2018 Eclipse Awards: Imperial Hint

After another outstanding season, Imperial Hint is a finalist for an Eclipse Award in the male sprinter division for the second year in a row.

Imperial Hint won four of six starts in 2018, all for owner Raymond Mamone, trainer Luis Carvajal Jr., and jockey Javier Castellano. After overcoming a minor foot issue, he tuned up for his 5-year-old campaign with an easy five-length win in a Florida-bred stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, where he spent the winter.

During the summer, he reeled off consecutive victories in the Grade 2 True North at Belmont Park, the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga, and the Grade 1 Vosburgh Invitational at Belmont.

Those graded scores were bookended by losses at Churchill Downs. Imperial Hint finished sixth as the 6-5 favorite over a saturated racing strip in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Sprint on Kentucky Derby Day. He returned to Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup, but finished third to Roy H as the 8-5 favorite in the BC Sprint.

:: 2018 Eclipse Finalists: Profiles and photos for all categories

Imperial Hint is now 0 for 3 in his career at Churchill and 12 for 16 elsewhere.

“He just doesn’t handle that track as well as the others,” Carvajal said.

Mamone purchased Imperial Hint from his breeder, Shade Tree Thoroughbreds, which is located outside Ocala, Fla. Plans call for Imperial Hint to make his 6-year-old debut in the $100,000 Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay on Feb. 16. He is then scheduled to travel to Dubai for the Group 1, $2.5 million Golden Shaheen on March 30.

“He looks really good; he’s doing wonderful,” Carvajal said. “We gave him a little time off. I am taking it slow with him. We’ve done a lot of jogging and light training.”

If things go as scripted, this will be Imperial Hint’s second trip to Dubai. He shipped there in 2016 but came down with pneumonia, missed the race, and had to stay for a month to recuperate before coming home.

“It was bittersweet to go there,” Carvajal said. “I saw a lot of nice things, a lot of good races, but I didn’t get to run.”

Coming into 2018, Imperial Hint was lightly raced for his age and Carvajal believed he “still had a lot more to give” on the racetrack. He was right.

“I think we reached his peak last year,” Carvajal said. “I think now he is at his best. The question is, for him to be 6, how good will the newcomers be, the horses who are 3 turning 4?

“Roy H and he are the top sprinters. My job is to keep him at that high level of performance.”

While Imperial Hint’s early 2019 objectives are set, the focus the second half of the year will be on getting him back to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for a third straight time. The race will be held Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

“We’ve finished second, we’ve finished third,” Carvajal said. “For my horse the cherry on top would be to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. That’s the goal.”