It took time for Shared Belief to be able to put his best foot forward in 2014, but once he did, he quickly got back to the level of racing that propelled him to an Eclipse Award as the champion male 2-year-old of 2013. He is seeking to become the first male 2-year-old champ to repeat at 3 since Lookin At Lucky in 2009-10.
Taylor Rice might be from a family long steeped in racing, but the 26-year-old waited a while to join the fray and in 2014 carved out her own place in the sport. Rice was one of North America’s leading “rookie riders” last year and for her accomplishments is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey of 2014.
Owners and breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey are in familiar territory as Eclipse Award finalists. Based in Nicholasville, Ky., the Ramseys are four-time Eclipse winners – three times as outstanding owner and once as outstanding breeder. They earned honors in both categories in 2013, following a breakthrough season for their homebred stallion Kitten’s Joy. Their previous owner awards came in 2004 and 2011.
Half of Private Zone’s races in 2014 resulted in Grade 1 victories, which is outstanding by any measure. It was a relatively light campaign for the Ontario-bred gelding – just four starts – but he capitalized by winning the Grade 1 Vosburgh and Grade 1 Cigar Mile for the Good Friends Stable headed by Hilton Gordon and former jockey Rene Douglas.
In what has become a yearly tradition, Todd Pletcher topped all North American trainers in three key categories in 2014: earnings, stakes wins, and graded stakes victories.
What’s not to like about a precocious 2-year-old who wins a classic at age 3 and then goes on at 4 to dominate older runners and rise to the top of the American rankings? That is Palace Malice in a package.
Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds has long been known as a leader among blue-collar racing operations, but the Dyer, Ind., residents broke through on the biggest stage in 2014 with Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Work All Week.
Main Sequence won Monmouth Park's Grade 1 United Nations, the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga, the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont, and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita. It was a wonderful campaign, and one that has propelled Main Sequence into consideration for an Eclipse Award as both the champion turf horse and older male of 2014.
It’s not as if the Eclipse Award electorate has ignored turf specialists when it comes to the 2-year-old filly division. Since the advent of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2008, four of the seven winners of that race have gone on to become finalists for the 2-year-old filly Eclipse Award.
One year after coming within a half-length of winning the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Judy the Beauty followed through in the 2014 renewal to put herself in a prime position to reign atop her division in Eclipse Award balloting.
