Team American Pharoah Dominates Eclipse Awards

Triple Crown winner American Pharoah capped a historic season with Eclipse Awards as both champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year on Saturday night. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire unless noted)
There was a decided lack of suspense in the voting that awarded 2015 Horse of the Year and 3-year-old male honors to American Pharoah Jan. 16. But there have been residual thrills and suspense hanging in the air surrounding Thoroughbred racing from seven months earlier when, on a glorious New York day and on the sport’s biggest stage, American Pharoah captured the Triple Crown in dominating fashion at the Belmont Stakes.
The Zayat Stables homebred won Grade 1 races at Oaklawn Park, Churchill Downs, Pimlico, Belmont Park, Monmouth Park, and Keeneland, often traveling back and forth from his Southern California base. Asked whether he’d ever sent another horse that many miles, trainer Bob Baffert replied, “No. Nobody has.”
“I was dealing with a freak of nature,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “His resilience is what separated him. He could take a lot and keep on bringing it. He’s the only one I could get away with putting on a plane that many times. I’d get him back after a race, go easy with him for a week, and then he’d go back to training and the racing hadn’t taken anything out of him at all."
American Pharoah won the Rebel Stakes in the slop March 14 by 6 ¼ lengths and took the Arkansas Derby April 11 by eight lengths. The Kentucky Derby was next, and after going wide on the final turn, American Pharoah held runner-up Firing Line at bay by a length.
AMERICAN PHAROAH WINNING KENTUCKY DERBY

American Pharoah, indifferent to the monsoon-like conditions of the Preakness Stakes, defeated Tale of Verve by seven lengths to set up high drama three weeks later at Belmont.
But where others had faltered in New York, American Pharoah rose to the occasion, leading from gate to wire and finishing 5 ½ lengths better than Frosted. Any doubts about Eclipse Awards ended with the celebration in New York.
Two months after the Belmont, the Haskell Invitational Stakes turned into a $1.1 million walk in the park for American Pharoah as he defeated Keen Ice by 2 ¼ lengths. Four weeks after the Haskell, American Pharoah took his traveling show to Saratoga, where he was showered with rock-star status. But after being hounded early by Frosted in the Travers Stakes, American Pharoah finally hit the wall, and Keen Ice defeated him by three-quarters of a length.
Ending his career at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, American Pharoah regained his form and put on one more wire-to-wire show, crushing the Classic field by 6 ½ lengths. He won seven of eight races and $8,288,800 on the season.
“I am still pinching myself that it all really happened,” said owner Ahmed Zayat shortly before the Eclipse Awards. “You reflect on how incredible this horse ran and how kind he has been. He is a dream come true, and he uplifted the entire industry. He excited a nation and gave everyone hope that the Triple Crown could be done again. He is a gift from God to all of us.”
American Pharoah's Belmont Stakes win was also voted NTRA Moment of the Year by racing fans.
In the Horse of the Year voting, champion sprinter Runhappy and champion older female Beholder were distanced. In the 3-year-old male category, Runhappy and Dortmund filled the trifecta.
Champion 2-year-old Filly: Songbird

Rick Porter of Fox Hill Farms knew he had an exceptional filly in Songbird when he sent her to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s stable in May 2015, but she exceeded all expectations in going unbeaten during the season and landing the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly.
The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro proved far superior to any of her challengers during the year — no filly finished closer to her than 4 1⁄2 lengths in any of her four races, which she won by a combined margin of 22 lengths. Capping the season with three consecutive Grade 1 wins, she clinched divisional honors with a front-running 5 3⁄4-length tour de force in the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
Songbird was bred in Kentucky by California resident John Antonelli. Her dam is the West Acre mare Ivanavinalot, Florida state champion juvenile filly of 2002. Through bloodstock agent Tom McGreevy, Porter paid $400,000 for Songbird at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale.
“She just had everything we’re looking for,” McGreevy said after the Breeders’ Cup. “She fits everything we look for and exceeded a lot of those, especially exceeded them in how she handles her pressure. That is so important with the great horses.”
Champion 2-year-old Male: Nyquist

