2022 Eclipse Awards: Jackie's Warrior
Jackie’s Warrior is seeking to become just the third horse to win the Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter for two years in a row. Housebuster won the award in 1990 and 1991, and Roy H pulled the feat in 2017 and 2018.
Jackie’s Warrior is a finalist for 2022 honors after a season in which he won 4 of 6 starts and earned $1.4 million. His victories included the Grade 1 Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt.
Jackie’s Warrior made history in the latter race, by becoming the first horse to win a Grade 1 race at Saratoga for three consecutive years. He had previously won the track’s Hopeful at 2 and the H. Allen Jerkens at 3. The feat was accomplished on July 30 and thrilled his longtime team of J. Kirk and Judy Robison, trainer Steve Asmussen, and jockey Joel Rosario.
:: Full list of 2022 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
“We were all made aware if he wins today, he’s the only horse to win a Grade 1 three years in a row at Saratoga. Saratoga!,” Asmussen said after the Vanderbilt. “The great racehorses that have run here, and he’s the only one to have done that. I can’t say how much I wanted that for him. I wanted this more than you’re supposed to want things. Immortality. Horse racing immortality. A record like that. And Jackie’s Warrior has done it.”
Jackie’s Warrior opened his campaign last year with four straight graded stakes victories, starting with the Count Fleet at Oaklawn and continuing with the Churchill Downs, the True North at Belmont Park, and the Vanderbilt. From there, Jackie’s Warrior was second in the Forego with a season-high Beyer Speed Figure of 109. The winner of the race, Cody’s Wish, returned in his next start to capture the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Jackie’s Warrior closed out his career in November, with a third-place finish in the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
“I was happy with where he was, although if you could do it over again, I wouldn’t have wanted him to get hung out like he did,” Asmussen said in the aftermath of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. “It’s impossible to put into words what a horse like this means to everybody, the whole barn. Just the pride that goes into a horse like this, the opportunities he’s given us.”
Jackie’s Warrior is now scheduled to enter stud at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky. He compiled a career record of 12 wins from 18 starts – with 11 of his wins coming in graded stakes races. Overall, he earned $2.9 million.
“He’s the whole package,” Asmussen said. “He has such a tremendous amount of ability and confidence in himself.”
Jackie’s Warrior was bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables. He was a $95,000 yearling purchase in 2019 by the Robisons at the Keeneland September sale. Jackie’s Warrior is a son of Maclean’s Music and the mare Unicorn Girl, who won 19 races and earned $483,508.
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