Just F Y I put together an unbeaten three-start campaign in 2023, capped by a victory in the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, to make herself a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly.

History is on her side. Since the first running of the Breeders’ Cup in 1984, 34 winners of the Juvenile Fillies have been honored with the Eclipse Award as outstanding 2-year-old filly.

Hard to Justify’s credentials easily justify her spot among the three finalists for the Eclipse Award as outstanding 2-year-old filly. Her 3-for-3 campaign, highlighted by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, made her one of the top picks among voters.

Candied, who stretched out to become a Grade 1 winner in just her second start, is among the finalists for the Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding 2-year-old filly of 2023.

Candied, by perennial leading sire Candy Ride, was bred in Kentucky by Buck Pond Farm. She was a $165,000 purchase by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale. Prior to the Breeders’ Cup this year, Eclipse principal Aron Wellman said Sean Tugel, the partnership’s vice president for bloodstock, deserves the credit for scouting the filly out.

With a high price tag comes high expectations. Muth, who sold for a record-equaling $2 million at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. 2-year-olds in training sale in March did a pretty good job of reaching those expectations in 2023.

Muth won 2 of 4 starts, including the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes. That victory and his runner-up finish to Fierceness in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita earned Muth a spot as finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 2-year-old male division.

Little came easy for Locked in his juvenile campaign, yet he was talented enough to win a Grade 1 and finish third in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to earn a spot as a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 2-year-old male division.

Locked, a son of Gun Runner owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher, was a $425,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September 2022 auction.

Brilliant on debut, a bust in the Grade 1 Champagne, Fierceness left his connections a bit baffled four weeks out from the Breeders’ Cup.

Opting to forge ahead and see what those weeks would bring, Fierceness convinced trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole to take a shot in the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. Pletcher and Repole were rewarded for their persistence when Fierceness galloped to a 6 1/2-length victory in the Juvenile.

A successful debut season by Pretty Mischievous in 2022 was merely the foundation to a chart-topping campaign in 2023. Pretty Mischievous won four graded stakes, more than any 3-year-old in North America, to emerge as the favorite to win the Eclipse Award as outstanding 3-year-old filly.