Tag: Idiomatic

Eclipse Awards 2023: A Rough Morning Line For Horse of the Year

The winners in 10 equine and seven human categories will be revealed beginning around 7:30 Thursday evening at the 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. A who's who of the American Thoroughbred industry will be dressed to the nines as the newest group of champions is announced.

Of the equine divisions–as is frequently the case–the majority feature little suspense, while there exists a fair bit of intrigue and arguments to be made for multiple horses in the older dirt male division, the female sprint division, the female turf category, and, not least, for the granddaddy of them all: the statuette for American Horse of the Year for 2023.

By the estimation of this writer, five horses amassed a body of work deserving of a spot on the ballot for the top prize. I am not a morning-line maker, so please no critiquing of the odds, but to follow is a highly unscientific attempt at handicapping those who could be announced as Horse of the Year finalists during Thursday's ceremonies (Ed's note: while the divisional finalists were announced a few weeks ago, the finalists for Horse of the Year were not revealed at that time).

White Abarrio (Race Day, 5-2): To win the GI Whitney S. and GI Breeders' Cup Classic consecutively and in a fashion as convincingly as he did, the Rick Dutrow, Jr.-trainee got my vote for Thursday's top honors. Though he was fairly well-beaten by the candidate below in the GI Met Mile–while admittedly in receipt of six pounds–the effort was anything but a disaster, and he did turn the tables in no uncertain terms in the Whitney, when Cody's Wish was sportingly tried over a stamina-sapping nine furlongs. He's my idea of Horse of the Year, but perhaps not the likeliest winner.

Cody's Wish (Curlin, 6-5): The lone blemish in the Whitney aside, and I am willing to be forgiving of it, Cody's Wish's campaign was brilliant, as he won three times at Grade I level (one more than White Abarrio) and once at Grade II. To take something of a contrarian point of view, his Vosburgh didn't exactly pass the eye (or speed) test and he was very game–if not spectacular–in defending his GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The story is heartwarming and it sadly turned heartbreaking, but I am duty bound to judge horses' ability. Sentimentality might win the day and there were some misguided opinions that 'the story matters sometimes' and not what these athletes did on the racetrack, but I went the other direction in a category this guy may well win.

Elite Power (Curlin, 8-1): One of his spectacular sire's three Eclipse winners last year and it would be a surprise if he didn't become the third back-to-back winner in the sprint division. But did he do enough to be HOTY? Probably not. The big chestnut won the season series with fellow finalist Gunite (Gun Runner) by a score of 3-1 (including the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint) and he was dominating in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Enormous talent who has every chance to make his mark as a stallion at Juddmonte, but no better than the distant third choice here.

Up to the Mark (Not This Time, 20-1): In another year, Up to the Mark–who will be favored in the male turf division–may have had a say here, as he sensationally won Grade I races at a mile, nine furlongs and 10 furlongs, and was hardly disgraced when trying a mile and a half for the first time in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. It is no stretch to mention him in the same breath as Bricks and Mortar and Wise Dan–he's not out of his depth there–but unlike those two, he is an unlikely winner here, though it wouldn't be a total shock if he made the final three.

Idiomatic (Curlin, 50-1): She is regally bred and it would be a stretch to call her a 'rags-to-riches' story given her pedigree and connections. But it's fair to say she surprised even those closest to her in 2023, as she went from a Turfway allowance win on Jan. 4 to close an eight-for-nine season with a tough-as-nails victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. According to published reports, she remains in training as a 5-year-old in 2024. That's good news for fans, and bad news for anyone who owns anything in the Distaff division. Who knows, maybe she scoops this award at next year's ceremony.

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I Got It Wrong, Cody’s Wish Is Horse Of The Year

What I wrote in Monday's TDN, that Idiomatic (Curlin) should be Horse of the Year, well, never mind.

It took the tragic news of the passing of Cody Dorman for me to wake up and realize that while Idiomatic had a terrific year, voting for her for Horse of the Year would mean not voting for Cody's Wish (Curlin), and what a mistake that would be.

