ORANGES AND LEMONS

Churchill Downs
(Photo : Athens)

“The only way you could actually see the race live over here
was on the Internet.”

Bill Oppenheim
Thoroughbred
Daily NewsLet’s begin with Orb, only the fourth Grade 1/Grade 2-winning colt in 10 crops by the amazing Malibu Moon. You bet he’s amazing, he started out at the Pons Brothers’ Country Life Farm in Maryland for a $3,000 fee, as a 3-year-old in the year 2000 (and what a great job they did with him, by the way), and look where he is now. As you might imagine, he’s now the number two sire in North America, with only G1 Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom’s sire, Leroidesanimaux, ahead of him. The gap was $1.9-million yesterday, but with 166 runners this year, compared to 49 for “Leroi”, this is only going to have one outcome. Right now Malibu Moon is a big favourite to become North America’s Leading Sire this year. He must have always shown them a lot as a racing prospect. He was bred by Spendthrift’s now-owner B. Wayne Hughes way before he acquired (and restored) Spendthrift, and made his debut for trainer Mel Stute over 4 1/2 furlongs at Hollywood Park in April as a 2-year-old, finishing second. He then won at five furlongs in :57 2/5 seconds in May.

But a slab fracture ended his career, and the Pons boys rolled the dice and bought half. Good call. Malibu Moon moved to Castleton Lyons in 2004, then over to Spendthrift in 2008. He’s been in the top six on the North American General Sire List the last three years (third in 2010), and all this with a 14-to-3 filly bias among his Grade 1 and Grade 2 winners (combined) through the end of 2012. It may be America’s greatest race, and the best horse did win, I’m pretty sure of that. He figured to get the trip, he handled the conditions, and won with a Beyer 104, which is at least respectable (Animal Kingdom 103, I’ll Have Another 101, before his Preakness 109), but there were some unsatisfactory aspects to the race.

First, it was run in the slop after persistent rain most of the day in Louisville, and several major contenders, including previously unbeaten Verrazano (14th) and Goldencents (17th), might just have hated the going. Second, Palace Malice more or less ran off with Mike Smith in first-time blinkers, setting a suicidal pace (45:1/5, 1:09:4/5). Everything chasing him backed up as well, setting up the race for closers. Of the first five finishers, only Normandy Invasion was closer than 15^th after the first half-mile. Third, and this is really unsatisfactory, from my point of view, Churchill’s infamous hard-bargain negotiating stance meant they priced the feed so high the European racing channels couldn’t justify buying it, so the only way you could actually see the race live over here was on the Internet, and that was only because I borrowed a friend’s TwinSpires account. From reading Michael Bronzino’s letter in the TDN Monday, there were problems in Florida watching Churchill races live, too. Yeah, I get it that Churchill Downs are hard negotiators; and yeah, I get it they’re a public company and slaves only to the almighty dollar. But what I don’t get is why breeders aren’t up in arms. Churchill Downs is not their friend.

When racing was on the ropes in the early 1980s the breeders, led by John Gaines, created the Breeders’ Cup as a vehicle whereby breeders could contribute to the revival of racing, and it worked. Now it’s the breeders who are on the ropes, and don’t let anybody tell you different. North American breeders desperately need to recapture European markets, not just to sell their horses, but to generate investment to become competitive again for top stallion prospects worldwide, which presently they are not. Australia and Japan, please note, are standing the two Kentucky Derby winners before Orb, who will, presumably, stay in America, but only because the owners can afford to keep him.

Yet, prospective customers for America’s breeders cannot even watch America’s so-called greatest race in Europe, because the racetrack company really doesn’t care if it’s free to watch there, or not, just like they don’t care, as the new points system guarantees, that horses trained in Europe are virtually shut out, unless they win the UAE Derby in Dubai. How are prospective buyers going to get excited about American racing, not to mention owners who might actually have horses racing there, like jockey Ryan Moore was when he came back and told Channel 4’s Emma Spencer at Newmarket on Sunday that it was about the greatest buzz he’s ever had as a rider - when they can’t even see the race live? I know nostalgia won’t buy you a ham sandwich, and, honestly, the last thing I think of myself as is a whiner, but I’ll guarantee you one thing, there’s no way this would have happened when Warner Jones, Jr was running the show. Churchill Downs used to work in tandem with Kentucky breeders. Now, they couldn’t care less.

