2024 Eclipse Awards: Juddmonte

It would be hard to follow up on the year Juddmonte had in 2023, with Idiomatic and Elite Power both winning Breeders’ Cup races and securing divisional championships to make the international operation a finalist for the Eclipse Award as outstanding owner and breeder. But last year, Juddmonte again had a solid year, with Idiomatic bringing its colors to another Eclipse finalist nod and giving the outfit finalist recognition in the owner category.

The international Juddmonte operation, founded in 1980 by the late Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, has continued on at a high level following his 2021 death, with family members taking leadership roles within the outfit. Juddmonte has previously been voted outstanding owner in 1992, 2003, 2016, and 2017, and outstanding breeder in 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2009.

:: Full list of 2024 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Idiomatic is a Juddmonte homebred, with her great-great granddam being foundation mare Monroe. Idiomatic won five graded stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita, to earn a 2023 title as outstanding older dirt female. This year, Idiomatic added Grade 1 wins in the Fasig-Tipton La Troienne at Churchill Downs and Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, and was a close second in two more Grade 1 races. Although injury caused her to miss a Breeders’ Cup defense, she is again a divisional finalist. Idiomatic retired with 12 wins from 17 starts, having never missed the board, and earnings of more than $3.9 million.

Idiomatic is out of Lockdown, a full sister to champion Close Hatches. The family had a powerhouse year, as Close Hatches was represented on the track in 2024 by multiple graded stakes winner Scylla, who also was Grade 1-placed, and Grade 3 winner Batten Down, all carrying the Juddmonte colors.

Other prominent runners this year for Juddmonte included European-bred Whitebeam, who repeated in the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga; and Pleasant, third in the PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Pleasant’s great-granddam is Juddmonte’s great blue hen Toussaud.

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