If a horse is judged on the quality of the company it keeps, it is no wonder Elate ended her final season of racing as an Eclipse finalist for outstanding filly or mare of 2019. Elate won just two of seven starts in her 5-year-old campaign; both wins were Grade 2’s. The character she showed in five defeats, including four Grade 1’s against the country’s top horses regardless of sex, matched the class Elate displayed in her wins. Bill Mott trained Elate for owner-breeders Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider; her regular rider was Jose Ortiz. Following an abbreviated 2018 campaign in which Elate made just two starts, the hope was she could run more frequently in 2019. Elate obliged by delivering the most monetarily rewarding season of her career, earning $1,228,450. :: Full list of 2019 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories Elate ducked no horse in 2019, battling division leaders Midnight Bisou and Blue Prize multiple times. Elate ended her career with a creditable fourth-place finish against males in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Her campaign began in March at Oaklawn Park, where Elate returned from a six-month layoff as the favorite in the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes. Elate ran well, second by a length behind Midnight Bisou. Good comeback. Could Elate string together a series of races? Yes, she could. Elate returned to Oaklawn a month later for a rematch with Midnight Bisou in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap. Elate raced evenly for third; the 1 1/16-mile distance was shorter than she preferred. She wanted more ground, and found it in June at Churchill Downs, racing 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 2 Fleur Dis Lis Handicap. If Elate needed a confidence builder, this was it. Favored at odds-on, she won going away over Blue Prize, and set sights on the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap at 1 1/4 miles. Elate was expected to win as the odds-on favorite. She crushed by 4 1/2 lengths. Elate was in peak form, and despite early-season losses to Midnight Bisou, Elate tried her rival again in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign in August at Saratoga. The 1 1/8-mile distance was ideal for Elate, and her connections were confident she entered the race in the best form of her career. The Personal Ensign turned out as one of the best races of the entire season. Elate and Midnight Bisou hooked up in the middle of the stretch, and they raced head and head to the wire. Midnight Bisou won by a nose. After finishing second to Blue Prize in the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland, Mott opted for a career finale at 1 1/4 miles against males in the BC Classic. Over a slow, demanding Santa Anita surface, Elate ran well. The only filly or mare in the field, Elate finished fourth behind winner Vino Rosso. Elate retires as the third-leading money-winning female sired by Medaglia d’Oro, behind Songbird and Rachel Alexandra. Elate won seven races and $2,628,775 from 19 starts. Plans call for Elate to be bred to War Front.