THE WORLD CUP : THE LOWDOWN

Animal Kingdom
(Image : Cecil Scene)

$10,000,000 DUBAI WORLD CUP (Group 1)
Meydan, All Weather, 2000m
30 March 2013

America’s TDN ran an illuminating scientific study on Animal Kingdom’s victory in the Dubai World Cup yesterday. Here it is:

How impressive was Animal Kingdom?

Quite. The first winner of the G1 Kentucky Derby/G1 Dubai World Cup double since Silver Charm capped the feat in 1998, Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux) plotted a wide, but clear trip from an outside barrier draw Saturday. His final winning margin of two lengths was misleadingly cozy. At the finish, Animal Kingdom traveled 17 metres more than Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux), closing fast at the rail. Covering an extra 17 meters is the equivalent of approximately 6.5 lengths of added ground traveled. Adjusting the final margin of victory for this ground coverage suggests that the Graham Motion trainee was more than eight lengths better than rail-skimming Red Cadeaux. Given several days to absorb the data, it seems appropriate to suggest Animal Kingdom ran the best race of his life to date.

One added way to review the data from the Dubai World Cup is to compare the average speeds of horses. Horses asked to plot wider courses have to run faster to maintain their position. If four horses were lined across the course and began to corner, in order for a widely planted horse to hold his position, he would absolutely have to run faster than a horse to his inside. Animal Kingdom never lost position in running, expending more energy with the highest cruising speed in running.

After 1,200 meters of the Dubai World Cup, here is the position of each horse, in order, with their average speed to this point in the race.

Following these first six furlongs, Animal Kingdom had traveled seven meters (about 2 3/4 lengths) more than leader Royal Delta (Empire Maker), and 11 meters (about 4 1/4 lengths) more than Red Cadeaux.

At the finish, Animal Kingdom was still in control, running the second fastest final 100 metres behind only Red Cadeaux’s time, and averaging 0.7 kph more than that rival over the course of the race. Overall, Animal Kingdom’s individual sectional times are massively impressive, running 0.33 seconds faster in his fifth 400-meter segment than the fourth segment, and clocking the single fastest split in the race, from the 1600-meter pole to the 1200-meter pole in :23.20. Once Joel Rosario recognized that neither Planteur (Ire) (Danehill Dancer), who made all the running in his previous race, nor African Story (GB) (Pivotal), stretching-out off mid-pack trips in one-turn races, were interested in running forward, Rosario seized the initiative and prompted the obvious front-runner in Royal Delta.

Take note of Animal Kingdom’s sectional times below (North American readers should note that race-timing in the UAE, and much of the world, begins with an electric pulse tied to the starter’s gate-opening mechanism, yielding the slow, in appearance, opening quarter).

Animal Kingdom’s Sectional Times
400m	:26.98
800m	:23.20
1200m	:23.60
1600m	:24.88
2000m	:24.55

While the entire final 400-meter segment of the race is run in the home stretch, given Animal Kingdom’s earlier fractions, his ability to stay on really puts this performance into magnificent territory. In three previous runnings of this race at Meydan, Gloria De Campeao (Brz) (Impression) walked slow and free on the lead, Victoire Pisa (Jpn) (Neo Universe)’s fastest 400m segment was his last after he made a last-to-first backstretch move into a mind-bogglingly slow pace, and Monterosso (Fr) (Invincible Spirit) had the pleasure of running into the fastest of the four early paces in the running of the race on Tapeta.

Over the history of all-weather racing at Meydan, 38 races out of 51 at 1,200 metres were faster than the 2013 G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, 46 races out of 49 at 1,900 meters were faster than the 2013 G2 UAE Derby, and 59 out of 65 races at 1,600 meters were faster than the 2013 G2 Godolphin Mile.

The all-weather surface at Meydan has shown a tendency to quicken slightly as temperatures cool in the desert, a phenomenon experienced in past years. The sun was setting as the Derby ran, while it was dark during the Golden Shaheen. Still, there was no cold front that swooped in and provided a wildly different course roughly two hours after the Golden Shaheen; let there be no doubt that Animal Kingdom’s race in the Dubai World Cup was phenomenal. Overall, this year’s edition ranks as the fifth-fastest race from 31 at the distance, significantly faster than the trends from earlier races on the night.

Wherever Animal Kingdom goes from here, there is no doubting his performance in the 2013 Dubai World Cup will rank as one of his most impressive.

Makes you wonder how good Golden Sword was, at his best. To this day, no horse has bettered his 2000 metre record for Dubai, and to put it into perspective, remember there have been 18 renewals of the Dubai World Cup at the distance.