Everything I had to say about the on-track credentials of the two remains the same. Both won a Breeders' Cup race, both won three Grade I's during the year. But I argued that Idiomatic's overall body of work gave her the edge over Cody's Wish and everyone else. She won eight of nine races and was on top of her game from January through Breeders' Cup day. In an era where most trainers and owners are happy to get four or five races from their horses during a year, what she accomplished was remarkable.

I still maintain that she had a better year than Cody's Wish. Just slightly so, anyway. What I failed to realize is that sometimes what happens on the racetrack is not all that matters, that it's ok to vote with your heart.

Cody's Wish had a Horse-of-the-Year campaign. Coming into the Breeders' Cup, he had won the GI Churchill Downs S, the GI Metropolitan H., the GII Vosburgh S. The only defeat came in the GI Whitney S., where, trying nine furlongs for the first time in his career, he was out of his element. I didn't think he would win Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He just not as good around two turns as he is around one and I thought that, this year, that would prove to be his undoing. But he won the race again. In 2022, it was by a neck. This year it was by a nose. He was in race that is not in his comfort zone, but he won it anyway. He won it on class.

But the story is so much bigger than the Dirt Mile. Cody's Wish and Cody Dorman, who passed away Sunday at age 17 on his way back to Kentucky from Santa Anita, will forever be linked. We first met Dorman last year when the media latched onto his story. Born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, he first met Cody's Wish as a then-unnamed yearling while touring Godolphin as part of a Make-A-Wish outing.

We don't really understand how it happens, but we know that it does. Sometimes something magical happens when horses and humans befriend one another. The weanling acted as if he knew Dorman would was having a hard time of it and could use a friend. Gentle as a puppy, he nuzzled Dorman and then put his head in his lap.

Two years later, Dorman was not doing well. It got to the point where his parents feared he was losing the will to live. The antidote? Another visit to the farm to see the horse the Godolphin team had now named Cody's Wish. The two picked right up where they left off. From there, Dorman became Cody's Wish's biggest fan. He traveled to many of his races and was there for both Breeders' Cup wins. Tears rolled down his cheeks when his namesake won. His parents have said that his love affair with the horse led to a marked improvement in his outlook on life.

Horse racing has been beaten down by so many negative stories of late, mainly ones that involve horses dying on the track, and it needed something to pick its collective head up. And here comes Cody's Wish and Cody Dorman, a story that was so inspirational, so uplifting that everyone, even the most cynical among us, was moved, often to tears.

“This heartfelt story has touched the hearts of many in and outside of the Thoroughbred industry,” Dan Pride, chief operating officer of Godolphin, said in a statement. “And while Cody's passing has saddened us, we find comfort in knowing that Cody found many joyous moments during this journey with his best friend, Cody's Wish. Our hearts are with the Dorman family.”

We cheered every time Cody's Wish won, and not because we had a bet on him but because we knew what this horse was doing for a young man born with a syndrome that had to have made his life immensely difficult. We cheered because we knew this story made everyone feel better about a sport that was going through trying times.

So, should that matter when it comes to voting for Horse of the Year? Absolutely. There's no reason why we shouldn't look beyond the x's and o's of what happened on the racetrack and look at the bigger picture, take into account what made us smile, what moved us, what made for a good story.

When Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) was named Horse of the Year in 2010 over Blame (Arch) I was on the losing end of that argument, voting for Blame. They had met once and Blame had beaten her in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Why didn't that mean he should have been named Horse of the Year and not Zenyatta? Looking back, I now get it. Zenyatta had had one of the most remarkable careers we have seen this century and one defeat shouldn't have erased everything else she accomplished and what a feel-good story she had been. Those who voted for her realized this was bigger than just the one race.

Though different, Cody's Wish and his story is much bigger than Zenyatta. We will see other great race horses, ones as good as Zenyatta. But we will never again see a story as special as the one that was the bond between a very good race horse and the young man who thrived in his presence.

