In the span of just 15 autumn days, Shamrock Rose went from an unknown to a major contender in the filly-mare sprint division, as back-to-back victories at long odds in the Grade 2 Raven Run and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint catapulted the 3-year-old filly into contention for divisional supremacy.

The year unfolded in relative obscurity for Shamrock Rose. Fourth in the Busher and second in the Cicada, both in March at Aqueduct, the bay filly could only muster a third-place finish in the Weber City Miss at Laurel Park in April.

After Marley’s Freedom finished a non-threatening sixth in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie on the Pegasus World Cup card in January in her first start as a 4-year-old, few could have guessed the filly would blossom into a major player in the filly-mare sprint division.

Trained at the time by Bob Hess Jr., Marley’s Freedom then finished second in March in the Grade 2 Santa Monica at her home track, Santa Anita, before powering to victory in a second-level allowance in April.

Although her final two races were disappointing, there’s no question that 2018 and her entire three-year career were an unqualified success for Finley’sluckycharm, who is among the three finalists for the Eclipse Award as champion female sprinter for 2018.

If Roy H is named champion male sprinter for the second year in a row, he will become only the second horse to top the division twice since the Eclipse Awards were established in 1971. Housebuster was voted North America’s best sprinter in 1990 and 1991.

Just as in 2017, Roy H concluded his season by winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He seized control of the Churchill Downs race in upper stretch and quickly opened up, cruising home comfortably to score by 3 1/4 lengths while giving rider Paco Lopez his first Breeders’ Cup victory.

Given that the last six – and seven of the last eight –winners of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf have been finalists for the champion 2-year-old filly Eclipse Award, one can say with certainty that the Eclipse electorate respects winners of the race.

To a point, that is.

Jaywalk was a very nice filly out of the box. She finished second in her June debut at Monmouth Park after setting the early pace, came back to record a front-running romp in her second start, which came in the mud at Parx Racing in July, and then became the first stakes winner for her freshman sire Cross Traffic when she landed the White Clay Creek Stakes at Delaware Park in August, showing an added dimension by coming from off the pace.

Nice filly, for sure.

Bellafina was so highly regarded when she began her career last summer that jockey Flavien Prat flew from New York to California to ride her in a maiden race at Los Alamitos on July 4.

Even though she finished second, owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Simon Callaghan were undeterred. For her second race, with Prat back aboard, Bellafina started in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 5. Their confidence was rewarded when Bellafina won by 4 1/4 lengths while racing with blinkers for the first time.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. A chestnut colt with a big white face trained by Bob Baffert for WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and Starlight Racing wins his first three starts to become a major contender for the Kentucky Derby.

Sure, Improbable started his career about five months earlier than Justify – the 2018 Triple Crown winner for the aforementioned connections – but it’s hard not to acknowledge the similarities.

Triple Crown winner Justify had been gone less than three weeks when the next potential star in trainer Bob Baffert’s stable showed himself the afternoon of Aug. 18 at Del Mar.

That was the day a colt named Game Winner rolled to a 5 3/4-length victory in his career debut, one that caught even Baffert a bit by surprise.

Four months apart, Zanjabeel showed why he was one of the best chasers in the United States in 2018 – and how he thrives in the longest races.

In May, in his third start of the year, Zanjabeel won the Grade 1 Iroquois Hurdle at three miles at Percy Warner Park, outside of Nashville. Zanjabeel did not race during the summer. When Belmont Park opened its fall meeting in September, Zanjabeel was the 8-5 favorite in the Lonesome Glory Hurdle at 2 1/2 miles, winning by 1 3/4 lengths against a strong field.