2020 Eclipse Awards: Channel Maker

Channel Maker crossed the finish fourth in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Stakes on Aug. 1 at Saratoga. A disqualification moved him up to third. But was Channel Maker still even qualified to race in high-level turf stakes?

Channel Maker emerged from the Bowling Green a one-time winner from his last 14 starts. During that string, he’d crossed the wire better than fourth only twice. His 6-year-old campaign of 2020 started like a long march on a short pier – three fourths, two eighth-place finishes. Channel Maker is a gelding, an aging one; his stakes career was ticking down.

Instead, Channel Maker – owned by Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R. A. Hill Stable, and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing – turned back the clock. On Aug. 29, in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer, he looked like the Channel Maker of September 2018, when he’d gone wire to wire in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, his last big win. The Saratoga course came up wet for the Sword Dancer, Channel Maker wound up on the lead, and he not only won for the first time in nearly a year, he won by almost six lengths. His Beyer Speed Figure, 108, matched his career best from the 2018 Joe Hirsch.

Nice story. Aging horse pulls out one last peak performance for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Channel Maker had gotten the wet turf he needed, the comfortable lead he needed, and made the most of favorable Sword Dancer circumstances. He had his day; that day was over. After all, the horse had been labeled an “overachiever” all along. He’s far removed from the category, “pretty mover.” Even at this advanced phase of life and career, Channel Maker carries his head like a kid on tiptoes straining to see over a fence. At his best, he was inconsistent, probably not top class. And then Channel Maker went out and sent all those criticisms way down river.

:: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

On Oct. 3 at Belmont, the turf course was listed firm for the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, where there was more pace entered than in the Sword Dancer. Yet this Ontario-bred gelding by English Channel who’d gone a year without winning won right back, wire to wire, like at Saratoga. Another Grade 1, another 108 Beyer.

Mott took Channel Maker to the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland. Before leaving New York, and after a Channel Maker workout, Mott talked about how the water deepened in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Yep – Channel Maker looked like he was running underwater finishing 11th in the 2018 Turf and 12th in 2019 at Santa Anita.

Lord knows what got into Channel Maker this summer and fall. Maybe it was just Mott, doing what he does. Channel Maker went to the front in the Turf, hit the furlong grounds with his head held high, still up by a couple lengths. Two European fillies, Tarnawa and Magical, ran him down. Channel Maker fought tooth and nail for third, got his third 108 Beyer in a row. Some losses feel nearly as satisfying as wins.

What a turnaround from spring to fall! The only older male turf horse with two Grade 1 wins during 2020, the best North American finish in the Turf. Channel Maker just might have dredged a championship out of his long career.