Flavien Prat Picks Up Derby Mount On Hot Rod Charlie

Jockey Flavien Prat will ride Hot Rod Charlie in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs, reports the Daily Racing Form. The 3-year-old son of Oxbow won the Louisiana Derby last out under Joel Rosario, who may have other commitments on the first Saturday in May, including Concert Tour for trainer Bob Baffert.

Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie got acquainted with Prat during a five-furlong work at Santa Anita on Saturday. The pair stopped the clock in 1:01 1/5, 27th of 66 at the distance.

On Monday, O'Neill told DRF: “Both Joel and Flavien are world-class jocks. Flavien was able to commit to Charlie. We're excited moving forward.”

O'Neill has Kentucky Derby wins with I'll Have Another (2012) and Nyquist (2016) on his resume, while Prat was awarded the victory via disqualification on Country House in 2019.

Hot Rod Charlie ran second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last year off a maiden victory, then ran third in the G3 Bob Lewis in his first start as a 3-year-old. He won the Louisiana Derby by two lengths over Midnight Bourbon, O Besos, and Proxy.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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50th Annual Eclipse Awards To Be Presented Virtually, Program Will Air Live On Jan. 28

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters and Daily Racing Form announced today that the 50th Annual Eclipse Awards, presented by Spendthrift Farm, will air live on TVG and Racetrack Television Network on Thursday, Jan. 28, beginning at 8 p.m. ET., and also streamed on other outlets and platforms.

This year's ceremony will be a virtual telecast. NBC Sports' Kenny Rice will anchor the program from Lexington, and will be joined by many fellow Eclipse Awards' masters of ceremonies and presenters from the past 20 years. Britney Eurton and Jeannine Edwards will present from historic Spendthrift Farm, home to some of racing's greatest champions. Acacia Courtney and Gabby Gaudet will present from Gulfstream Park in Florida; Gary Stevens and Daily Racing Form National Correspondent Jay Privman from Santa Anita Park in California, and Kenny Mayne from EPSN Studios.

In addition to TVG and RTN, the Eclipse Awards ceremony will be shown live on the following outlets: NTRA.com; America's Best Racing Facebook page and Twitter feed; XBTV Facebook page; DRF.com; Bloodhorse.com; ThoroughbredDailyNews.com; Equibase.com; Breeders' Cup Facebook page and YouTube channel; MyRacehorse Facebook page and YouTube channel; and TOBA.org.

In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Thomas Goldsmith will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2020 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

In keeping with the 50th anniversary theme, results from the NTRA Eclipse 50 Contest, a vote by fans of their 10 favorite Eclipse Award-champion horses and their favorite champion trainer and jockey from the past 50 years, will also be revealed throughout the show.

The Eclipse Awards are conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), and Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by the NTRA.

The Eclipse Awards are sponsored by Spendthrift Farm, Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders' Cup, FanDuel Group, The Stronach Group, TVG, Dean Dorton, Stonestreet Farm, Keeneland, Racetrack Television Network, Jackson Family Wines, Florida HBPA, Runhappy, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Hallway Feeds and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

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.

Order of Events for 50th Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony:

1. Older Male
2. Older Female
3. Horseplayer of the Year
4. Steeplechase Horse
5. In Memoriam
6. Breeder
7. 3-Year-Old Filly
8. 3-Year-Old Male
9. Media Awards
10. FanDuel Moment of the Year
11. 2-Year-Old Male
12. 2-Year-Old Filly
13. Apprentice Jockey
14. Jockey
15. Trainer
16. Male Sprinter
17. Female Sprinter
18. Female Turf
19. Male Turf
20. Owner
21. Horse of the Year

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Bellocq, Leggett Selected to Hall of Fame’s Joe Hirsch Roll of Honor

Renowned Eclipse Award-winning cartoonist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq and the late Eclipse Award-winning writer William Leggett have been selected to the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

Bellocq, 94, was born in France in 1926. At age 19, the French racing journal France Courses gave him national exposure by publishing one of his cartoons of a jockey. Bellocq signed the drawing as “Peb,” a signature that became his lifelong moniker. By 1954, Bellocq’s work had achieved international acclaim and he was contracted by Laurel Park owner John D. Schapiro to do drawings for the prestigious Washington, D.C. International Stakes. Bellocq decided to relocate to the United States and in 1955 accepted an offer to work as the staff cartoonist for the Morning Telegraph and its sister paper, the Daily Racing Form, a job he held until December 2008.

“My father was a jump jockey in the south of France and my grandfather was a trainer. His father was a breeder. I was among horses right from the start,” Bellocq said.

Along with his work for the Form, Bellocq has been commissioned by numerous racetracks to produce vibrant murals capturing the flavor of the sport. His large-scale cartoon collages became fixtures at tracks such as Churchill Downs, Del Mar, Arlington, Oaklawn, Aqueduct, and The Meadowlands.

Leggett, who was born in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1931, became one of racing’s most celebrated and respected writers during his 30-year career at Sports Illustrated. He spent time as president of both the National Turf Writers Association and the New York Turf Writers Association and won an Eclipse Award for his racing writing in 1979.

“He had a tremendous knowledge of Thoroughbred racing,” said the late Whitney Tower, who worked with Leggett at Sports Illustrated for nearly 20 years. “He was an exceptional man, a great talent, and he contributed a lot to the success of Sports Illustrated. He knew his way around. The trainers respected him. He was very popular.”

In 1993, Leggett was one of the eight inaugural members of the Saratoga Springs Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 1996 in New York City at the age of 64.

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Eclipse Awards Ceremony to be Virtual in 2021

The Eclipse Awards Ceremony honoring champions of 2020 will be held Jan. 28 as a virtual event with portions hosted from Spendthrift Farm in Lexington. Winners in 17 human and equine categories will be announced in a virtual ceremony streamed live on multiple outlets, including TVG and Racetrack Television Network, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. The finalists for the 2020 Eclipse Awards will be announced Jan. 16.

“Aligning the 50th Eclipse Awards with a historic property like Spendthrift Farm serving as the backdrop for the broadcast is a natural,” said Keith Chamblin, National Thoroughbred Racing Association Chief Operating Officer. “Earlier this summer when it became clear that the 2020 Eclipse Awards ceremony would need to be a virtual event, we began discussions with Spendthrift about hosting portions of the event. Not only is Spendthrift one of the leading stallion farms in the world, steeped in a great tradition of champions, under the leadership of B. Wayne Hughes it has led the way in introducing innovations to the industry like Safe Bet, Share the Upside and MyRaceHorse.com.”

The Eclipse Awards are voted on by representatives of the NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. In addition to Spendthrift Farm, Eclipse Awards sponsors include Keeneland, Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup, FanDuel, The Stronach Group, TVG, Dean Dorton, Jackson Family Wines, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, and Hallway Feeds.

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