2021 Eclipse Awards: Corniche
Expectations of Corniche were high from the very beginning. Corniche didn’t disappoint.
Corniche, a son of Quality Road who sold for $1.5 million as a 2-year-old in training in April 2021, won all three of his starts, capped by a front-running, 1 3/4-length triumph in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance at Del Mar, to become a finalist – and favorite – to win the Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding 2-year-old.
Twenty-nine of the previous 37 winners of the Juvenile have gone on to win the Eclipse Award in this division
Corniche, trained by Bob Baffert, was purchased by Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner’s Speedway Stables for $1.5 million. Neither gentleman, partners in a Texas-based oil and energy company, could attend the OBS April sale the day the colt went through the ring. Their bloodstock agent, Marette Farrell, and her team were so effusive with their praise of the 2-year-old that Fluor and Weiner instructed her to “keep bidding.”
Sent to Baffert in California, Corniche debuted on Sept. 4 at Del Mar, flashing brilliant speed from the outside post in a 10-horse field to record a 4 1/4-length victory under Mike Smith in a race going 5 1/2 furlongs. Less than four weeks later, Corniche carried that speed 1 1/16 miles, winning the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita by 3 1/4 lengths.
:: Full list of 2021 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
When it came time for the Breeders’ Cup, Smith had his choice of Corniche or Pinehurst, a horse for Baffert he also had guided to a pair of victories, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. Smith felt that Corniche was a touch quicker than Pinehurst, adding “I feel like there’s a whole lot of upside to him. He’s the kind of colt who could continue to develop and even get better.”
Breaking from the outside post in the 11-horse Juvenile field, Smith and Corniche cleared the field by the time they hit the first turn. Despite setting strong fractions – the half-mile went in 46.15 seconds – Corniche was never seriously threatened en route to victory.
After the Juvenile, Baffert heaped high praise on Corniche.
“He reminds me a little bit of American Pharoah,” Baffert said, referring to the 2015 Triple Crown winner. “He’s got that long, jumping stride, gets over the ground really well.”
Corniche is out of the six-time graded stakes-winning mare Wasted Tears. He was co-bred by Stonehaven Steadings and Bart Evans. After the colt sold for $1.5 million at auction, Aidan O’Meara of Stonehaven Steadings told reporters “He’s been a class act from Day 1, from the moment he entered the world.”
As for his future, Corniche was sent to WinStar Farm for a freshening following the Juvenile. His connections intend to send him back to Baffert, though the trainer is currently banned from running horses in the 2022 Kentucky Derby.