That matters. It matters a lot. Cody's Wish is your Horse of the Year.

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The Week in Review: The Case for Idiomatic as Horse of the Year

More often than not, when the horses hit the finish line for the last Breeders' Cup race of the day, we know who the Horse of the Year is. Usually, someone has done enough to separate themselves from the pack: Flightline (Tapit), Knicks Go (Paynter), Authentic (Into Mischief). Or no one stepped up to unseat the leading contender going in.

We have nothing of the kind this year. There were plenty of standout performances on Breeders' Cup Day, but that's part of the problem. The leading contenders are so evenly matched on paper that this has turned into one of the most wide-open races for the title in memory.

There are five horses that deserve consideration for Horse of the Year: White Abarrio (Race Day); Cody's Wish (Curlin); Arcangelo (Arrogate); Up to the Mark (Not This Time); Idiomatic (Curlin).

Here are their credentials:

White Abarrio: He won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and the last three winners of that race have been named Horse of the Year. He has two Grade I wins and they came in two huge spots, the Classic and the GI Whitney S. The knock on him is that's really all there is to his resume. He has just three wins on the year and the third was in an allowance race at Gulfstream.

Cody's Wish: He had another stellar year, topped by his repeat win in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He was 4-for-5 on the year with three Grade I wins and another in a Grade II. Was a feel-good story, which probably should count for something. His lone setback on the year came when he tried nine furlongs in the Whitney and was whipped by White Abarrio, losing by 10 lengths.

Arcangelo: The colt and his trainer, the well-spoken and charismatic Jena Antonucci, gave the sport a lift when it really needed one, winning the GI Belmont S. He came right back to win the GI Travers S. and needed one more win, in the Classic, to lock up Horse of the Year. That didn't happen when he had to be withdrawn from the race with a foot issue. Missing the Classic puts him at a disadvantage because so many Breeders' Cup winners have strong credentials. Also the winner of the GIII Peter Pan. S., he has three stakes wins and two Grade I wins on the year.

Up To The Mark: Had he won the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, he would have wrapped up Horse of the Year. But he didn't, losing by three-quarters of a length. He was unlucky to lose. On the winner, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), jockey Ryan Moore turned in one of the best rides in Breeders' Cup history, saving every inch of ground and daring to go through what was a tight opening on the rail. Even in defeat, Up to the Mark deserves credit for his performance in the Turf. He was beaten by a horse who had won three of the biggest races in Europe in the G1 Irish Champion S., the G1 Irish Derby and the G1 Epsom Derby. Up to the Mark was 5-for-7 on the year and won three stakes, all of them Grade I's.

Idiomatic: Capped off a stellar year by defeating a strong field with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. It probably wasn't even her best race as she had to grind every step of the way in the stretch to win in a blanket finish in which four horses were separated by little more than a length at the wire. She got a 96 Beyer, her lowest figure since she was second in the May 6 GI Ruffian S. at Belmont. She was 8-for-9 on the year, won three Grade I's, a Grade II and a Grade III. The Distaff was her fifth straight win. The only knock is that she spent the first part of her year running in allowance races and in the Latonia S. at Turfway Park.

And the winner is?

With apologies to Cody's Wish, Arcangelo, White Abarrio, my vote goes to Idiomatic. Like Cody's Wish and Up to the Mark, she won three Grade I races. No one won more. Like White Abarrio and Cody's Wish, she is a Breeders' Cup winner. What sets her apart from the rest is her overall body of work. Horse of the Year shouldn't always be about who won the Classic or who had the best performance on Breeders' Cup Day. Voters need to give consideration to who had the best year, from start to finish. In an era where five races on the year from a White Abarrio can be considered a full campaign, what Idiomatic did was remarkable. She ran nine times, won eight races and made starts in all but two months, April and September. Top-level horses just don't do that anymore.

