2019 Eclipse Awards: Imperial Hint

Imperial Hint is an Eclipse Award finalist for champion male sprinter for the third consecutive year following a season in which he won a pair of Grade 1 races led by a track-record performance in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga Race Course.

Imperial Hint covered the Vanderbilt’s six furlongs in 1:07.92, lowering the Saratoga mark of 1:08, which was set in 1972 by Spanish Riddle and later equaled by Speightstown. Imperial Hint was winning his second straight Vanderbilt.

“When I looked at the time, all the hairs stood up,” trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. told Daily Racing Form in July. “Last year, he gave me my first Grade 1. This year, he gave me a track record. It’s an amazing feeling.”

:: Full list of 2019 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Imperial Hint and jockey Javier Castellano rolled by four lengths over a field that included eventual Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Mitole. For the effort, Imperial Hint earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 114. The number tied for second highest of 2019, behind the 121 earned by Shancelot in the Grade 2 Amsterdam.

Imperial Hint, who is nicknamed “Little Rocket,” launched his season at his winter base of Tampa Bay Downs in February, with a third-place finish in the Pelican. It was then off to Dubai, where Imperial Hint ran a strong third in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen at Meydan on March 30.

Following a four-month break, Imperial Hint returned to action July 27 in the Vanderbilt. He added another Grade 1 to his 2019 scoreboard in the Vosburgh Invitational, taking the race for the second year in a row on Sept. 28 at Belmont Park. It set him up for a third appearance in the Breeders’ Cup.

“When we won the Vosburgh last year he was geared down at the wire, which probably didn’t help him that much going into the Sprint,” Carvajal told Daily Racing Form in October. “This year, I think the way he won, having to fight hard and come back on the rail to beat Firenze Fire, was a key race for him.”

Imperial Hint ultimately was scratched from the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Sprint due to a blister on the coronet band of one of his hooves, Carvajal said. The horse returned to action Dec. 21, closing his season with a third in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park.

Owner Raymond Mamone appreciates the quality athlete he has in Imperial Hint, who has won 11 career stakes and earned $2.2 million. The owner turned down $2 million for the horse prior to his second-place finish in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup.

“They came with the offer,” Carvajal said, “and Mr. Mamone said, ‘Luis, what am I going to do with the money? I’m 85 years old. I’m not going to go out there and buy a Lamborghini. I’m not going to buy a half-million horse. I’m going to go out there and enjoy this.’ ”

The fun at the game’s highest level continued in 2019 – for the third year in a row.