It’s January, which means it’s almost time for the Eclipse Awards, the most prestigious awards in American horse racing. A large number of Eclipse Award finalists made their way through Saratoga this year, and as a photographer for Saratoga Living Magazine, I got to photograph them. In this post, I’ll share some photos of some of the finalists.
Nest is a finalist in the three-year-old filly category. The Todd Pletcher trainee was the only horse to win two Grade I races at Saratoga this summer: The Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama Stakes, both with jockey finalist Irad Ortiz, Jr. onboard.
Life Is Good is a finalist in the Older Dirt Male category. After winning the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in Florida in January, the Todd Pletcher trainee easily won the Grade I Whitney Stakes at Saratoga with Irad Ortiz, Jr. onboard. He ran his heart out in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland in November, but no one could catch likely Horse of the Year, Flightline.
Forte is a finalist in the Two-Year-Old Male category. Forte won the Grade I Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga before going on to win the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in November. The Todd Pletcher trainee is a heavy contender for the Kentucky Derby in May.
Secret Oath is another finalist in the Three-Year-Old Filly category. The D. Wayne Lukas trainee reigned supreme in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks the day before the Kentucky Derby with Luis Saez onboard, but she could not catch Nest in the Coaching Club American Oaks or the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga.
Regal Glory is a finalist in the Female Turf Horse category. The Chad Brown trainee placed second in the Grade I Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga with José Ortiz onboard, but she was victorious in four other graded stakes races at other tracks last year.
Epicenter is a finalist in the Three-Year-Old Male category. After placing second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes earlier in the year, the Steve Asmussen trainee won the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes and the Grade I Travers Stakes at Saratoga with jockey finalist Joel Rosario onboard, but sadly, suffered a career ending injury while competing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Leave No Trace is a finalist in the Two-Year-Old Filly category. The Philip M. Serpe trainee upset the Grade I Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga with José Lezcano onboard before placing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to Wonder Wheel.
Wonder Wheel is another finalist in the Two-Year-Old Filly category. She has suffered only one career defeat thus far, in the Spinaway Stakes, where she finished second to fellow finalist Leave No Trace. In November, she netted Tyler Gaffalione his first Breeders’ Cup win in the Juvenile Fillies.
Wonder Wheel (pink and white silks) and Leave No Trace (dark blue and yellow silks) head for the far turn in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga.
Malathaat is a finalist in the Older Dirt Female category. The Todd Pletcher trainee took the Grade I Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga before edging out a very narrow victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland, both with John Velázquez onboard.
War Like Goddess is another finalist in the Female Turf Horse category. At Saratoga with Joel Rosario onboard, the Bill Mott trainee won the Grade II Glens Falls Stakes and placed second in the Grade I Flower Bowl Stakes, a race she won in 2021. She finished a respectable third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf against open company.
Nations Pride is a finalist in the Male Turf Horse category. The Charlie Appleby trainee was victorious in the Grade I Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes at Saratoga with William Buick onboard before going on to win the Grade III Jockey Club Invitational Stakes at Belmont at the Big A with Frankie Dettori in the irons.
Clairiere is a finalist in the Older Dirt Female category. The Steve Asmussen trainee won the Grade II Shuvee Stakes at Saratoga with Joel Rosario onboard before finishing last in the Personal Ensign Stakes due to an injury sustained at the gate. She then finished a very close third to Malathaat and Blue Stripe in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November.
Olympiad is another finalist in the Older Dirt Male category. At Saratoga, the Bill Mott trainee finished a disappointing fourth in the Grade I Whitney Stakes before winning the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup with Junior Alvarado onboard. He finished a very respectable second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic where, once again, Flightline was unbeatable.
Cody’s Wish is a finalist in the Male Sprinter Category. The Bill Mott trainee upset the Grade I Forego Stakes at Saratoga with Junior Alvarado onboard before going on to take the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in November. Cody’s Wish has a very special story: he is named for a young man named Cody Dorman, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder. Cody met the horse as a weanling as part of the Make-A-Wish program. They immediately formed a bond and thus the horse was named in Cody’s honor. The story and success of Cody Dorman and his namesake horse has been one of the feel-good horse racing stories of the year. Cody’s Wish was also the recipient of the Secretariat Vox Populi award last year.
