2014 Eclipse Awards: Kaleem Shah

Though his stable boasted the smallest roster of the three Eclipse Award finalists for outstanding owner, Kaleem Shah’s runners made their starts count, highlighted by a trip to the Santa Anita winner’s circle by star colt Bayern following his Breeders’ Cup Classic score.

Shah, a native of Bellary, India, and a resident of Vienna, Va., finished the year with 29 wins from 81 starts, placing him second among owners by North American earnings with $5,977,978. Shah also finished tied for second in graded stakes wins with nine.

Four of those wins came in Grade 1 competition, with two by Bayern, a then-3-year-old son of Offlee Wild. The colt’s campaign featured Grade 1 victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Haskell Invitational, Grade 2 scores in the Pennsylvania Derby and Woody Stephens Stakes, and a win in the Grade 3 Derby Trial. Bayern’s $4,389,680 in 2014 earnings accounted for 73 percent of Shah’s total earnings last year.

Shah also was represented in 2014 by Grade 1 winners Dortmund and Declassify as well as Grade 2 winner Awesome Baby and Grade 3 winner Can the Man. He campaigned Grade 2 winner Fed Biz in partnership with Fed Biz LLC prior to the horse’s retirement to stud at WinStar Farm at the end of the year.

Shah keeps a small string of mares at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Kentucky, which also stands his Grade 2 winner Concord Point at stud.
Success at the races has run in the family for Shah, whose father, Majeed, trained a pair of Indian Triple Crown winners. His uncle Saeed also is an Indian classic-winning trainer.

This is Shah’s first time as an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding owner.