It's not easy for a filly or mare to be named Horse of the Year. No one has done it since Havre de Grace (Saint Liam) in 2011 and it's only been done six times since the inception of the Eclipse Awards in 1971. It only happens when there's no no-brainer candidate among the male horses, which was the case this year.

It's a tough call and I have no problem with any of the five horses I've mentioned being named Horse of the Year, but Idiomatic deserves to be recognized for a year unlike anything we've seen in a long time.

More Eclipse Thoughts

I will have a real problem with anyone who votes for Auguste Rodin over Up to the Mark for the male turf championship. Yes, Auguste Rodin beat Up to the Mark in the Turf and, yes, he won three big Group I's in Europe. But these are the championships of American racing and what he did in Europe doesn't matter. Eclipse voters have always given too much consideration to these one-hit wonders who swoop in from Europe and win a Breeders' Cup race. As is the case with Idiomatic, you have to look at a horse's overall body of work and Up to the Mark was the best turf horse this country has produced since Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway), the 2019 Horse of the Year. He is the turf champion.

The Amazing Irad Ortiz Jr.

Irad Ortiz Jr. won three more Breeders' Cup races, giving him 20 for his career and moving him to second place behind Mike Smith, who has won 27 races. What Ortiz has done in such a short period of time is remarkable, and he is on pace to blow apart all Breeders' Cup records for jockeys.

Ortiz didn't have his first Breeders' Cup mount until 2012 and his first Breeders' Cup winner until 2014. He's just 31 and should have at least 20 more good years in front of him. Smith didn't ride his 20th Breeders' Cup winner until he was 48 and it took him 23 years to get there. Ortiz is going to blow right past him on his way to setting records that may never be broken.

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Juddmonte’s Distaff Win by Idiomatic Helps Curlin Equal his Own Breeders’ Cup Record

In 2022, Hill 'n' Dale's super sire Curlin got a record-setting three winners on Saturday's Breeders' Cup card. In 2023, the remarkable sire equaled that as Juddmonte homebred Idiomatic (Curlin–Lockdown, by First Defence) gave her sire a hard-fought victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff sandwiched between the encore wins by Cody's Wish in the GI Dirt Mile earlier on the card and Elite Power later in the GI Sprint. Idiomatic, who has had a stellar year with eight wins from nine starts, has almost certainly sewn up the Eclipse Award as older female and put herself squarely in the middle of Horse of the Year consideration as well with the win.

“I think she definitely deserves some votes for Horse of the Year,” said trainer Brad Cox. “It's a serious record. It's Horse of the Year, not horse of the fall, horse of the summer, horse of the spring, or horse of the Breeders' Cup. She has had a tremendous year from start to finish. Today was just icing on the cake.”

Idiomatic kicked off 2023 with two optional allowance wins at Turfway Park, followed by her first black-type win in the listed Latonia S. in March. While it's safe to say Idiomatic is the first Breeders' Cup winner to come out of that race, it would catapult Idiomatic to graded company. After a runner-up finish, her only 2023 loss, in the GII Ruffian S., Cox teamed her up with Florent Geroux. The two have never lost in their five consecutive pairings, all graded stakes, and have hit triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures every time. Those five straight included both the GI Spinster S., sponsored by her owner and breeder, and GI Personal Ensign S. in her last two starts.

Geroux reflected on the year immediately following the Distaff: “Her prior victories have been very easy for her, but this one she had to earn it. She showed how great she was, and she deserved to be the champion just because of how much fight she showed today and how much heart.

“Sometimes that's what makes the difference between good horses and great horses, and I think she's one of the greats for sure.”