Speed, stamina, class, and determination were the hallmarks in an unbeaten season for J. Paul Reddam’s Nyquist, a three-time grade 1 winner who was the overwhelming choice for the 2015 Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old male.
The colt from the first crop of Uncle Mo showed flashes of brilliance throughout his five-start campaign for trainer Doug O’Neill. In his first four starts he was never more than 1 1/2 lengths back at any point of call, then capped the year with undeniable determination in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by rallying from farther off the pace than he had ever previously been.
Nyquist impressed his connections in a hard-fought debut victory at Santa Anita Park three months after his $400,000 purchase by O’Neill’s brother, Dennis, at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale of 2-year-olds in training. He also won the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes, Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes before closing his season at the Breeders’ Cup.
“From day one, before this horse ever debuted, he had the mind and the stride of a two-turn horse,” Doug O’Neill said of Nyquist, who heads into 2016 as the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. After the Breeders’ Cup, Reddam said Nyquist seemed extraordinary from the very beginning.
“Dennis, and [agent] Jamie McCalmont also, loved the colt,” Reddam said. “You could hear the excitement in their voices that he was going to be something.”
Champion 3-year-old Filly: Stellar Wind

BENOIT photo
With four graded stakes wins, including a signature victory in the Santa Anita Oaks, Stellar Wind was consistently excellent throughout the year for trainer John Sadler.
After opening 2015 with a dominant victory in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes, the chestnut filly by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin rolled to a 5 ¼-length romp in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks. She then finished a troubled fourth as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks after she was steadied early in her only off-the-board finish of the year.
Stellar Wind bounced back in a big way with wins in the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita and Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar before closing the season with a hard-fought runner-up finish by a neck in her first start against older females in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff under regular rider Victor Espinoza.
Owner Hronis Racing purchased Stellar Wind privately after her first career win in December 2014 at Laurel Park. She earned $866,000 in her championship season.
Outstanding Trainer: Bob Baffert

American Pharoah’s Triple Crown sweep and run through a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic was a transcendent season in the sport of Thoroughbred racing, and his Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was justifiably rewarded with his fourth Eclipse Award and his first since a three-year sweep from 1997-99.
For the year Baffert’s operation ranked third in earnings with $16,221,741. Baffert’s 83 wins from 388 starts included 12 graded stakes winners, and his runners won Grade 1 races in six different states and in Dubai. He ranks fifth all-time among North American trainers by purse earnings with more than $230.8 million.
With Pharoah, Baffert and his team brought a favorable spotlight on racing. Baffert allowed unprecedented access to his stable star and the public responded, with large crowds in attendance whenever American Pharoah raced.
By winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Pharoah provided his trainer with his 12th overall World Championships winner. Baffert’s other Grade 1 winners of 2015 were Callback, Las Virgenes Stakes; Dortmund, Santa Anita Derby; and Secret Circle, Dubai Golden Shaheen.
Outstanding Jockey: Javier Castellano

Javier Castellano exceeded his own previous single-season earnings record as his mounts in 2015 earned $28,120,767, surpassing his previous mark of $26,219,907 in 2013, the year in which he was honored with the first of his now three consecutive Eclipse Awards. He was also leading rider by number of wins in 2015 with 344, with a 23% win rate from his 1,507 mounts.
The 38-year-old Venezuelan won 17 Grade 1 races, including those aboard Keen Ice, Stopchargingmaria, Liam’s Map, Jack Milton, Twilight Eclipse, and Honor Code. Castellano and Stopchargingmaria teamed to win the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and he guided Liam’s Map to victory in the Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Other Grade 1 victories for Castellano included the Maker’s 46 Mile Stakes, Man o’ War Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap and Whitney Stakes.
Castellano’s finest moment of 2015 perhaps came at Saratoga Race Course when he guided Keen Ice to an upset win in the Travers Stakes that ended Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s eight-race win streak.
Outstanding Owner and Breeder: Zayat Stables

