Horses trained by Chad Brown don't seem to bounce, nor do the trainer's statistics. In 2016, he continued his string of ascending yearly earnings since beginning his career in 2007, leading all trainers with more than $23.1 million in North American purse money.
Trainer Bob Baffert refers to jockey Mike Smith as “Big Money Mike,” a reference to his achievements in lucrative races such as the Breeders' Cup races. Of course, Baffert, a member of racing's Hall of Fame, is himself worthy of the “Big Money” moniker.
Haveyougoneaway began her 2016 campaign by winning a pair of ungraded sprint stakes at Oaklawn Park. They were solid efforts, but little did anyone suspect that the 5-year-old mare would go on to become a divisional finalist for an Eclipse Award.
Although a Grade 1 victory may have eluded Paulassilverlining in 2016, she sure racked up a lot of style points with the combination of class, speed, and consistency she displayed throughout a terrific campaign.
By winning the BC Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 5 at her home track of Santa Anita, Finest City became an Eclipse finalist in the filly-mare sprint division.
It's difficult to find more superlatives to describe Songbird, the heavy favorite to earn her second career Eclipse Award. She belted high note after high note in 2016.
The fillies and mares that Eclipse Award finalist Queen's Trust faced on both sides of the Atlantic in 2016 read like a who's who of international racing. After coming close against the best in Europe, she locked up a spot as an Eclipse Award finalist in the 3-year-old filly division by winning the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
“She's run a lot of people out of her stall, I can tell you that,” trainer John Servis said of Cathryn Sophia. But luckily, the diminutive bay filly put her fighting spirit to good use on the racetrack, taking down one of her division's signature events to stamp herself as an Eclipse Award finalist.
Top Striker delivered the biggest surprise of the steeplechase season when he trounced the year's most dominant horse, Rawnaq, by 10 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Colonial Cup.
Dawalan won the Eclipse Award as America's top steeplechase horse in 2015, but sustained a bowed tendon that ended his season early this year. Dawalan's stablemate Rawnaq turned out to be a more than adequate replacement.
