California Chrome, last year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, has won the 2014 Horse of the Year, which was announced Saturday evening at the 44th annual Eclipse Awards, presented by Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group. The Eclipse Awards, held at Gulfstream Park, honor excellence in Thoroughbred racing and are voted on by representatives of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form (DRF) and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB).
Owned by Steve Coburn and Perry Martin, and trained by Art Sherman, California Chrome finished first in the Horse of the Year balloting with 143 votes, followed by Flaxman Holdings’ Main Sequence, the Older Male and Male Turf champion, with 53 votes; Kaleem Shah’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern, with 36 votes; Jungle Racing and partners’ Shared Belief, with 12 votes; the champion 3-year-old filly Untapable with 11 votes and 2012 and 2013 Horse of the Year Wise Dan with six votes, among the leading vote recipients.
California Chrome was also voted the 3-year-old Male champion earlier in the evening.
In addition to the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, California Chrome, a son of Lucky Pulpit, won the California Cup Derby, the San Felipe Stakes, the Santa Anita Derby, and the Hollywood Derby on turf. He was thwarted in his bid to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner when he finished fourth in the Belmont Stakes. Following a summer layoff, California Chrome finished sixth in the Pennsylvania Derby and finished third by a neck in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. He finished 2014 with $4,007,800 in total earnings for the year.
Voting Overview
In voting that concluded January 4, 2015, 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 on Jan. 7, 2015.
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: 265/280= 94.64%
(Horse 2014 ages in parentheses where applicable; Country codes indicate a foreign breeding designation)
- Two-Year-Old Male: American Pharoah
- Two-Year-Old Filly: Take Charge Brandi
- Three-Year-Old Male: California Chrome
- Three-Year-Old Filly: Untapable
- Older Male: Main Sequence (5)
- Older Female: Close Hatches (4)
- Male Sprinter: Work All Week (5)
- Female Sprinter: Judy the Beauty (5)
- Male Turf Horse: Main Sequence (5)
- Female Turf Horse: Dayatthespa (5)
- Steeplechase Horse: Demonstrative (7)
- Owner: Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
- Breeder: Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
- Trainer: Todd Pletcher
- Jockey: Javier Castellano
- Apprentice Jockey: Drayden Van Dyke
- Horse of the Year: California Chrome (3)
Horse of the Year
California Chrome, 143; Main Sequence, 53; Bayern, 36; Shared Belief, 12; Untapable, 11; Wise Dan, 6; Adelaide (IRE), 1; Take Charge Brandi, 1. Voter Abstentions, 2.
Two-Year-Old Male (Name, First-Place Votes)
American Pharoah, 126; Texas Red, 111; Hootenanny, 16; Carpe Diem, 7; Dortmund, 3; Ocho Ocho Ocho, 2.
Two-Year-Old Filly
Take Charge Brandi, 236; Lady Eli, 23; Condo Commando, 3; Sunset Glow, 3.
Three-Year-Old Male
California Chrome, 193; Bayern, 56; Shared Belief, 15. Voter Abstentions, 1.
Three-Year-Old Filly
Untapable, 265.
Older Male
Main Sequence, 127; Palace Malice, 103; Wise Dan, 25; Goldencents, 9; Game On Dude, 1.
Older Female
Close Hatches, 155; Dayatthespa, 64; Don’t Tell Sophia, 19; Judy the Beauty, 15; Iotapa, 7; Beholder, 5.
Male Sprinter
Work All Week, 184; Goldencents, 52; Palace, 12; Private Zone, 11; Bobby’s Kitten, 2; Bayern, 1; Big Macher, 1; Secret Circle, 1; Shared Belief, 1.
Female Sprinter
Judy the Beauty, 261; Midnight Lucky, 1; Living The Live (IRE), 1; La Verdad, 1; Awesome Baby, 1.
Male Turf Horse
Main Sequence, 243; Wise Dan, 18; California Chrome, 2; Karakontie (JPN), 1; Adelaide (IRE), 1.
Female Turf Horse
Dayatthespa, 260; Crown Queen, 2; Coffee Clique, 1; Room Service, 1. Voter Abstentions, 1.
Steeplechase Horse
Demonstrative, 206; Divine Fortune, 12; Decoy Daddy (IRE), 5; Makari, (GB) 2. Voter Abstentions, 40.
Owner
Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 179; Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc., 21; Kaleem Shah, Inc., 20; Flaxman Holdings, Ltd., 18; Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, 12; Steven Coburn and Perry Martin, 6; Maggi Moss, 2; John Oxley, 1; Robert Evans, 1. Voter Abstentions, 5.
Breeder
Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, 129; Adena Spring, 43; Winchell Thoroughbreds, 43; Flaxman Holdings, LLC, 29; Steven Coburn and Perry Martin, 6; Helen Alexander 3; WinStar Farm, 3; Darley, 1; Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc., 1. Voter Abstentions, 7.
Trainer
Todd Pletcher, 100; Chad Brown, 64; Art Sherman, 45; Bob Baffert, 20; Graham Motion, 13; Jerry Hollendorfer, 11; Steve Asmussen, 6; D. Wayne Lukas, 3; Karl Broberg, 1; Edward Graham, 1; Mike Maker, 1.
Jockey
Javier Castellano, 203; John Velazquez, 34; Mike Smith, 8; Joel Rosario, 8; Rosie Napravnik, 5; Victor Espinoza, 4; Irad Ortiz, Jr., 2; Alexis Batista, 1.
Apprentice Jockey
Drayden Van Dyke, 225; Juan Saez, 11; Trevor McCarthy, 6; Taylor Rice, 6. Voter Abstentions, 17.
Complete composite vote totals are available here.
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 Tom Durkin. The Award of Merit is presented to honor outstanding lifetime achievement in the Thoroughbred industry.
Special Award
The winner of the Special Award, voted on by a panel of representatives from the three presenting organizations and previously announced, is Old Friends Farm. The Special Award honors extraordinary service, individual achievements in, or contributions to the sport of Thoroughbred racing.
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 2014 Media Eclipse Awards winners, determined by a judges’ panel for each category and previously announced, are:
- Photography: Barbara Livingston, “Tapiture Works in Driving Rainstorm,” Daily Racing Form; April 30, 2014.
- Writing – Feature/Commentary: John Scheinman, “Memories of a Master: The Determined Life of Dickie Small,” Bloodhorse.com; May 12, 2014.
- Writing – News/Enterprise: Joe Clancy, “Horse of a Lifetime,” Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred; July 2014
- Television – Live Racing: NBC Sports, “The Breeders’ Cup Classic,” Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer; November 1, 2014.
- Television – Feature: NBC Sports, “California Chrome: The Unlikely Champion,” Jack Felling, Supervising Producer; June 5, 2014.
- Audio and Multi-Media Internet: The Blood-Horse; “Waiting and Waiting for Triple Crown Glory,” Written by Frank Angst; May 28, 2014.
The Eclipse Awards
Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon the Thoroughbred horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them the title of Champion in their respective divisions. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-Century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
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