Eclipse Awards Tickets Now on Sale
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Tickets for the 44th Eclipse Awards, which honors the year's champions and Horse of the Year, are available now. The event will be held Jan. 17, 2015, at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Most of the championship categories remain up for grabs even after Breeders' Cup World Championships weekend. The most prestigious of them, Horse of the Year, was in the grasp of several of the top 3-year-olds—Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and Preakness Stakes (both gr. I) winner California Chrome; Shared Belief who had been undefeated heading into the Classic; Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Tonalist; and multiple grade I winner Bayern. With the controversial start of the Classic, top honors will have to be considered for the Niarchos family's Main Sequence, who has won four consecutive grade I stakes including the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT).
Eclipse Awards tickets are available for $400 each or $4,000 for a table of 10. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa, located on the oceanfront and only a short distance from Gulfstream. For ticket purchases and room reservations, please contact Michele Ravencraft of the NTRA at mravencraft@ntra.com or call (859) 422-2657.
The "black-tie optional" 44th Eclipse Awards presented by Daily Racing Form, Breeders' Cup, and The Stronach Group highlights a full weekend of events, several of which will be tied to charitable causes.
A Friday night, Jan. 16, party in the Gulfstream paddock to benefit Gulfstream Thoroughbred Aftercare will have a "Havana Nights" theme. Gulfstream's Sunshine Millions program will be run Jan. 17 and feature five major stakes for Florida-breds cumulatively worth more than $1 million. A "First Chance/Last Chance" qualifier for the National Handicapping Championship also will be held Jan. 17.
Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by the NTRA.
The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at 5 and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.