It’s funny how horse racing can put individuals to the test before yielding rewards. Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables, which sweeps this year’s Eclipse Awards in the outstanding owner and outstanding breeder categories, certainly knows the feeling.
Zayat won plenty of big races from his 2005 arrival in horse racing through 2014, but the sport’s biggest prize, the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, seemingly tested the owner by allowing him to come tantalizingly close without joining the club. He watched three of his horses run second in the Louisville classic, Pioneerof the Nile in 2009, Nehro in 2011, and Bodemeister (owned in partnership) in 2012.
But when Zayat finally broke through with American Pharoah, it proved worth the wait, as he delivered U.S. racing its first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. American Pharoah capped his season with a runaway victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, completing the most lucrative season in purse earnings ever for a North American-based horse at $8,288,800.
American Pharoah’s record-breaking season lifted Zayat to his first Eclipse Awards in both categories.
Fittingly for the Zayats, the sire of American Pharoah is 2009 Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile. American Pharoah is out of Littleprincessemma, who is named after Zayat’s daughter Emma. Zayat purchased Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman, for $250,000 at the 2007 Keeneland September yearling sale.
Beyond American Pharoah’s on-track accomplishments, the willingness of Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert to share the Triple Crown winner rewarded current racing enthusiasts and surely brought new fans to the sport.
Largely for those efforts, Zayat Stables and the American Pharoah team also were honored with the Big Sport of Turfdom Award by the Turf Publicists of America and the Mr. Fitz Award from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.
“As the owner and breeder of the winner of the Triple Crown, I feel a huge sense of responsibility that you can be the face of the sport,” Zayat said upon being named the Mr. Fitz winner. “It’s actually not about the Zayats, not about the Bafferts. It’s about American Pharoah and the spirit of American Pharoah.”
Champion Older Male: Honor Code

Honor Code earned his Eclipse Award the old-fashioned way. He campaigned from late winter until the fall, didn’t duck the competition, and won prestigious and historic Grade 1 races in New York.
He began with a marvelous pedigree, being from the final crop of 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy out of the stakes-winning Storm Cat mare Serena’s Cat, a granddaughter of champion and Hall of Famer Serena’s Song. Dell Ridge Farm bred Honor Code in Kentucky, and Lane’s End Racing bought a majority interest in him as a yearling, with Teresa Viola Racing ultimately joining the ownership group.
Before trainer Shug McGaughey’s string left its winter Florida home, Honor Code made his 2015 debut in the Gulfstream Park Handicap at a mile. He defeated multiple Grade 1 winner Private Zone by a half-length.
Honor Code tackled a mile once again in the June NYRA.com Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park and defeated 2014 Belmont Stakes Tonalist, who was favored in the race.
When the New York circuit moved to Saratoga, Honor Code again came home victorious, this time in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes in which he edged Liam’s Map in the final stride by a neck.
Honor Code takes a championship and lifetime earnings of $2,518,260, $2,075,660 of that earned during 2015, to stud at Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky.
Champion Older Female: Beholder

Although a showdown with American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic never materialized, Beholder accomplished enough in 2015 to earn her third Eclipse Award, each in a different category. In 2015, she adds the crown as champion older female to her 2012 laurels as champion 2-year-old filly and 2013 3-year-old filly title.
Beholder was perfect in her five 2015 starts, and for the third time in her career reached $1 million in earnings for a season. Guided by trainer Richard Mandella, Beholder opened 2015 with a repeat victory in the Santa Lucia Stakes in April and a win in the Adoration Stakes.
Sent south to Del Mar for the summer, the 5-year-old took to the beach like a sunbather, winning the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes by seven lengths before a dominating 8 ¼-length victory in the TVG Pacific Classic against males. She won the Zenyatta Stakes easily, and was shipped to Keeneland for a run against American Pharoah but spiked a fever and was scratched from the World Championships, leaving her with five wins and earnings of $1,068,300 on the year.
Champion Male Sprinter: Runhappy

A lot of times in Thoroughbred racing it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. In the first six months of the year James McIngvale’s Runhappy made only one start but from July through December a refreshed Runhappy tore a hole in the wind, winning six consecutive sprint races to earn the Eclipse Award as top sprinter.
Turned over to newcomer Maria Borell, who tabbed Hall of Fame rider Edgar Prado to ride, Runhappy made a big splash at Saratoga with a four-length win in the seven-furlong NYRA.com King’s Bishop Stakes. Next, Runhappy was pointed toward Keeneland’s “Win and You’re In” Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes where a 1 3/4-length score set him up for his stellar performance in the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint, running past fellow Eclipse nominee Private Zone late to win by three-quarters of a length in a track-record 1:08.58. Sent back to Laura Wohlers after the Breeders’ Cup, the colt put an exclamation point on his 3-year-old season with a wire-to-wire score in the seven-furlong Malibu Stakes. The victory was his third Grade 1 on the year, a feat surpassed only by American Pharoah (six) in 2015.
Champion Female Sprinter: La Verdad

