner Justify, he also had another Kentucky Derby contender come out of his breeding program in Vino Rosso, who won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets and subsequently ran third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. Unbelievably, the two talented horses shared a pasture as foals.


Outstanding Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

2018 wins: 346

2018 earnings: $27,727,039

Signature win(s): Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Whitney Stakes, Arlington Million Stakes, Flower Bowl Stakes

Leading horses: Diversify, Robert Bruce, Fourstar Crook, Newspaperofrecord, A Raving Beauty, Shamrock Rose, Gunnevera

Notable: Led all North American jockeys by wins and purse earnings for 2018 after finishing first in wins and third in earnings in 2017. Won two Breeders’ Cup races aboard Shamrock Rose in the Filly and Mare Sprint and Newspaperofrecord in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and finished second in the Classic.


Outstanding Apprentice Jockey: Weston Hamilton

2018 wins: 120

2018 earnings: $3,512,264

Leading horses: Come Sundown, Timeless Curls

Notable: Son of veteran jockey Steve “Cowboy” Hamilton. Finished second in wins and earnings at Laurel Park’s winter-spring 2018 meet, second in wins (tie) and fifth in earnings during Laurel’s summer 2018 meet, and second in wins (tie) and seventh in earnings during Laurel’s fall 2018 meet.


Champion Steeplechase Horse: Zanjabeel

Trainer: Richard J. Hendriks

Owners: Rosbrian Farm and Meadow Run Farm

2018 record: 4 starts – 2 firsts – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

2018 earnings: $265,500

Signature win(s): Calvin Houghland Iroquois Hurdle Stakes, Lonesome Glory Handicap

Notable: Zanjabeel handled a major test in class in 2018, running second twice in major stakes before closing his season with convincing wins in races considered Grade 1s by the National Steeplechase Association.

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