Editor’s Note: We were recently in touch with Barry Irwin (CEO Team Valor) and owner and breeder of Animal Kingdom. This is what he had to say about the horse:

“I am glad most of all for what the horse has been able to do for himself. He is a real character and has a wellspring of talent that is very deep. The good ones need the right temperament and interest in order to capitalize on their talent and this horse fortunately is the complete package.”

ANIMAL KINGDOM DOMINATES DUBAI WORLD CUP

Watch Animal Kingdom winning the Dubai World Cup (Group 1)
(Photo : Ahmed Jadallah - Footage : Dubai Racing Meydan)

$10,000,000 DUBAI WORLD CUP (Group 1)
Meydan, All Weather, 2000m
30 March 2013

Sometimes, things do go according to plan. A littlemore than a year ago, Arrowfield Stud and Team Valor International’s Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux) was forced to abandon an assault on the Group 1 Dubai World Cup due to injury, at which time trainer Graham Motion thought Team Valor principle Barry Irwin was ‘crazy’ for suggesting they point their Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner towards the 2013 Dubai World Cup. Crazy like a fox, as it turns out. The handsome chestnut got a textbook ride from Joel Rosario, took over from market rival Royal Delta (Empire Maker) travelling ominously well at the 400-metre pole and staved off a late bid from Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux) to become the first American-based winner of the Dubai World Cup since its transfer to Meydan in 2010.

Joel Rosario, much-maligned when he guided Animal Kingdom to a runner-up effort behind Point Of Entry (Dynaformer) in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on 9 February, atoned for what Irwin deemed a ‘bonehead’ ride with one that was beyond any sort of reproach Saturday. “I knew we had a chance,” the Dominican explained. “I’ve never been here before. This is my first time. I watched a lot of races. I had an idea where I needed to go from. I listened to my trainer and to my horse. He’s a very good horse. He did it. He’s very quick. It seemed like a long way home in the stretch.” Irwin, who said that Animal Kingdom was fitter for this than any other race in his career, was taken by the performance. “That was shocking,” he exclaimed. “I thought he could win but I didn’t think he could win like that. He proved that not only is he a top horse, but that he is one of the top horses in the world.”

Before Team Valor consolidated all its runners with Graham Motion, Animal Kingdom raced for the Wayne Catalano barn, finishing runner-up to subsequent MGSW Willcox Inn (Harlan’s Holiday) on his Arlington debut before graduating over the Keeneland Poly in October 2010. He turned in a promising run in his first start for this barn over the Gulfstream turf the following March and was an impressive winner of the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes back on a synthetic track before belying odds of 20-1 in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby. He couldn’t quite catch loose-on-the-lead Shackleford (Forestry) when the Derby fourth turned the tables in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, and a nightmarish break in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes effectively cost Animal Kingdom any shot - he checked in sixth.

A slab fracture diagnosed in late June marked the end of his 3-year-old campaign, and connections regrouped with an eye on the 2013 Dubai World Cup. Part one of that plan came together nicely when Animal Kingdom raced away to a Gulfstream turf allowance victory, but the colt suffered another fracture in the same leg and was shelved eight months.

Much to the surprise of many, it was announced that Animal Kingdom was to make his return in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile, a Graham Motion initiative also labeled at first blush by Irwin as ‘crazy,’ but a troubled runner-up effort to Horse of the Year Wise Dan (Wiseman’s Ferry) confirmed he was back with a vengeance.

In the days leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara paid a visit to the barn to inspect Animal Kingdom, and several weeks later, Irwin announced that he and his partners had decided to sell a majority interest to Arrowfield to take up stud duties for the 2013 Southern Hemisphere breeding season.

Motion and Irwin labled the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap as a stepping stone to the Dubai World Cup, and Rosario’s mid-race roll of the dice failed to pay dividends and the result was a disappointing, if useful, runner-up effort.

With the raceday scratching of defending race champion Monterosso (GB) (Dubawi), Animal Kingdom moved down into the 11 hole and left there running, but so did a few of the others to his inside, and he was four deep out of the stretch for the first time as Royal Delta (Empire Maker) was committed to a front-running try by jockey Mike Smith. Though nothing along the lines of the last-to-first move used by Victoire Pisa (Jpn) (Neo Universe) to win the 2011 Dubai World Cup, Rosario allowed Animal Kingdom to slide up outside of Group 1 Maktoum Challenge Race 3 hero Hunter’s Light (Ire) (Dubawi) and Side Glance (GB) (Passing Glance) around the first turn to target Royal Delta from second.

