Leading Owner Eclipse Award Could be Source of Debate

The annual announcement of the Eclipse Award winners never fails to generate some form of controversy about the voters' choices.

Even with the Jan. 28 edition of the 50th Annual Eclipse Awards Presented by Spendthrift Farm being a virtual presentation, this year's process figures to once again stir up sharp debate where a few categories are concerned.

One in particular will be the race for outstanding owner between a trio of finalists in Godolphin, Klaravich Stables, and the partnership of Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing, the group which raced Horse of the Year favorite Authentic .

In many ways, the outcome should prove a litmus test for whether voters are willing to bestow an Eclipse Award upon a partnership, which they failed to do in 2018 when the connections of Triple Crown champion Justify  were snubbed.

Since the Eclipse Awards began in 1971, last year marked the first time a two or more pronged entity was named as the champion owner. That distinction went to Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, the owners of Horse of the Year and champion male turf horse Bricks and Mortar.

Yet there's a major difference between the 2019 champions and the Authentic group.

Seth Klarman, who operates Klaravich Stables, and Lawrence had been partners for more than a dozen years, with 541 wins and earnings of $43.2 million together, and their 2019 totals reflected grade 1 and grade 2 wins by two horses other than Bricks and Mortar. They had 11 wins in 2019 beyond Bricks and Mortar from horses who earned slightly more than $1 million.

In contrast, Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Authentic, who is also a cinch to be named the champion 3-year-old male, was the only horse owned jointly by Spendthrift, MyRaceHorse, Madaket, and Starlight.

Beyond that, the foursome fell into place in June after Spendthrift Farm acquired the then 3-year-old's racing and breeding rights. Madaket and Starlight were among the original owners, but retained their racing rights. The other owners before the sale, SF Racing, Fred Hertrich III, John Fielding, and Golconda Stables, gave up their racing and breeding rights.

Following a second in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1), Spendthrift sold part of its share to MyRaceHorse, which in turn sold a whopping 5,314 microshares of the colt for $206.

Prior to the June sale, Authentic won the Sham Stakes (G3) and San Felipe Stakes (G2). 

After the Santa Anita Derby, he built his Horse of the Year résumé on victories in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1), Kentucky Derby, and Classic, and a second in the Preakness Stakes (G1) for his four owners.

Those four races alone gave the four owners the highest earnings in 2020 with $6.79 million, topping Godolphin with $5,703,770 and Klaravich with $5,323,398. In contrast to the Authentic group's four starts, Goldolphin had 361 starters and Klaravich 272.

Back in 2018, there was a similar scenario with WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners (a partnership headed by Sol Kumin, who also runs Madaket Stables), and Starlight Racing owning just Justify and grade 1 winner Audible  who combined for nine starts and earnings of $4,698,400. The Eclipse Award for outstanding owner that year went to Hronis Racing, which had 41 wins and earnings of $7,344,810.

That raises the question—if a Triple Crown winner could not sway voters, will Authentic? Especially since statistics compiled by Equibase and provided to the voters cover only that exact ownership group and do not necessarily break down the results attained by partners compiled with horses outside that group.

"Multiple ownerships are a challenge. People like Sol Kumin are deserving of strong consideration almost every year based on the number of horses he is involved in. Unfortunately, what's harder to quantify is what percentage of those horses do individuals own. That does not show up in the statistical listings we provide to voters, and we're not sure of how to provide that to voters. It's a real challenge," said Keith Chamblin, the senior executive producer of the Eclipse Awards and COO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which presents the Eclipse Awards along with Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. 

"We break totals down by grade 1 winners, by earnings, by graded wins, by grade 1 wins, overall wins. We have as many statistics and categories as we can come up with and provide it to voters," he added. "But there are still holes and challenges as it relates to partnerships. I think we provide voters with all the information we are aware of, but I acknowledge we wish we could provide more in the way of information on these partnerships which are becoming increasingly more popular."

As much as Authentic ran only four times, the owners are heavily involved in the industry. Kumin owns roughly 100 horses, with New York Mets owner Steve Cohen as a partner in all of them, through his three main entities: Madaket, Head of Plains Partners, and Monomoy Stables. Besides Authentic, those groups owned a share of Eclipse finalists and Breeders' Cup winners Monomoy Girl, a Horse of the Year finalist, Aunt Pearl, and Whitmore.

Kumin also bred his first stakes winner in 2020.

Spendthrift ranks as one of the nation's premier breeding and racing operations and Starlight is one of the industry's best known syndicates. MyRaceHorse is new to the scene, but opened eyes by attracting a small army of investors through its Authentic offering, and has a stable of more than 30 horses.

The statistics for other prominent owners, such as Gary Barber, also appear to be diminished by being involved in multiple partnerships.

Given all of that in the background, whether voters will reward Team Authentic collectively or follow past form and turn to a single entity in Godolphin or Klaravich figures to have viewers glued to their seats during an interesting segment of Thursday's show.

As for other categories, Chamblin said there has been no serious talk among the Eclipse Awards Steering Committee to add categories due to the increase of graded stakes turf racing or drop either the apprentice jockey or steeplechase awards, which has been debated on social media.

"There have been discussions about whether we should continue with an apprentice award, but whenever we surveyed the voters there's been a strong feeling we should keep it. So we've been reluctant to make any change with it, and we haven't thought about other categories," said Chamblin, part of the six-person steering committee. "We had some discussion about new turf categories maybe seven or eight years ago but not in the last five. Turf racing has definitely become more relevant, and it's something the steering committee has to continue to keep an eye on."