Finalists for the 2013 Eclipse Awards, selected by voters from Daily Racing Form, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Click on a finalist to read DRF's profile. Winners will be announced Jan. 18 at the 43nd Annual Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
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| photo by: Barbara D. Livingston |
Will Take Charge was good in the spring, and very, very good in the fall, putting bookends on an ambitious 2013 campaign that has made him the favorite to be named champion 3-year-old male, despite a Triple Crown of discontent, when he was soundly beaten in all three legs.
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| photo by: Barbara D. Livingston |
After Palace Malice made his first start of the year, a second-place finish in an allowance sprint at Gulfstream Park, he was pointed to the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds, a race that came on the heels of publication of the inaugural Daily Racing Form Derby Watch list for 2013.
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| photo by: Barbara D. Livingston |
Bill Mott doesn’t typically press hard with his first-time starters, so on Jan. 26, the tote board at Gulfstream Park spoke volumes about newcomer Close Hatches, a filly from the first crop of the Juddmonte Farms stallion First Defence who was vying for favoritism in a big field.
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| photo by: Shigeki Kikkawa |
As he glanced at the board following the running of the fifth race at Golden Gate Fields on Oct. 19, track announcer Michael Wrona was taken aback by the fact that the debuting 2-year-old he had just called to victory had run six furlongs in 1:09.53.
