Jackie’s Warrior was among the dominant 2-year-olds of 2020, using his brilliant speed to win his first four starts, including a pair of Grade 1 races to earn a spot as a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the division.

A son of Maclean’s Music out of Unicorn Girl owned by Kirk and Judy Robison, bred by J & J Stables in Kentucky, and trained by Steve Asmussen, Jackie’s Warrior won a maiden race at Churchill Downs in June, the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in August, the Grade 1 Runhappy Hopeful at Saratoga in September, and the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park in October.

From the start, Dayoutoftheoffice was regarded by her connections as a special filly.

“She does everything just perfect,” said Tim Hamm, who trains and co-owns Dayoutoftheoffice under his Blazing Meadows Farm banner in partnership with the filly’s breeder, Siena Farm.

She lost the battle to Dayoutoftheoffice in the Frizette, but Vequist won the war when she surged to victory nearly four weeks later in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Always close to the inner rail, Vequist emerged a two-length winner after racing near the pace under Joel Rosario.

“Nothing bothers this filly,” a jubilant Butch Reid, the trainer of Vequist, said in the Breeders’ Cup aftermath. “To get a little dirt in her face doesn’t really faze her.”

Perfection was the hallmark of Aunt Pearl during a 2-year-old season in which she won her three starts by a combined 10 lengths, all in front-running fashion. Competing exclusively in two-turn turf races, the Irish-bred filly never left the Kentucky circuit, capturing a maiden race, an allowance, and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in a span of less than 10 weeks.

Brad Cox had an inkling early on that Essential Quality could be special.

“I had a lot of high hopes for the horse after being around him for a month,” Cox said. “I really liked him from the start. He was a little stubborn when he came in, but once he got out on the racetrack I said, ‘This is a good horse.’ ”

What Cox saw in the morning revealed itself in the afternoon as Essential Quality went 3 for 3 with two Grade 1 victories in a nine-week span to become a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male.

Every year Sackatoga Stables teams up with trainer Barclay Tagg to buy a couple of horses. Twice now they’ve hit the mother lode, a remarkable strike rate when facing operations that buy scores more horses in the hope a couple pan out to pay for the rest.

His career encompassed four starts in less than four months, and was over before the end of May, but Nadal made such a strong impression in that brief time that he is a finalist in the 3-year-old male division along with two Triple Crown race winners, having compiled a perfect record, including three graded stakes wins, one a Grade 1.

The year 2020 caused plenty of interruptions in racing, most notably an altered Triple Crown that found the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve run in September. There might not have been a horse who benefited more from the four-month postponement than Authentic, who, had the Derby been run on May 2, would have been competing in the race three days before his actual third birthday.

Fire At Will proved to be one of the more versatile 2-year-olds of 2020, winning races on multiple surfaces and in multiple styles to earn a spot as a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 2-year-old male division.

Before the page gets turned on 2020, the year’s champions are to be announced, and on Saturday the top three finalists for 17 Eclipse Award categories – 12 for horses, five for humans – will be revealed beginning at noon Eastern (9 a.m. Pacific) on TVG.