Will Monomoy Girl win Horse of the Year? Here are your Eclipse Award finalists.
Authentic, Improbable and Monomoy Girl were named finalists for 2020 Horse of the Year on Saturday when the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters announced finalists for the 2020 Eclipse Awards.
The Eclipse Awards recognize excellence in the Thoroughbred racing industry each year. This year’s 50th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony will be held virtually.
Winners in 17 categories, covering horses and humans, will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 28, beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony will be streamed on multiple outlets, including TVG and Racetrack Television Network. Portions of the event will be hosted from Spendthrift Farm in Lexington.
Monomoy Girl returned to racing with a vengeance this year after an 18-month layoff because of illness and injury, winning all four of her races. The 5-year-old mare trained by Brad Cox won a claiming race at Churchill Downs in May, then captured the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes and Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes before capping a perfect season with her second career victory in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
In addition to Horse of the Year, Monomoy Girl is nominated in the Older Dirt Female category along with Midnight Bisou and Serengeti Empress.
Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Authentic could have the inside track for Horse of the Year honors. The Bob Baffert trainee won three other grades stakes races this year and finished second in the Santa Anita Derby and Preakness.
The third contender for Horse of the Year is another Baffert trainee. Improbable won three Grade 1 stakes and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Last year’s Horse of the Year winner, Bricks and Mortar, was retired to stud in Japan after a perfect 2019 in which he won all six of his graded stakes contests, ending his racing career by capturing the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf.
With two of the three Horse of the Year finalists on his résumé, Baffert is one of three finalists for Trainer of the Year along with Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox.
Fan favorite Swiss Skydiver is nominated in the Three-Year-Old Filly category along with Gamine and Shedaresthedevil. Swiss Skydiver this year became the sixth filly to win the Preakness Stakes and won four other graded stakes races.
Early contenders for the 2021 Triple Crown races Essential Quality and Jackie’s Warrior are finalists in the Two-Year-Old Male category along with Fire At Will. Essential Quality won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and is 3-for-3 in his young career. Jackie’s Warrior was the favorite in the Juvenile but finished fourth. Heading into the Breeders’ Cup, the Asmussen trainee won his first four career races, including three graded stakes.
In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Thomas Goldsmith will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2020 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.
The Eclipse Awards are named after the 18th-century racehorse and sire Eclipse, who began racing at age 5 and was undefeated in 18 starts. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbys in England.
Eclipse Award finalists
Horse of the Year: Authentic, Improbable, Monomoy Girl
Two-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality, Fire At Will, Jackie’s Warrior
Two-Year-Old Filly: Aunt Pearl, Dayoutoftheoffice, Vequist
Three-Year-Old Male: Authentic, Nadal, Tiz the Law
Three-Year-Old Filly: Gamine, Shedaresthedevil, Swiss Skydiver
Older Dirt Male: Improbable, Maximum Security, Vekoma
Older Dirt Female: Midnight Bisou, Monomoy Girl, Serengeti Empress
Male Sprinter: Vekoma, Volatile, Whitmore
Female Sprinter: Gamine, Glass Slippers, Serengeti Empress
Male Turf Horse: Channel Marker, Order of Australia, Zulu Alpha
Female Turf Horse: Audarya, Rushing Fall, Tarnawa
Steeplechase Horse: Moscato, Rashaan, Snap Decision
Owner: Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables Inc., Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, Starlight Racing
Breeder: Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC, Calumet Farms, WinStar Farm LLC
Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, Brad Cox
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr., Joel Rosario, John Velazquez
Apprentice Jockey: Luis Cardenas, Yarmarie Correa, Alexander Crispin
