Justify favored in tough Horse of the Year battle

There have been five Triple Crown winners since the Eclipse Awards were inaugurated in 1971, and the previous four – Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and American Pharoah – all were named Horse of the Year. Justify, last year’s Triple Crown winner, is favored to keep that streak intact on Thursday night when racing’s 2018 champions are announced at the 48th annual Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park.

Justify faces a worthy rival in Accelerate, who won 6 of 7 starts last year, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which marked his fourth win in four tries in Grade 1 company going 1 1/4 miles.

The other finalist for Horse of the Year is Monomoy Girl, whose wins last year included the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

All three – Justify, Accelerate, and Monomoy Girl – are slam dunks to win divisional titles, Justify as champion 3-year-old male, Accelerate for older dirt male, and Monomoy Girl for 3-year-old filly.

Of interest Thursday will be how far down ballot the impact of Justify and Accelerate extends.

Kosta and Pete Hronis, the owners of Accelerate, as well as the partnership that raced Justify – WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing, and Head of Plains Partners – are finalists for champion owner along with Peter Brant.

Mike Abraham, who bred Accelerate, and John Gunther, who bred Justify, are two of the finalists for champion breeder, along with WinStar.

Mike Smith, who rode Justify, is a finalist for champion jockey along with the Ortiz brothers, Irad Jr. and Jose, with Irad favored to pick up his first title.

Bob Baffert, the trainer of Justify, is a finalist for champion trainer, but is perceived as the underdog against Chad Brown, who is seeking his third straight title.

Baffert is a cinch to train at least one other divisional champion in 2-year-old male Game Winner, the unbeaten winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Brown’s best chance for a divisional title appears to be in female turf, where his Sistercharlie is a slight favorite over Enable. Both were Breeders’ Cup winners.

Brown’s unbeaten 2-year-old filly Newspaperofrecord is considered a slight underdog in her division against Jaywalk. Both also were Breeders’ Cup winners.

Marley’s Freedom is a finalist in two categories, but faces an uphill battle against Shamrock Rose for female sprinter and Unique Bella and Abel Tasman for older dirt female.

Stormy Liberal also is a finalist in two categories. His Peter Miller-trained stablemate Roy H is heavily favored to repeat as male sprinter, but Stormy Liberal is perceived as having a better chance in one of the few wide-open categories, male turf, whose other finalists are Expert Eye and Glorious Empire.

Jury Duty, Optimus Prime, and Zanjabeel are the finalists for champion steeplechase horse, and Reylu Gutierrez, Weston Hamilton, and Edgar Morales are vying for champion apprentice.

Joe Harper, the longtime chairman of Del Mar, will receive the Eclipse Award of Merit, and Chris Littlemore will be recognized as Horseplayer of the Year for winning last year’s National Handicapping Championship.

Media award winners, all previously announced, also will receive their trophies, including Daily Racing Form’s Barbara Livingston, who won the photography award for the fourth time.

The Eclipse Awards are voted on by members of DRF, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. A total of 249 voters out of a possible 271 cast ballots.

The black-tie optional ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be emceed for the seventh time by Jeannine Edwards. It will be livestreamed at DRF.com, and also is available through TVG, RTN, NTRA.com, XBTV.com, and GulfstreamPark.com.