Rushing Fall was so consistent throughout her career that it seemed strange when she was beaten. In 2020, Rushing Fall was nearly perfect, winning three consecutive stakes from early June to late August before finishing a game second by a neck to the Irish filly Audarya in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. The Filly and Mare Turf was Rushing Fall’s final start. For her exceptional season, Rushing Fall has been selected as a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding turf female of 2020. To trainer Chad Brown, she has already reached a pinnacle among the many stars in his career. “She’s definitely the horse of a lifetime for anybody, including me,” Brown said after the Breeders’ Cup. Owned by Bob Edwards, who races as e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, Rushing Fall, a $320,000 purchase at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale, ended her career with 11 wins in 15 starts and earnings of $2,893,000. The daughter of More Than Ready and the Forestry mare Autumnal, who was bred by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding, won 10 stakes, including six Grade 1 races. For the second consecutive year in 2020, Rushing Fall won two Grade 1 races. :: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories The campaign began with a two-length win in the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on June 3 at Belmont Park, Rushing Fall’s first start since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes in October 2019 at Keeneland. On July 11, Rushing Fall won the Grade 1 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Keeneland, a race delayed from April. Rushing Fall won by three-quarters of a length over multiple graded stakes winners Jolie Olimpica and Juliet Foxtrot. In her final start in New York, Rushing Fall won the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf by a neck over Mean Mary, giving Brown a fifth consecutive win in the prestigious race. Sistercharlie, winner of the 2019 Diana and the 2018 champion turf female, finished third. Rushing Fall was second to Sistercharlie in the 2019 Diana, and was the 7-5 favorite to win the 2020 running. “This is a horse that has won Grade 1s in four straight years,” Brown said after the Diana. “This is very rare company to do this.” Rushing Fall did not race again until the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, in which she was the 5-2 favorite in a competitive field of 14. Ridden by regular jockey Javier Castellano, Rushing Fall was always within two lengths of the lead in the $2 million race at 1 3/16 miles, and took the lead in early stretch. Rushing Fall led by a half-length with a furlong remaining and lost her advantage in the final strides. It was the only loss of her final season on the track, one that could include a championship.