Authentic Takes Horse of the Year, 3YO Male Honors

Victories in North America's most prestigious race and the continent's most lucrative race proved plenty for Authentic  to nail down North American racing's top honor.

In a season that saw unprecedented calendar changes, Authentic delivered memorable front-end victories in both the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and against older horses in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) to secure Horse of the Year honors as well as the champion 3-year-old male title for 2020.

Authentic is the first Kentucky Derby winner to claim the Breeders' Cup Classic since Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  in 2015. Both American Pharoah, also named Horse of the Year, and Authentic were trained by Bob Baffert.

Authentic helped carry his Hall of Fame trainer and jockey, John Velazquez, to finalist honors for Eclipse Awards in the human categories along with B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm, MyRacehorse Stable, Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables, and Jack Wolf’s Starlight Racing, the partnership that campaigned the colt to his highest accomplishments.

That ownership team took shape after Spendthrift purchased the majority interest in the son of leading sire Into Mischief , who stands at Spendthrift, after he won his first three starts—capped by a clear victory in the March 7 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park. Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing stayed in and a 12.5% ownership went to MyRacehorse Stable. Other original owners included SF Racing, John Fielding, Fred Hertrich III, and Golconda Stables. Authentic was bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds out of the Mr. Greeley mare Flawless, and was a $350,000 purchase by SF Bloodstock/Starlight West from Bridie Harrison's consignment to the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Blum ended the year as a finalist for outstanding breeder based on Authentic's accomplishments. 

The Derby win put micro-share partnership Myracehorse Stable on the map and allowed some 5,000 people who had the smallest of shares in Authentic to say they had an interest in North America's top earner of 2020.

"It's unbelievable how lucky we have been to have this horse bring this attention," said MyRacehorse Stable founder Michael Behrens. "I couldn't have scripted the goal of the platform any better than this. 'Surreal' is the right word, I guess."

For Baffert, Authentic is his fourth Horse of the Year and third since 2015—joining 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify , American Pharoah, and 2001 dual classic winner Point Given. Authentic is the 10th champion 3-year-old male trained by Baffert, joining the other three Horses of the Year as well as West Coast  (2017), Arrogate (2016), Lookin At Lucky  (2010), War Emblem (2002), Real Quiet (1998), and Silver Charm (1997).

At the 2020 Breeders' Cup, Baffert said he was thankful just to be able to compete in 2020, explaining he had real concerns that racing would not be able to continue because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"There were so many things going on in the world—worse things, people were dying—that I didn't really think...it's just horse racing," Baffert said, later adding, "Then we finally got to run, and you're just thankful to run."

Beyond that, Baffert's deep stable of 3-year-olds was tested after the Kentucky Derby was moved from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in September. Nadal and Charlatan, his two winners of divisions of the Arkansas Derby (G1) rescheduled to May 2 at Oaklawn Park, were both sidelined by injury for the September Derby. 

As the schedule was reshaped, Baffert gave Authentic about three months off. His next start after the San Felipe didn't come until June 6 in the rescheduled Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1), where he finished second to Honor A. P. 

Authentic progressed off that effort with a win in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1), his dramatic Derby victory, a Preakness Stakes (G1) where he finished a close second after a memorable stretch duel with filly Swiss Skydiver, followed by his commanding performance in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Authentic seized an early advantage in the Classic and maintained a clear lead at every point of call on his way to a 21/4-length score in 1:59.60—a track record.

That victory improved Authentic to two-for-two at the 1 1/4-mile distance. He was retired to stand alongside his sire at Spendthrift. Oddly enough, the Derby and the Classic were the only two starts in his career where Authentic was not favored.

Baffert said the Derby win proved especially emotional because of the accomplishment of defeating Tiz the Law , his concern for an injured assistant, and the overall challenges of 2020. Tiz the Law, who on the revamped racing schedule entered the Derby off wins in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), and Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1), had earned Baffert's respect. Some 20 minutes before the Derby, Baffert's longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes suffered a broken hand in a paddock spill with Thousand Words, who had to be scratched from the Derby.

"The emotions of winning it; it felt like my first Derby," Baffert said. "Usually when I've won it, I feel relief. You come in there with a 'Pharoah' or a Justify and you're expected to win it. You're like, 'Whew, glad that's over with.' It really made me appreciate it. I thought of how lucky I am to have a job, to be able to keep working and keep my people employed. It's been a whirlwind."

With Authentic, Velazquez secured his third Derby win and first victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (his 18th Breeders' Cup win overall, which ranks second among all other riders).

Authentic is the first classic winner for Into Mischief, who finished as the leading sire for a second straight year.

The other finalists in the Horse of the Year category were champion older dirt female Monomoy Girl, who finished a perfect four-start season with a win in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff; and champion older dirt male Improbable , who won three straight grade 1 stakes including the Whitney Stakes and finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic. The other 3-year-old male finalists were Tiz the Law and Nadal.