2019 Eclipse Awards: Structor

Though the Eclipse Award in the 2-year-old male division has always gone to a dirt horse, Structor stated his case for change in 2019.

Structor was one of eight 2-year-olds to win a Grade 1 stakes in 2019, his coming in the $1 million Breeders Cup’ Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 1. That capped a perfect 3 for 3 campaign for Structor which included a maiden win at Saratoga in August and the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park in September.

His perfect record, coupled with the fact Storm the Court, at 45-1, was the highest-priced winner in the 36-year history of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on dirt, gives Structor a legitimate chance to become the first exclusive turf runner to win this award.

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

Structor, a son of 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice, was purchased for $850,000 out of the Ocala Breeders' Sales auction in March by Jeff Drown and Don Rachel. He was trained by Chad Brown.

Though Structor had trained well on dirt, Brown started him off on turf because he wanted to run him a distance of ground. Despite being a bit headstrong early while sitting a stalking second, Structor won his debut, a 1 1/16-mile race around two turns, by 1 1/4 lengths on Aug. 31 at Saratoga.

“At Saratoga, looking to get him started, and if you’re running those short-distance distance dirt maiden races, they can really come up difficult and fast,” Brown said. “So I didn’t want to just run him off his feet and blow him up early.”

Four weeks later, in the Pilgrim, Structor raced three to four wide throughout yet still was able to win a head.

In the weeks leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, Brown remarked how much the horse improved from when he first arrived in his barn.

“From when he first came in until now, he’s just matured and does everything you want to see a young horse do,” Brown said a week out from the Breeders’ Cup.

In the Juvenile Turf, unlike in his first two starts, Structor raced inside of horses saving ground while racing in midpack. Straightening away into the lane, Jose Ortiz was able to get Structor off the rail and into the clear and he was able to run down Billy Batts, a 50-1 shot who had taken the lead in midstretch.

“Had some traffic, but good horses overcome it and he did,” Ortiz said.

Following the Breeders’ Cup, Structor got time off on the farm and returned to Brown at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida on the morning of Jan. 4, the same day he was officially announced as an Eclipse finalist.

Brown has said that Structor trained well enough on dirt as a 2-year-old to give him an opportunity to try dirt early in his 3-year-old season though he did not have a specific race in mind.