The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters announced this evening that Zayat Stables’ American Pharoah, the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, was unanimously voted as Horse of the Year at the 45th Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
American Pharoah becomes the second unanimous Horse of the Year, joining John Henry in 1981, to sweep all votes in the Horse of the Year category. American Pharoah received all 261 votes from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, Daily Racing Form and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association block of Equibase field personnel and North American racing officials.
American Pharoah also was a unanimous choice for Champion 3-year-old by the Eclipse Award voters. In 2015, American Pharoah won seven of eight races, six of those grade one events, including the Arkansas Derby, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Haskell Invitational and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He was the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Triple Crown and the first to sweep what has been referred to as Thoroughbred racing’s “Grand Slam” of the Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He also set a single season earnings record of $8,288,800.
It was also a big night for the American Pharoah team as Zayat Stables won both the Outstanding Owner and Outstanding Breeder awards and American Pharoah’s trainer, Bob Baffert, won his fourth Outstanding Trainer Award. American Pharoah’s jockey, Victor Espinoza, finished second in the Outstanding Jockey category to Javier Castellano, who captured the honor for the third consecutive year.
Spendthrift Farm’s Beholder, undefeated in five starts in 2015, won her third Eclipse Award this evening, taking the Older Dirt Female trophy. Beholder won the 2-year-old Filly Championship in 2012 and was the Champion 3-year-old Filly of 2013.
In voting that concluded January 2, 2016, Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system basis. This voting established the top three finalists in each division, whose names were released Jan. 6, 2016.
The votes are tabulated and certified by Strothman and Company.
The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.
Voter participation rate: 261/281= 92.88%
(Horse ages in parentheses where applicable; Country codes indicate a foreign breeding designation)
Two-Year-Old Male: Nyquist
Two-Year-Old Filly: Songbird
Three-Year-Old Male: American Pharoah
Three-Year-Old Filly: Stellar Wind
Older Dirt Male: Honor Code (4)
Older Dirt Female: Beholder (5)
Male Sprinter: Runhappy (3)
Female Sprinter: La Verdad (5)
Male Turf Horse: Big Blue Kitten (7)
Female Turf Horse: Tepin (4)
Steeplechase Horse: Dawalan (FR) (5)
Owner: Zayat Stables
Breeder: Zayat Stables
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Apprentice Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione
Horse of the Year: American Pharoah
Two-Year-Old Male (Name, First-Place Votes)
Nyquist, 255; Mohaymen, 3; Voter Abstentions, 3.
Two-Year-Old Filly
Songbird, 260, Catch a Glimpse, 1.
Three-Year-Old Male
American Pharoah, 261.
Three-Year-Old Filly
Stellar Wind, 108; I’m a Chatterbox, 47; Found (IRE), 46; Lady Eli, 34; Lovely Maria, 12; Curalina, 11; Include Betty, 2; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Older Dirt Male
Honor Code, 126; Liam’s Map, 95; Tonalist, 14; Effinex, 12; Shared Belief, 9; California Chrome, 3. Voter Abstentions, 2.
Older Dirt Female
Beholder, 256; Stopchargingmaria, 4; Sheer Drama, 1.
Male Sprinter
Runhappy, 255; Private Zone, 2; Rock Fall, 2; Mongolian Saturday, 1; Secret Circle, 1.
Female Sprinter
La Verdad, 98; Wavell Avenue, 90; Lady Shipman, 41; Cavorting, 19; Unbridled Forever, 5; Ageless, 1; Birdonthewire, 1; Fantastic Style, 1; Voter Abstentions, 5.
Male Turf Horse
Big Blue Kitten, 134; Golden Horn (GB), 63; The Pizza Man, 41; Flintshire, 18; Chiropractor, 1; Grand Arch, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.
Female Turf Horse
Tepin, 211; Found (IRE), 38; Stephanie’s Kitten, 8; Lady Eli, 2; Curvy (GB), 1; Voter Abstentions, 1.
Steeplechase Horse
Dawalan (FR), 165; Bob Le Beau (IRE), 47; African Oil (FR), 2; Demonstrative, 2; Grinding Speed, 1; Voter Abstentions, 44.
Owner
Zayat Stables, 220; Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 26; Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc., 6; Reddam Racing, 2; Godolphin Racing, 1; Voter Abstentions, 6.
Breeder
Zayat Stables, 190; Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 39; Darley, 13; WinStar Farm, 5; Adena Springs, 4; Spendthrift Farm, 1; Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, 1; Voter Abstentions, 8.
Trainer
Bob Baffert, 200; Todd Pletcher, 44; Chad Brown, 12; Karl Broberg, 1; Jerry Hollendorfer, 1; Voter Abstentions, 3.
Jockey
Javier Castellano, 184; Victor Espinoza, 70; Joe Bravo, 1; Pedro Monterrey, Jr., 1; Irad Ortiz, Jr., 1; Joel Rosario, 1; John Velazquez, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.
Apprentice Jockey
Tyler Gaffalione, 149; Eric Cancel, 63; Angel Cruz, 9; Ashley Broussard, 6; David Lopez, 3; Jorge Robles, 1; Voter Abstentions, 30.
Horse of the Year
American Pharoah, 261.
Award of Merit
The winner of the Award of Merit, voted on by a panel of representatives from the three presenting organizations and previously announced, is Leonard Lavin. The Award of Merit is presented to honor outstanding lifetime achievement in the Thoroughbred industry.
Horseplayer of the Year
John O’Neil was honored as the 2015 Horseplayer of the Year as the winner of the Daily Racing Form /NTRA National Handicapping Championship.
Media Eclipse Awards
Media Eclipse Awards also are given in the categories of photography, audio and multi-media Internet, news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, national television-feature and national television-live racing programming to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. The 2015 Media Eclipse Awards winners, determined by a judges’ panel for each category and previously announced, are:
Photography – Scott Serio, Cecil Guardian, “American Pharoah Trains at Keeneland for Breeders’ Cup,” November 4, 2015; and Michael Clevenger, Louisville Courier-Journal, “American Pharoah Wins the Belmont Stakes,” June 7, 2015
Writing – Feature/Commentary – Jennie Rees, Louisville Courier-Journal; “Dyslexia Doesn’t Slow Keen Ice Trainer Romans”; October 28, 2015
Writing – News/Enterprise – Tim Sullivan, Louisville Courier-Journal; “Family, PETA at Odds Over Horseman’s Death”; September 6, 2015
Television – Live Racing – NBC Sports, “2015 Belmont Stakes”; June 6, 2015
Television – Feature – Digital Kitchen (Hennegan Brothers, directors) – AT&T U-verse, “Ironman Perry Ouzts”; August 15, 2015
Audio and Multi-Media Internet – Mary Simon, Daily Racing Form, “Regret at 100”; April 20, 2015.
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