2022 Eclipse Awards: Regal Glory
Regal Glory amassed a fine collection of trophies for owner Peter Brant in important turf stakes for fillies and mares in 2022, easily securing a place among the finalists for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding turf female.
From coast to coast, Regal Glory ran in leading races for the division at top tracks.
Regal Glory’s cold statistics for 2022 – 4 wins in 7 starts from late January to early December, all in stakes, and earnings of $1,374,250. Her legacy was best summarized by trainer Chad Brown after Regal Glory won her final start, the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at a mile on Dec. 4 at Del Mar.
“I’d put her in the top half-dozen turf mares I’ve trained,” he said on the evening of the race.
:: Full list of 2022 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
Brown has trained the winners of seven Eclipse Awards for outstanding turf female and has two finalists this year, including In Italian. With such a résumé in his 15-year training career, Brown’s point of view carries massive significance.
Regal Glory was supposed to be among the top turf females in the nation in 2022. She ended her 2021 season with a win in the Matriarch Stakes, the first Grade 1 win of her career in her 16th start.
Brant had paid $925,000 for Regal Glory at the 2021 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. Regal Glory went through the auction months after the death of the filly’s breeder and original owner, Paul Pompa.
Regal Glory won five stakes for Pompa and seven for Brant.
A 6-year-old mare in 2022, Regal Glory won her first three starts of the year – the Grade 3 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January, the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland in April, and the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game Stakes at Belmont Park in June.
After the Just a Game, Brown praised Brant’s decision to race Regal Glory in 2022.
“It’s just one of those situations where she’s in her prime right now,” Brown said. “Some horses catch their peak window at different ages. Her, it seems like age 6.”
Regal Glory’s 2022 winning streak ended with a second-place finish as the 1-2 favorite to Casa Creed in the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap against males on Aug. 13 at Saratoga. She was later second to In Italian in the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Keeneland and 10th after a wide trip against males in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 5 at Keeneland.
The losing streak ended with an emphatic victory in the Matriarch, when she stormed clear to win by 5 1/4 lengths, the widest winning margin of her career in her final start. Regal Glory was retired after winning 13 of 23 starts and earning $2,619,134.
“She overachieved every step of her career,” Brown said. “She was courageous, had a will to win, and persevered.”
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