No Denying Maximum Security 3-Year-Old Male Eclipse

Gary West was happy to add another trophy to his collection, yet he still laments the one that was dangled in front of his fingertips and then taken away.

In the final chapter of an unforgettable year filled with a wild mix of success, turbulence, and controversy, Maximum Security was named champion 3-year-old male Jan. 23 at the 49th annual Eclipse Awards. Yet not even that prize could erase West's bitter memories of what happened on the first Saturday in May.

"It's a special honor for Mary and me," said West, who owns the homebred son of New Year's Day with his wife, "and for (trainer) Jason Servis, his assistants, his grooms, the exercise rider, and everyone associated with the horse. It will not make up for what happened in the Kentucky Derby, but it's a nice way to close the year."

The year-end award at the Gulfstream Park ceremony came nearly nine months after Maximum Security was disqualified from first for a bumping incident in the 145th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and placed 17th, making West's star the first winner taken down for a racetrack foul in the history of the Run for the Roses. 

West is still considering legal options after a federal judge dismissed his lawsuit over the disqualification. Earning the Eclipse trophy only reinforced the Californian's belief that Maximum Security was a deserving Derby winner.

In eight 2019 starts, Maximum Security allowed a rival to finish in front of him only once. That glitch came in the June 16 TVG.com Pegasus Stakes when, in his first start after the Kentucky Derby, he stumbled at the break and lost by a length to King for a Day.

After starting his career Dec. 20, 2018, with a 9 3/4-length victory in a $16,000 maiden claiming race, Maximum Security captured a trio of grade 1 wins in his 3-year-old campaign. He prevailed in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) and TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) against 3-year-olds, and finished the year Dec. 7 by beating older horses and Spun to Run, the 3-year-old winner of the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), by 3 1/2 lengths in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1).

For West, the championship for Maximum Security marked the third time in as many years he has raced an Eclipse Award winner. West's previous champions were West Coast , the top 3-year-old male in 2017, and Game Winner, the champion 2-year-old male in 2018.

"To win three Eclipse Awards in a row is a pinch-me moment," West said. "It's surreal."