Caravel is a finalist in the Female Sprinter category. The Brad Cox trainee won the Smart N Fancy Stakes at Saratoga with Luis Saez onboard before upsetting the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint against open company.
Jackie’s Warrior is a finalist in the Male Sprinter category. At Saratoga, the Steve Asmussen trainee took the Grade I Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap with Joel Rosario onboard but was overtaken by fellow finalist Cody’s Wish in the Grade I Forego Stakes. In the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, he finished third to Elite Power and C Z Rocket.
Down Royal is a finalist in the Steeplechase Horse category. The Kate Dalton trainee won the Grade I A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase Stakes at Saratoga with Dalton’s husband Bernard onboard. The pair also own the horse.
Irad Ortiz, Jr. is a finalist in the Jockey category. Ortiz netted 80 stakes wins in 2022, more than any other jockey in history. Some of his most memorable wins include the Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks and the Grade I Alabama Stakes on Nest and the Grade I Whitney Stakes on Life is Good.
Joel Rosario is another finalist in the Jockey category. While not the leading jockey at Saratoga, he won some pretty important races, most notably the Travers Stakes on Epicenter.
Flavien Prat is another finalist in the Jockey category. While his biggest win came in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland aboard Flightline, he also was the second leading jockey at Saratoga last summer.
José Gomez is a finalist in the Apprentice Jockey category. Gomez was the leading apprentice rider on the NYRA circuit and earned three stakes wins.
Klaravich Stables is a finalist in the Owner category. The partnership of Seth Klarman and Jeff Ravich had a bevy of starts in Saratoga this summer, among them Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting and Personal Ensign Stakes runner-up Search Results.
Peter M. Brant is another finalist in the Owner category. Among his many starts at Saratoga, two of his most notable were Grade II Flower Bowl Stakes winner Virginia Joy and Grade I Fourstardave Handicap runner-up Regal Glory.
Godolphin is a finalist in both the Owner and Breeder category. Among their starts at Saratoga were Grade I Saratoga Derby winner Nations Pride, Grade I Saratoga Oaks winner With the Moonlight, and Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama Stakes contester Nostalgic.
Stonestreet is a finalist in the Breeder category. Julia Shining, Capensis, Clairiere, and Malathaat, all of whom raced or trained at Saratoga this year, were all bred by Stonestreet.
Summer Wind Equine is a finalist in the Breeder category, being the breeder of likely Horse of the Year Flightline. Flightline didn’t come through Saratoga last year, but here is a photo of a much lesser known horse bred by the farm, Handbelle. The Bill Mott trainee has had three career starts so far, but has still yet to break her maiden.
Todd Pletcher is a finalist in the Trainer category. Pletcher had a great meet at Saratoga, winning such Grade I races as the Whitney Stakes with Life Is Good and the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama Stakes with Nest.
Steve Asmussen is another finalist in the Trainer category. Asmussen had a very memorable Saratoga meet, winning his first Travers Stakes with Epicenter, but also winning a slew of other important races, including the Grade I Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap with Jackie’s Warrior and the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes again with Epicenter.
Chad Brown is another finalist in the Trainer category. Brown earned his fourth straight training title at Saratoga, with wins in the Grade I Diana Stakes with In Italian, the Grade II Flower Bowl Stakes with Virginia Joy, and the Grade I H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes with Jack Christopher.
No post about the 2022 Eclipse Award finalists would be complete without a mention of Flightline. The John Sadler trainee is a finalist in the Older Dirt Male category and likely Horse of the Year. He did not race at Saratoga, so instead of a photo, I made this trio of illustrations depicting him.
To see more of my Saratoga area photography be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook. To see more of my Saratoga illustrations, follow @togadoodles on Instagram. All photos and illustrations in this post © Samantha Decker and may not be reused without permission.
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One thought on “Eclipse Award Finalists at Saratoga”
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Beautiful and very interesting!