The two time Eclipse Award winner went along at a decent clip, covering the opening half-mile in a relatively quick :50 flat over the holding surface, but Rosario had Animal Kingdom in perfect striking position and looked to have Royal Delta at his mercy. He pushed the button exiting the final turn and in a flash, Royal Delta was gone and Animal Kingdom soon had a winning break on the field. He crossed into the final 200 meters under a full head of steam, and it was only Red Cadeaux who made any late noise. Planteur (Ire) (Danehill Dancer), recently acquired by Sheikh Joann bin Hamad Al Thani, dove home late to snag third for the second year in a row, earning back a cool $1million of his owner’s investment.

So jubilant were the connections of Red Cadeaux - after all, he did take home second prize of $2million - that track camera crews mistook trainer Ed Dunlop for the winner. “If you’re not in the race you have no chance,” said owner Ronald Arculli, former executive of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. “We debated between the Group 1 Sheema Classic and the Dubai World Cup but how often do you have the chance to run a horse in this race? I keep saying to Ed Dunlop, don’t underestimate this horse.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

ANIMAL KINGDOM TO STAND AT ARROWFIELD STUD

Click above to watch Animal Kingdom winning the 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1)
(Image and Footage : Kentucky Derby)

“A Kingdom for a Horse”

I have only ever attended two Kentucky Derbies. It is part of the essential education of any budding horseman, and it is one of the fundamental reasons why Kentucky has become the racehorse breeding capital of the world. I “debuted” at what was arguably the greatest Derby of all time, the epic clash between Affirmed and Alydar, and as it happened, it was the opening stanza in what was the most memorable Triple Crown in history. That was 1978, and it took me 33 years to return, courtesy of an invitation from Team Valor’s Barry Irwin. It was prophetic (the invitation, I mean). A highly-charged 165,000 people thronged the Louisville course, part celebration of the horse, and as the chords of “Starspangled Banner” and “My Old Kentucky Home” resonated across that great plain, you knew the nation was also celebrating the vengeance of 9/11 with the death of Osama bin Laden a day or two before.

I used the word “prophetic” advisedly, as Animal Kingdom cruised home that day in the colours of our hosts to a dramatic two and three-quarter length victory over the accomplished Shackleton, to mark the summit in the many chapters of Team Valor’s history. For some years, they’ve topped the racing partnership charts of the world, yet here was one Team Valor not only owned, but they bred him, as well.

John Messara’s Arrowfield Stud in Australia has acquired a majority interest in the breeding rights to the 2011 Kentucky Derby hero and Champion 3-Year-Old Male, who will begin his stud career next September and likely shuttle to the Northern Hemisphere beginning in 2014.

The deal is subject to Animal Kingdom passing importation protocols, which involve blood work that should be finalized in the next few days.

The 20 Team Valor International partners that have reached racing’s pinnacle with the home-bred colt will maintain a significant interest in his stud career. The recent runner-up to Wise Dan in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile, Animal Kingdom is slated for the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on 9 February as a prep for the $10-million Dubai World Cup (G1) on 31 March.

After the World Cup, the son of Leroidesanimaux out of Dalicia (by Acatenango) will be flown from Dubai to England and considered for an additional start, possibly at Royal Ascot in June.

John Messara says, “Animal Kingdom excites us as a rare kind of athlete with a truly international pedigree who is able to express his class on a range of surfaces. He is already rated among the world’s elite turf milers and has the potential to become a global superstar in 2013.”

Heavens know what they paid for him. In recent times, horses like Exceed and Excel and Sebring have fetched in excess of $30million Down Under, and while Animal Kingdom will have come at something of a discount to that number in these subdued times, he will nonetheless represent a very tidy sum. Big prices for racehorses are not a revolutionary thing, though; you might recall that, according to one William Shakespeare, King Richard III made an outrageous bid at Bosworth Field in 1485, when he offered his kingdom for a horse. Fortunately, the auctioneer missed the wave of his catalogue, otherwise England may have belonged to someone else these days and there’d have been no Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth in 2012.

Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin fielded a regular stream of offers for Animal Kingdom’s stud career ever since the Kentucky Derby, in which he prevailed by 2¾ lengths as the first horse to conquer America’s great classic in his first start on dirt. He stands to be the only Derby-winning stallion prospect to race as a 5-year-old since Silver Charm, who scored in the 1997 Run for the Roses.

