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.

When Optimus Prime arrived at Richard Hendriks’s stable last summer, the trainer saw the gelding for the first time. Hendriks and owner George Mahoney purchased Optimus Prime on the advice of Irish jockey Noel Fehily, who had ridden Optimus Prime to three consecutive wins fall 2017 and in January.

Hendriks and Mahoney, who races as Rosbrian Farm, were looking for a prospect for the late-season Grade 1 races in the United States. They found more than a suitable candidate in Optimus Prime.

With a purse of $450,000, the Grade 1 Grand National at Far Hills was the nation’s richest hurdle race in 2018. Appropriately, the popular event in the New Jersey countryside on Oct. 20 drew an international field and was a showcase for the Irish runner Jury Duty.

Sent off as the 6-5 favorite, Jury Duty won the Grand National at 2 5/8 miles by 3 1/4 lengths over Tornado Watch in his only American start of the year. The win was enough to earn Jury Duty a spot as a finalist for an Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding steeplechaser of 2018.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – For most riders, their biggest decision is whether to go inside or outside. For apprentice jockey Reylu Gutierrez, his biggest decision may be which career path to choose.

For now, this jockey gig is working out nicely for Gutierrez, whose 109 victories in 2018 have made him a finalist for an Eclipse Award as North America’s champion apprentice jockey. If, however, success proves fleeting, Gutierrez has a backup plan: to become a physical therapist.

Barbara D. Livingston, the staff photographer for Daily Racing Form, has been selected for her record fourth Eclipse Award for photography, according to the Eclipse Award administrators, which announced all six media winners on Friday.

For more than three decades, the Triple Crown had seemingly become unreachable. After Affirmed became the third horse in the 1970s to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont, there were 13 horses who won the first two legs but couldn’t finish off the Belmont. They lost narrowly like Real Quiet and Smarty Jones, ugly like Big Brown and War Emblem, and in the case of I’ll Have Another, couldn’t even answer the bell.

Justify should be Horse of the Year.

Accelerate should be Horse of the Year.

Justify should be Horse of the Year because since 1936 no Triple Crown winner has ever not been Horse of the Year.

Accelerate should be Horse of the Year because since 1950 (Noor was robbed!) no older horse with a similarly stellar record has ever not been Horse of the Year.