The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire , Eclipse .
22-663: An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division. The trophy is made by a few small selected American foundries with expertise in studio bronze casting. It is then mounted on the hand-crafted native Kentucky walnut base to comprise the Eclipse Award on which a brass plate recites the award winner. The equivalent award in Australia is the Australian Thoroughbred racing awards , in Canada
44-705: A Horse of the Year award was created by a poll of the staff of The New York Morning Telegraph and its sister newspaper, the Daily Racing Form (DRF), a tabloid founded in 1894 that was focused on statistical information for bettors . At the same time a rival poll was organised by the Baltimore -based Turf and Sport Digest magazine. Formed in 1942 as an advocacy group , the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA) inaugurated
66-568: A century, annual champions have been chosen by various bodies and these have been compiled and condensed with Eclipse Award winners by The Blood-Horse magazine. Majority owner The Jockey Club states that "BloodHorse magazine is the flagship publication" and that its "mission is to serve the Thoroughbred owner and breeder with integrity." According to ESPN , The Blood-Horse is the thoroughbred industry's most-respected trade publication. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Website
88-668: A competing award in 1950, selecting its winners from votes by racing secretaries from member tracks across the United States. The three systems resulted in different opinions as to "Horse of the Year" Champions in 1949, 1952, 1957, 1965, and 1970. In 1971, the DRF and TRA made an agreement with the National Turf Writers Association to merge into one set of awards, called the Eclipse Awards . In
110-651: A few small selected American foundries with expertise in studio bronze casting by the lost wax method. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each of eleven horse divisions that include; American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt , American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly , American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse , American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly , American Champion Older Male Horse , American Champion Older Female Horse , American Champion Sprint Horse , American Champion Female Sprint Horse , American Champion Male Turf Horse , American Champion Female Turf Horse and Outstanding Steeplechase horse . The winner of
132-731: A rare occurrence, two two-year-olds topped the balloting for 1972 American Horse of the Year honors with Secretariat edging out the filly , La Prevoyante . Secretariat received the votes of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America and the Daily Racing Form , while La Prevoyante was chosen by the National Turf Writers Association. [1] Kelso , who placed 4th in The Blood-Horse magazine ranking of
154-576: A unified set of awards, which would be called the Eclipse Awards. Although widely viewed as a national standard, they are not an official national award as Thoroughbred racing in the United States has no sport governing body . The Eclipse Awards selections are made by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association who select all finalists at
176-495: Is among the initiatives and organizations supported by The Jockey Club. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame uses the 1887-1935 Champions published by The Blood-Horse when referencing champions in the biography of its inductees. Churchill Downs Incorporated annually published a list of champions in which they state that "Champions prior to 1936 were selected retrospectively by a panel of experts as published by The Blood-Horse magazine." In his 2007 book titled Masters of
198-588: Is conducted by selected members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the Daily Racing Form , and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (formerly National Turf Writers Association). The winner of the Eclipse Award for American Horse of the Year is the horse who has received the most first-place votes. The 2002 Eclipse Awards were the last conducted under a voting bloc system, in which each of
220-547: Is not an official national award. The Champion award is a designation given to a horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year was deemed the most outstanding. The list below is a Champion's history compilation beginning with the year 1887 published by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association 's The Blood-Horse magazine (founded 1961), described by ESPN as "the Thoroughbred industry's most-respected trade publication". In 1936
242-422: Is presented annually to recognize those horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. Presently there are twenty categories that include American Horse of the Year , eleven Division Champions, five connection Champions and three miscellaneous awards. The Eclipse Awards are co-sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association ,
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#1732780660992264-529: The Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association . Prior to the start of the Eclipse Awards in 1971, the TRA and the Daily Racing Form separately honored racing's annual champions. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century English racehorse and sire, Eclipse , who did not begin racing until age five. He was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired
286-610: The Sovereign Awards , and in Europe , the Cartier Racing Awards . The Eclipse Awards were created by three independent bodies in 1971 to honor the champions of the sport. Due to conflicting award winners for Horse of the Year in five years from 1949 to 1970, racing executive J.B. Faulconer gathered the interests of Daily Racing Form and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA), making them compromise on
308-409: The top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century , won "Horse of the Year" honors five consecutive years. Omaha is the only winner of the U.S. Triple Crown that was not voted "Horse of the Year" honors. Most wins: Most wins by a trainer : Most wins by an owner: The 2003 Eclipse Awards marked a significant change in the way that honors were decided. Under this format, voting
330-408: The Eclipse Award allows the horse in each of the eleven categories to be designated as a "Champion" for the rest of their racing and breeding careers. Five Eclipse Awards Trophies are presented to humans based on their affiliations to their horses. Those five categories are; Outstanding Owner , Outstanding Breeder , Outstanding Trainer , Outstanding Jockey and Outstanding Apprentice Jockey . At
352-540: The Eclipse Award on which a brass plate names the award winner. American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year , or simply Horse of the Year , one of the Eclipse Awards , is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing . Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Horse of the Year"
374-616: The Turf: Ten Trainers Who Dominated Horse Racing's Golden Age, author and Thoroughbred racing historian Edward L. Bowen used the 1887-1935 Champions published by The Blood-Horse when referencing champions of that era. As well, Thoroughbred Heritage has their own list of "Champions of the Turf" with many from much earlier years based on a retrospective assessment by their own experts. Eclipse Award Trophy The Eclipse Award Trophy
396-477: The end of the Eclipse Award evening the coveted select solid gold Eclipse Award trophy is presented to the American Horse of the Year . Each statue is hand finished, following the casting, by cleaning, patching, colouring and waxing using classical bronze sculpture finishing techniques by the artist to its final form and luster. It is then mounted on the hand crafted, native Kentucky walnut base to comprise
418-510: The end of the year. Those same voters then vote any of the three finalists in each category. Winners are announced in January of the next year. J. B. Faulconer, the first full-time publicity director at Keeneland , is credited with starting the Eclipse Award program. The Lexington, Kentucky artist and sculptor Adalin Wichman designed the Eclipse Award, each of which is individually cast in
440-400: The three voting groups could only cast a single collective vote based on the polling of that group's members. In the event of an overall split vote, the award would go to the horse who had received the most points - each group's vote awarded ten points for first place, five points for second place, and one point for third place. In the event that there was a tie on points, the award would go to
462-407: The traditional lost wax method and is hand finished. The Eclipse Awards are supported by official partners which in recent years has expanded significantly and in 2019 The Jockey Club became one of them. Prior to creation of the Eclipse Awards, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America and the Daily Racing Form each published their own opinion of annual champions. For more than
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#1732780660992484-533: The winners of 344 races, three of his get winning the Epsom Derby. The Eclipse Award Trophy was designed by acclaimed Lexington, Kentucky artist Adalin Wichman in 1971. Wichman based her bronze trophy on an 18th-century painting of Eclipse . Her husband, architect William Wichman , designed the award's walnut base. Ms. Wichman holds the Eclipse copyright and has produced each sculpture, working only with
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