Despite faltering late in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Lady Sheila Stable’s star La Verdad dominated the female sprint division all year in New York. Her year’s work was good enough for her to be named champion female sprinter. She joins Indian Blessing as only the second champion female sprinter who didn’t win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
A private purchase by Sheila Rosenblum’s Lady Sheila Stable and trained by Linda Rice, La Verdad has ruled the roost around one turn in New York since April 2014. She has won 10 stakes and ran second in three more, earning just under $1.4-million in 20 outings.
In 2015, La Verdad was never headed in her first four outings, which included repeats going six furlongs in the Distaff Handicap and in the Dancin Renee Stakes. More wins followed in the Gallant Bloom - against fellow sprint filly nominee Wavell Avenue - and the Iroquois Stakes, setting the stage for Rosenblum’s ultimate goal, a Grade 1 win in the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
Tackling seven furlongs for the first time in 14 months, La Verdad and Jose Ortiz held a commanding lead late, but were caught by 10-1 Wavell Avenue.
This year, La Verdad won the Jan. 9 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct and is slated to appear in the Feb. 13 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park.
Champion Turf Male: Big Blue Kitten

Ken Ramsey believes so devoutly in his homebred Kitten’s Joy as a stallion that he and his wife, Sarah, have wholeheartedly supported him with a plethora of mares.
Thus, it is fitting that Big Blue Kitten, whose name embodies his sire, Kitten’s Joy, and Ramsey’s beloved University of Kentucky Wildcats, should win a championship. Big Blue Kitten won three of his six 2015 starts and never finished worse than third while racing almost exclusively in Grade 1 company.
Big Blue Kitten followed in the footsteps of his sire, the champion turf male of 2004. He broke his maiden in 2011 for a $35,000 claiming tag and quickly moved up to graded company. He began 2015 at Belmont Park with the May 2 Fort Marcy Stakes. Second in Belmont’s Knob Creek Manhattan Stakes behind Slumber, Big Blue Kitten got revenge against that runner with a sharp 1 1⁄2-length victory in the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Big Blue Kitten shipped to Chicago for the Arlington Million next. Big Blue Kitten valiantly tried to catch The Pizza Man in the stretch but ran out of room, losing by just a neck. Back at Belmont, Big Blue Kitten turned in his finest performance of the year in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes. With Joe Bravo aboard, Big Blue Kitten grabbed the lead heading for home. He held off Slumber and Twilight Eclipse and set a course record of 2:23.39 for 1 1⁄2 miles. Big Blue Kitten finished the year in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, running the best of the Americans when third.
Champion Turf Female: Tepin

Tepin secured her Eclipse Award honors with a slam-dunk performance in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, beating males by 2 1⁄2 lengths.
Tough beats during the summer at Saratoga denied Tepin a flawless season after victories in the Longines Just a Game Stakes, Churchill Distaff Mile Turf Stakes and a Gulfstream allowance that kicked off her campaign in March.
Tepin lost by a nose to Hard Not to Like in the July 25 Diana Stakes then suffered a head defeat to Dacita in the Aug. 29 Ketel One Ballston Spa Stakes. But a return to the mile distance and Tepin’s affinity for Keeneland - where she maintains a 3-for-3 record - combined to help Robert Masterson’s daughter of Bernstein close out her 2015 campaign with back-to-back Grade 1 wins.
Tepin was bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall out of the Stravinsky mare Life Happened, and was purchased by Masterson at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga saleof selected yearlings for $140,000. She is currently in training at trainer Mark Casse’s Palm Meadows winter base in Florida, and is expected to return in the Feb. 13 Endeavour Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. 
Outstanding Apprentice: Tyler Gaffalione

