Eclipse Award Finalists Topped by Bricks and Mortar

A Jan. 4 announcement of the finalists for the 2019 Eclipse Awards largely yielded the expected, including in the most coveted Horse of the Year category, where Bricks and Mortar, Maximum Security, and Mitole  were selected by voters.

Established in 1971, the Eclipse Awards determine North American championships for Thoroughbred racehorses and individuals as determined by votes cast by members of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, whose voters include racing officials and Equibase representatives. Three finalists are chosen in each Eclipse classification.

Bricks and Mortar, considered the favorite for Horse of the Year, went 6-for-6 in 2019 while racing exclusively on turf; 3-year-old Maximum Security won three grade 1 races, including the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) over older foes; and Mitole excelled as a dirt sprinter from six furlongs to a mile. Besides Horse of the Year, all three are likely to win other awards, which will be presented the evening of Jan. 23 at the 49th annual Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park.

The jockey and trainer who teamed with Bricks and Mortar—Irad Ortiz Jr. and trainer Chad Brown—were also announced as respective finalists and are widely expected to win. Both had record-setting seasons. Ortiz's mounts earned more than $34 million, and Brown's stable amassed over $31 million. Ortiz won his first Eclipse in 2018, and Brown has won three straight.

Other finalists include the partners who raced Bricks and Mortar, owners Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, and the horse's breeder, George Strawbridge Jr.

Bricks and Mortar is a sure thing in one Eclipse Award category: male turf horse. It was in that division that he was untouchable last year, capped by a victory in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T). He won races across the country from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/2 miles and earned $6,723,650, the most for a horse who competed strictly on the grass in the U.S.

The two other Horse of the Year finalists also look poised to earn championships in their respective divisions.

Mitole, who won the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) to conclude 2019, is a certainty to take home the male sprinter prize. With a 6-for-7 record last year, he won four grade 1s, only one fewer than Bricks and Mortar. Brilliant at six furlongs in the Breeders' Cup, he also excelled over a mile when he defeated McKinzie in the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1).

Along with McKinzie and Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Vino Rosso , Mitole is a finalist in the older dirt male category, where both he and Vino Rosso have wide support.

As reflected by the votes that landed him among the finalists for Horse of the Year, Maximum Security looks poised to win a championship for 3-year-old male.

His three grade 1 victories last year came in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1), TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and Cigar Mile.

It was a race he lost, the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), for which he will always be remembered. That afternoon he crossed the finish in front, only to be disqualified and placed 17th by stewards for interference. Country House was elevated to first.

Other finalists for 3-year-old male are Code of Honor, winner of the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) before finishing seventh in the Breeders' Cup Classic, and Omaha Beach , who took the Arkansas Derby (G1), Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G1), and Malibu Stakes (G1) in 2019.

As usual, many Breeders' Cup winners became Eclipse Award finalists, though not all are assured of Eclipse prizes.

Blue Prize, who upset Midnight Bisou in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), is considered unlikely to defeat Midnight Bisou, who went 7-for-8 in 2019. Elate, fourth against males in the Classic, is the other finalist.

The closest vote tally in an equine category could come in the female turf horse division, where Uni, Sistercharlie, and Got Stormy all had stellar seasons. A victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile by Uni against males may sway support in her direction.

One of the few surprises of the Eclipse finalists is the absence of Tiz the Law in the 2-year-old male category. He was beaten as the favorite when third in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) in the slop at Churchill Downs after winning the Champagne Stakes (G1). The three finalists in the category are Maxfield, Storm the Court, and Structor.

Storm the Court and Structor won Breeders' Cup races—the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T), respectively. Maxfield was scratched due to injury in the Juvenile after winning a maiden race and the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1).

Awards honoring owner, breeder, and apprentice jockey are the most contentious among human categories.

Gary Barber, Peter Brant, and Klaravich Stables and Lawrence are the owner finalists; Calumet Farm, Godolphin, and Strawbridge top the breeder category; and Julio Correa, Angel Diaz, and Kazushi Kimura comprise the three finalists for outstanding apprentice jockey.

Of the 254 eligible voters representing the NTRA, the NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 241 (95%) took part in this year's voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters' top three selections, based on a 10-5-1 scale, though Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.  

In addition to the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Scott Coles will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2019 Horseplayer of the Year, and members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories, the winners having been announced last month. 

2019 Eclipse Awards Finalists (in Alphabetical Order): 

Horse of the Year: Bricks and Mortar, Maximum Security, Mitole

2-Year-Old Male: Maxfield, Storm the Court, Structor

2-Year-Old Filly: Bast, British Idiom, Sharing

3-Year-Old Male: Code of Honor, Maximum Security, Omaha Beach

3-Year-Old Filly: Covfefe, Guarana, Serengeti Empress

Older Dirt Male: McKinzie, Mitole, Vino Rosso

Older Dirt Female: Blue Prize, Elate, Midnight Bisou

Male Sprinter: Imperial Hint, Mitole, World of Trouble

Female Sprinter: Belvoir Bay, Come Dancing, Covfefe

Male Turf Horse: Bricks and Mortar, Mo Forza, World of Trouble

Female Turf Horse: Got Stormy, Sistercharlie, Uni

Steeplechase Horse: Brain Power, Scorpiancer, Winston C

Owner: Gary Barber, Peter Brant, Klaravich Stables, Inc. and William H. Lawrence 

Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin, George Strawbridge Jr.

Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Chad Brown, Brad Cox

Jockey: Javier Castellano, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Jose Ortiz

Apprentice Jockey: Julio Correa, Angel Diaz, Kazushi Kimura