“Originally it was our intention to race Animal Kingdom for the entire 2013 season,” Irwin said. “However, the prospect of getting the support of John Messara’s Arrowfield Stud in the Southern Hemisphere was so meaningful, that I advised my partners to sublimate their fun and take the deal. It is critically important to get a history-making stallion master behind a new prospect and in John Messara we have that. He has developed two of the world’s most successful sires in Danehill and his son, Redoute’s Choice. No way I was going to pass up this opportunity.”

Robin Bruss of South Africa’s Northfields Bloodstock brokered the deal, just as he’d done a decade ago in bringing the Chilean champion, Hussonet, to Arrowfield.

Team Valor will form broodmare partnerships to breed to Animal Kingdom, with the plan of selling and racing his offspring around the globe.

Trained admirably by Graham Motion, Animal Kingdom is a Graded stakes winner on dirt and synthetic racetracks, and he nearly beat a Horse of the Year candidate in the Breeders’ Cup Mile on turf off a 259-day layoff, overcoming trouble to finish in front of the elite Europeans Excelebration and Moonlight Cloud.

Animal Kingdom also finished second in the 2011 Preakness Stakes. He has finished first or second in 8 of his 9 career starts, the lone exception coming in the Belmont Stakes when he was sandwiched after the break and nearly went down, leading to 8 months on the sidelines with an injury. He has earned $2,327,500.

Extracts from Team Valor International

ECLIPSE AWARDS : MEDAL FOR VALOR

Barry Irwin leads Animal Kingdom following victory in the Kentucky Derby
(Photo : Team Valor International)

ECLIPSE AWARDS
16 January 2012

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud CEOWe got back from paradise this morning, no cellphones, no radio reception and no newspapers for a fortnight, and completely oblivious of America’s Eclipse Awards. In a year in which we attended our first Kentucky Derby (Gr1) since Affirmed beat Alydar in what remains the most-remembered renewal of America’s greatest horse race in 1978, it was like old hickory to find the statue for the Champion Three-Year-Old Male had gone to a client of Summerhill. Just a few weeks ago, we posted a piece on the most successful syndicate in racing, where Team Valor surpassed by more than double, anything any other assembly of owners could muster in 2011.

My arrival at the office was instantly gratifying : a heavyweight parcel from the champion American owners was ravenously set upon by the vultures at our management meeting. The reward was a paperweight bearing a photograph of this year’s Kentucky Derby hero, Animal Kingdom, and a couple of petals from the original garland that girds the shoulders of he who prevails in the “Run For The Roses”.

Next thing, we discovered (a little belatedly) that the statue named for one of the greatest progenitors of the breed, Eclipse, for Outstanding Three-Year-Old American Male had gone appropriately, to our man Animal Kingdom. He didn’t only win the biggest one, he was the most consistent of his age and sex in the States, and he must’ve been a serious candidate for Horse Of The Year. Yet he wasn’t the only Summerhill-connected Eclipse Award winner in 2011, as the Breeder Of The Year was Adena Springs for the umpteenth time, and who are also clients of the farm. Hats off to the Stronach family and their team; originally Canadians by trade, they’ve shown America a thing or two on their way to the top of the mountain.

(See Barry Irwin’s personal take below on Team Valor’s perspective - fascinating).

“Animal Kingdom is the result of a mating between the imported Brazilian-bred stallion Leroidesanimaux and the imported German mare Dalicia. I bought Leroi as a racehorse for Stonewall Farm, the same outfit which I sold Medaglia d’Oro and Lawyer Ron to. Leroi and Lawyer Ron both won Eclipse Awards for Stonewall. Medaglia d’Oro sired Rachel Alexandra, who was voted an Eclipse for Horse Of The Year. Dalicia was bought by me at a German public auction at the end of her racing career in Europe. At 400,000 euros, she became the highest-prized racemare ever sold at public auction in The Rhineland. She raced for us, winning in Southern California.

I mated Leroi with Dalicia and it was the mare’s first foal. We bred her back to Mr. Greeley twice, selling her the second time at Tattersalls December Sales in England, where she was bought by Shadai Stud in Japan, the same folks from whom I later bought Sunday Silence’s son Hat Trick, sire in his first crop of last season’s unbeaten, double Group 1-winning European juvenile Champion Dabirsim.

Animal Kingdom was raised at Denali Stud in Paris, Kentucky. As a yearling, he was offered at the Keeneland September Sale, where I bought him for $100,000 and resyndicated him as a racing prospect.