Photo by Bob Coglianese/Gulfstream Park
Jockey Tyler Gaffalione received the Eclipse Award trophy as the country’s leading apprentice rider at the racetrack where he earned his first riding title earlier this year. The 20-year-old become the leading rider at Gulfstream Park’s spring/summer meet. With four days left in the meet, Gaffalione already had a 24-win lead but sealed the deal by winning four races June 27.
Gaffalione had contemplated riding somewhere less competitive than at Gulfstream’s champion winter meet, but he knew he wouldn’t gain the same experience as he would riding against some of the East Coast’s best jockeys.
“It was the best thing I ever decided to do, was to stay here this winter,” Gaffalione said back in June. “I learned so much from guys like Javier [Castellano], John Velazquez, [Edgar) Prado, for sure—he’s been a big help—Joel Rosario, Julien Leparoux, Rajiv [Maragh]. They’re great riders, good guys, and when you ride with them, you learn some of their habits—what they’re going to do, when they do it, kind of like their tendencies. It really helped me out a lot.”
Gaffalione had a 15% win rate for the year, which included four black-type stakes victories. The young rider is the son of Steve Gaffalione, a winner of more than 800 races during 20-year riding career. 
Champion Steeplechaser: Dawalan
While Dawalan may be the black sheep of his European family, the 5-year-old gray son of Azamour took the steeplechase courses of the United States in stride and earned a 2015 Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser. While Dawalan is the third champion in his immediate family, he is the first over jumps.
Bred in France by the Aga Khan, Dawalan is the final foal of the blue hen Daltawa. For the Aga Khan, she produced 1999 U.S. champion turf male and European Horse of the Year Daylami (by Doyoun) and French classic winner Dalakhani (by Darshaan), who also won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barriere and was named Europe’s Horse of the Year in 2003.
Irv Naylor purchased Dawalan in Europe, brought him to the U.S. and turned him over to trainer Cyril Murphy. In his first stateside start, Dawalan finished third in Belmont’s Lonesome Glory Hurdle Handicap, his first start since the Aintree meet in England in early April, behind fellow Eclipse nominee Bob Le Beau.
The Americanization of Dawalan took full effect in the rich Grand National Hurdle Stakes at Far Hills. Ridden by Ross Geraghty, Dawalan won the richest race ever run at a National Steeplechase Association meet by a length. A month later he stood in the winner’s circle at Camden after demolishing 10 rivals in the Colonial Cup, the final Grade 1 of the season.
Voter participation rate: 261/281= 92.88%
2-year-old male (Name, First-Place Votes)
Nyquist, 255; Mohaymen, 3; Voter Abstentions, 3. 
2-year-old Filly
Songbird, 260, Catch a Glimpse, 1.  
3-year-old Male
American Pharoah, 261. 
3-year-old Filly
Stellar Wind, 108; I’m a Chatterbox, 47; Found (IRE) 46; Lady Eli, 34; Lovely Maria, 12; Curalina, 11; Include Betty, 2; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Older Dirt Male
Honor Code, 126; Liam’s Map, 95; Tonalist 14; Effinex, 12; Shared Belief, 9; California Chrome, 3. Voter Abstentions, 2.
Older Dirt Female
Beholder, 256; Stopchargingmaria, 4; Sheer Drama, 1.   
Male Sprinter
Runhappy, 255; Private Zone, 2; Rock Fall, 2; Mongolian Saturday, 1; Secret Circle, 1.
Female Sprinter
La Verdad, 98; Wavell Avenue, 90; Lady Shipman 41; Cavorting, 19; Unbridled Forever, 5; Ageless, 1; Birdonthewire, 1; Fantastic Style, 1; Voter Abstentions, 5.    
Turf Male
Big Blue Kitten, 134; Golden Horn (GB); 63; The Pizza Man, 41; Flintshire, 18; Chiropractor, 1; Grand Arch, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.        
Turf Female
Tepin, 211; Found (IRE), 38; Stephanie’s Kitten, 8; Lady Eli, 2; Curvy (GB), 1; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Steeplechase Horse
Dawalan (FR) 165; Bob Le Beau (IRE) 47; African Oil (FR), 2; Demonstrative, 2; Grinding Speed, 1; Voter Abstentions, 44.
Outstanding Owner
Zayat Stables; 220; Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 26; Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc., 6; Reddam Racing, 2; Godolphin Racing, 1; Voter Abstentions, 6.
Outstanding Breeder
Zayat Stables, 190; Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 39; Darley, 13; WinStar Farm, 5; Adena Springs, 4; Spendthrift Farm, 1; Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, 1; Voter Abstentions, 8.
Outstanding Trainer
Bob Baffert, 200; Todd Pletcher, 44; Chad Brown, 12; Karl Broberg, 1; Jerry Hollendorfer, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.
Outstanding Jockey
Javier Castellano, 184; Victor Espinoza, 70; Joe Bravo, 1; Pedro Monterrey, Jr., 1; Irad Ortiz, Jr., 1; Joel Rosario, 1; John Velazquez, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.
Outstanding Apprentice Jockey
Tyler Gaffalione, 149; Eric Cancel, 63; Angel Cruz, 9; Ashley Broussard, 6; David Lopez, 3; Jorge Robles, 1; Voter Abstentions, 30.
Horse of the Year
American Pharoah, 261.