2018 Eclipse Awards: Jury Duty

With a purse of $450,000, the Grade 1 Grand National at Far Hills was the nation’s richest hurdle race in 2018. Appropriately, the popular event in the New Jersey countryside on Oct. 20 drew an international field and was a showcase for the Irish runner Jury Duty.

Sent off as the 6-5 favorite, Jury Duty won the Grand National at 2 5/8 miles by 3 1/4 lengths over Tornado Watch in his only American start of the year. The win was enough to earn Jury Duty a spot as a finalist for an Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding steeplechaser of 2018.

Trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott for Sideways Syndicate, Jury Duty had a seven-race campaign in 2018, racing primarily in Ireland with trips to England and the United States. Elliott, whose stable has soared in prominence in Ireland in the last decade, sought to run Jury Duty in the United States after the gelding’s handicap rating rose to a level at which he was forced to carry significant weight in leading events in Ireland and England.

A 7-year-old gelding in 2018, Jury Duty ran at some of jump racing’s high-profile race meetings.

Jury Duty was the 4-1 favorite in the 16-runner National Hunt Challenge Cup for amateur riders at 3 7/8 miles at Cheltenham’s National Hunt Festival in March, but unseated jockey Jamie Codd two fences from the finish when fading from contention.

Jury Duty was later third in the Champion Novice Chase at the prestigious Punchestown Festival in Ireland in late April before he was given a three-month break. Jury Duty was third to stablemate Clarcam in the $292,300 Galway Plate Chase in Ireland on Aug. 1 and seventh of 18 in the $232,100 Kerry National at Listowel in September.

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

In his final start before the trip to New Jersey, Jury Duty was second by 10 lengths to the nine-time winner Woodland Opera in the $51,900 PWC Champion Stakes at 2 1/2 miles at Gowran Park in Ireland on Oct. 6.

While Jury Duty was beaten in those races, the level of competition he faced stood out in the Grand National field. Irish jockey Robbie Power rode a patient race in the Grand National. He had Jury Duty in fifth for the first mile and had the gelding in second with a half-mile remaining. Jury Duty took the lead over the final obstacle and won easily over Tornado Watch.

The trans-Atlantic trip gave Jury Duty his fifth win in his 22nd start and a career-defining accomplishment.