HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s unanimous! American Pharoah was the best horse in the country last year.
American Pharoah received all 261 votes for both Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male when the Eclipse Award winners for the 2015 racing season were announced Saturday night at a gala dinner at Gulfstream Park.
In the 45-year history of the Eclipse Awards, American Pharoah became only the second horse, joining John Henry in 1981, to get every first-place vote for Horse of the Year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – John Atto, whose insurance company sponsored the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile during the early years of the $1 million race, died last Tuesday at age 70.
Atto was an avid owner. His best horse was Parose, who won the Grade 3 Durham Cup and the Grade 3 Woodbine Slots Cup in the early 2000s.
A chapel service will be held at Bay Gardens Funeral Home at 947 Rymal Road East in Hamilton, Ontario, at 1 p.m. Eastern on Monday. Visitation will be there Sunday from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
Jockey Nik Juarez won six races at Laurel Park on Monday.
"When I saw the overnight I knew I had a lot of good chances." Juarez said. "I just had to make the most of them and hope the racing gods were smiling down.”
Juarez had eight mounts on the nine-race card and won races 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9. Juarez won the third, seventh, and ninth races for trainer Hugh McMahon. His other winners were saddled by John Hartsell, Dale Capuano, and Graham Motion.
Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables had what could only be classified as a dream season in 2015, driven by the heroics of American Pharoah, the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 37 years and the first in history to win both the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
American Pharoah’s historic feat helped Zayat Stables finish in fourth place among North American breeders by earnings, with 59 runners winning 15 races for a combined $8,434,540.
Ken and Sarah Ramsey have essentially earned an annual reservation at the Eclipse Awards in recent years by believing in their own product and knowing when to believe in the products of others.
Last year, the Ramseys pulled off an unprecedented feat by sweeping the Eclipse Awards for outstanding owner and breeder for a second consecutive year. It was the fourth time the Nicholasville, Ky.-based couple won the owners’ Eclipse, having previously won it in 2004 and 2011.
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum has a presence in nearly every corner of the global Thoroughbred industry, and the North American wing of his Darley breeding operation once again proved to be among the best on the continent in 2015.
The ruler of Dubai was represented by 149 North American winners as a breeder in 2015, and his stable’s earnings of $9,213,365 ranked second.
“We were really confident if she got a strong pace, she could get there,” trainer Chad Brown said after Wavell Avenue rallied from 11th to win the definitive race in the division. “It’s a thrill to be here.
In 2015, La Verdad was a genuine star in the North American filly-and-mare sprint division, finishing first in six of eight starts while also running second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
