2023 Eclipse Awards: Locked

Little came easy for Locked in his juvenile campaign, yet he was talented enough to win a Grade 1 and finish third in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to earn a spot as a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 2-year-old male division.

Locked, a son of Gun Runner owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher, was a $425,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September 2022 auction.

Locked showed talent in his debut on Whitney Day at Saratoga, even though he finished third. In a six-furlong race, Locked was squeezed back to last out of the gate but rallied to finish within 3 1/2 lengths of Just Steel at the finish while galloping out well past the field.

:: Full list of 2023 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Locked’s easiest trip of his four-race campaign came four weeks later, when, going a mile out of the Wilson Chute at Saratoga, he stalked the pace from second before making the lead around the far turn and drawing clear to a 7 1/4-length victory.

In the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 7 at Keeneland, Locked broke from the outside post in an eight-horse field. He remained wide throughout and got engaged in a stretch-long battle with the rail-riding The Wine Steward and prevailed by a half-length. It was victory reminiscent of his stablemate Forte’s victory over Loggins in the 2022 Breeders’ Futurity.

“It was great to see him overcome some adversity and significant obstacles in front of him, and we hope it goes a long way that he was looked in the eye and got battle-tested and hopefully that will prove beneficial come Breeders’ Cup time,” said Aron Wellman, president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.

In the Breeders’ Cup, at Santa Anita, Locked was toward the back of the pack early and jockey Jose Ortiz was scrubbing on him around the far turn, where he still just had one horse beaten. Locked swung wide in the lane and made a belated bid to get third, 6 3/4 lengths behind his stablemate Fierceness, but only a half-length behind runner-up Muth. Fierceness and Muth are the other two finalists for the Eclipse Award in this division.

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“Even though he got beat 6 1/2 lengths, he was closing well,” Pletcher said of the Breeders’ Cup effort. “Unfortunately, he got shuffled a little too far back and took a lot of kickback. He made a good run. Obviously, Fierceness had spurted away from him at that point.”

After the Breeders’ Cup, Locked shipped to South Florida and is based at the Palm Beach Downs training center. Locked returned to the work tab along with Fierceness on Dec. 12. Pletcher indicated the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis on Feb. 10 at Tampa Bay Downs could be where Locked begins his 3-year-old campaign.

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