Oaklawn's top male sprinter last year can now be called the best nationally, too.
The ultra-popular Whitmore, a seven-time Oaklawn stakes winner co-owned and trained by Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, was named the country's champion male sprinter of 2020 during the 50th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony Thursday night.
Whitmore received 132 first-place votes from members of the three consolidated voting blocs – Equibase, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. Vekoma finished second with 83, followed by three other 2020 Oaklawn-raced horses in Volatile (16), Charlatan (four) and C Z Rocket (three).
Three finalists in each division were announced Jan. 16, established through a 10-5-1 point system from earlier voting. Eclipse Award winners were determined solely by first-place votes.
Whitmore compiled a 3-2-0 mark from seven starts last year, punctuating his resume with a dominating victory in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
The gelding's other two victories came at Oaklawn, his winter home since 2016. He won the $150,000 Hot Springs Stakes in March for a record fourth consecutive year and the $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) in April for a record third time.
“I think the reaction that we get from the rest of the people kind of mimics how we feel all the time about him,” Moquett said Friday morning. “It's like everybody's giving him credit, loving him or whatever. But Arkansas people kind of already thought that he was a champion, regardless, and it's kind of like the rest of world got to see what we've been thinking for three years.”
Whitmore is training at Oaklawn in preparation for his scheduled 8-year-old debut in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes March 13. Whitmore's major spring objective, Moquett said, is again the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 10. Both races are 6 furlongs.
“Still the plan,” Moquett said. “He's going to run a mile and a half at Oaklawn.”
Moquett received one first-place vote for outstanding trainer. But Whitmore, his prized gelding, had more than enough support to grab his first Eclipse Award after finishing eighth, second and third in the previous three runnings of the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
“He's a cool horse,” Moquett said.
This is me tonight after the Eclipse Awards feeding mints to a Champion. #Grateful #Whitmore #WhatAHorse pic.twitter.com/AtBuTKv4b1
— Ron Moquett (@RonMoquett) January 29, 2021
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