2019 Eclipse Awards: McKinzie

In a year when the older male dirt division was one of the strongest of recent vintages, McKinzie ranked right near the top, consistently putting up outstanding efforts against the best horses in the country while racing in New York, Kentucky, and his home state of California while proving effective from a mile to 1 1/4 miles.

His 2019 ledger shows 2 wins and 5 seconds from 7 starts, with a victory in the Grade 1 Whitney, and Grade 1 runner-up efforts, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Met Mile, Santa Anita Handicap, and Awesome Again. He beat fellow finalist Vino Rosso in the Whitney before dropping a decision against Vino Rosso in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, twice finished in front of Pacific Classic winner Higher Power, finished in front of two-time Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow in their lone head-to-head meeting, and defeated such outstanding runners as Tom’s d’Etat, subsequent winner of the Clark.

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

McKinzie – a colt by Street Sense out of the Petionville mare Runway Model that was bred by Summer Wind Farm and purchased for $170,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale– has been a Grade 1 performer all three years he has been on the track. At 2, he won the Los Alamitos Futurity, and at 3 his victories included the Pennsylvania Derby and Malibu.

In 2019, at age 4, McKinzie had his most ambitious season to date, with seven starts from February through November that included three trips to the Eastern time zone in the middle part of the year. He recorded Beyer Speed Figures of at least 102 in every start, the high point being the 111 he earned in his biggest victory of the year, the Whitney.

McKinzie is near and dear to his connections – owners Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman, as well as trainer Bob Baffert – as he is named for the late Los Alamitos executive Brad McKinzie, who was friends with all four men, most notably Baffert, to whom he was practically a brother. As such, there’s extra emotion around the camp every time McKinzie runs. His victories are all the sweeter, the losses tougher to take.

The Whitney was the sweetest. It marked Baffert’s first win in the prestigious race, and took place 15 days after the death of Marylou Whitney.

“It’s sad that Marylou wasn’t here, I would have really liked that,” Baffert said after the race. “I told John Hendrickson I’m just emotional because I was thinking about Brad McKinzie and how we loved him and I’m glad this horse is as good as he is. We named him at his funeral.”

The Met Mile was a particularly disappointing loss, because McKinzie encountered traffic at two critical points in the race and could not catch fellow finalist Mitole. Two starts later, after a loss in the Awesome Again, Mike Smith – who had ridden McKinzie in all 13 starts to date – was replaced, with Joel Rosario named to ride for the Breeders’ Cup. They, too, finished second.

McKinzie will get more chances at age 5, as he has remained in training for 2020.