The tall chestnut colt raced twice at 2, both on Polytrack, running second in his debut to a smart colt named Wilxox Inn at Arlington Park in Chicago. He proceeded to win his second start over 1800m by more than 3 lengths at Keeneland in the manner of a colt with a future.

Over the winter the colt grew like the Incredible Hulk, gaining in physical stature to a remarkable degree. His hip broadened, as well as his chest. He flew home to miss in a conditions race in his debut at 3. In his next start, again on Polytrack, he overcame a lot of traffic to post an easy triumph in the $500,000, Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park in Kentucky.

Making only his fifth lifetime start, his first in 6 weeks and his first on dirt, Animal Kingdom won the Classic, Grade 1, $2-million Kentucky Derby by 2 3/4 lengths. No horse without a previous dirt start had ever won the race. He became the first foal of an imported mare to win the race since Citation in 1948. One had to go back to 1956 to find a horse that had come off of a 6-week layoff to win the race.

In his next start, just 2 weeks later, he got off poorly, fell nearly 20 lengths off the pace, but flew home to miss by less than a length in the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of our Triple Crown. He was favored for the race, as he was for his final start at three in the early June renewal of the Belmont Stakes. In this race, he was forced down to his knees and nearly lost his rider after a chain-reaction bumping incident caused him a hock injury that sent him to the sidelines. The jockey that has caused the incident was suspended from riding for 10 days.

Although he was severely compromised at the start, AK made a lot of believers that day, as he put in a swooping move to reach contention in the 2400m race, but alas he couldn’t sustain the move.

In close balloting among 248 writers, racing officials and other media types, he was a narrow 3-point winner for the Eclipse Award as the top 3-year-old colt or gelding to race in the U.S. last season.

He has been training again since December 1. This week he breezed a half-mile on grass in Florida. Plans call for him to have a race next month at Gulfstream Park near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, after which he will be flown to Dubai for the $10-million World Cup in Dubai, for which he has been favored with English bookies for the past couple of weeks.

He is an amazingly versatile horse that can run over any surface. He is unique among American horses in this regard. I think he has a chance to become the greatest money winning North American Thoroughbred of all-time, replacing Curlin, whose career earnings were $10,051,000. He will be campaigned internationally, with his only other likely U.S. start to come in the Breeders’ Cup. I wouldn’t put anything beyond the scope of this horse.

He is quite a character, sort of a testing teenager type. He is always looking for pranks to pull off. When he had his workouts for the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, trainer Graham Motion sometimes had to position as many as 9 or 10 other horses for him to pass and follow, because once he gets his nose in front, he goes to playing, bucking, ducking, diving and the like.

He stands just under 16 hands 3 inches and he weights a massive 1,200 pounds. He has a gorgeous, breedy head, his front limbs are correct and he fills the eye.

I couldn’t be prouder of a horse that I bred and named. Truly a gift from the Gods.”

For the record :

The Eclipse Award winners are:

Award	Winner
2-Year-Old Male	HANSEN Tapit - Stormy Sunday by Sir Cat
2-Year-Old-Female	MY MISS AURELIA Smart Strike - My Miss Storm Cat by Sea Of Secrets
3-Year-Old-Male	ANIMAL KINGDOM Leroidesanimaux - Dalicia by Acatenango
3-Year-Old-Female	ROYAL DELTA Empire Maker - Delta Princess by A.P. Indy
Older Male	ACCLAMATION Unusual Heat - Winning In Style by Silveyville
Older Female	HAVRE DE GRACE Saint Liam - Easter Bunnette by Carson City
Male Sprinter	AMAZOMBIE Northern Afleet - Wilshe Amaze by In Excess
Female Sprinter	MUSICAL ROMANCE Concordes Tune - Candlelight Dinner by Slew Gin Fizz
Male Turf Horse	CAPE BLANCO (IRE) (Galileo - Laurel Delight by Presidium
Female Turf Horse	STACELITA (FR) Monsun - Soignee by Dashing Blade
Steeplechase Horse	BLACK JACK BLUES (IRE) Definite Article - Melody Maid by Strong Gale
Owner	RAMSEY, KENNETH L. and SARAH K.
Breeder	ADENA SPRINGS
Trainer	WILLIAM I. MOTT
Jockey	RAMON DOMINGUEZ
Apprentice Jockey	KYLE FREY
Horse Of The Year	HAVRE DE GRACE Saint Liam - Easter Bunnette by Carson City