Idiomatic | Benoit

In Saturday's older-mare showcase, GI Alabama S. winner Randomized (Nyquist) shot to the Distaff lead when the gates flew as Idiomatic, under a hard hold, tracked her in second behind :22.31 and :46.26 fractions. Idiomatic began moving on Randomized with three furlongs to go as MGISW Clairiere–another daughter of Curlin–found a dream seam from the back of the field and threatened menacingly from the inside. Idiomatic and Randomized hooked up on the turn to fight down the lane–yet another great battle in a race which has seen some of the sport's top skirmishes. Idiomatic wore down Randomized to shake loose, but not by much, as a mad scramble ensued behind her and the wire loomed. In the end, Idiomatic, a super-sized filly, prevailed by a half-length over Randomized as Spinster second Le Da Vida (Chi) (Gemologist) outfinished Clairiere for third.

“When I needed her the most, the last eighth of a mile when I really went after her and gave her the indication of going forward,” said Geroux, “she just put her head down and start digging for me really hard. She was all heart in that victory.”

Cox and Geroux had previously partnered for Distaff wins in 2018 and 2020 with Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). It was Juddmonte's first win in the Distaff, although the organization has had a number of other top fillies and mares on the grass in the Breeders' Cup, including 2018 Turf winner Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and 2001 and 2005 Filly and Mare Turf-winning full-sisters Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill) and Intercontinental (GB) (Danehill). Like Idiomatic, they were all homebreds sporting the famed green and pink silks.

After the Distaff, Juddmonte's Garrett O'Rourke added: “[Idiomatic] comes from a pedigree that is Juddmonte through and through. And her dam is Juddmonte, granddam is Juddmonte, her maternal grandsire is Juddmonte. That's tremendously satisfying for an owner/breeder operation like Prince Khalid and his sons.”

On Saturday, Juddmonte also won the aforementioned Sprint with Elite Power, although he was a $900,000 Keeneland September purchase rather than a homebred.

Pedigree Notes:

Juddmonte is recognized across the sport for one of the most extraordinary breeding programs in modern times; in few horses is that more evident than with Idiomatic. A fourth-generation Juddmonte-bred, Idiomatic hails from the direct female line of Broodmare of the Year Best in Show (Traffic Judge), her fifth dam, whose daughters and descendants have produced elite horses for five decades. Among that number was 'TDN Rising Star' and champion Close Hatches, a full-sister to Idiomatic's stakes-winning and multiple Grade I-placed dam, Lockdown. Close Hatches produced 2019 GII Wood Memorial S. winner Tacitus (Tapit), who also placed in both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont S.

Idiomatic | Benoit

Juddmonte homebred and broodmare sire First Defence, sire of Close Hatches and Lockdown, hails from Juddmonte Broodmare of the Year Toussaud (El Gran Senor) and is out of that legendary mare's GISW daughter Honest Lady (Seattle Slew). Honest Lady finished second against the boys in the 2000 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and the 2000 GI Met Mile. First Defence has 14 stakes winners out of his daughters and currently stands in Saudi Arabia, while Lockdown died in 2022 after producing just three foals. Idiomatic is the only one to race to date; her final foal is a yearling filly by Into Mischief named Chasten.

The accolades also continue for Idiomatic's sire Curlin, who notched his sixth individual Breeders' Cup winner Saturday with the Distaff winner. Idiomatic's Breeders' Cup win, combined with Curlin's other Saturday repeat victories, made eight winning World Championship races as a sire for the chestnut. It was also his second consecutive year with the Distaff crown, as he also had 2022 winner Malathaat. The tremendous Curlin has 21 Grade I winners to his credit, as well as 55 graded winners and 98 black-type winners worldwide.

Saturday, Santa Anita Park
LONGINES BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF-GI, $1,820,000, Santa Anita, 11-4, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:50.57, ft.
1–IDIOMATIC, 124, f, 4, by Curlin
        1st Dam: Lockdown (SW & MGISP, $445,900), by First Defence
        2nd Dam: Rising Tornado, by Storm Cat
        3rd Dam: Silver Star (GB), by Zafonic
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 12-9-1-2, $2,456,840.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Randomized, 121, f, 3, by Nyquist
        1st Dam: French Passport, by Elusive Quality
        2nd Dam: Air France, by French Deputy
        3rd Dam: Twin Propeller, by Known Fact
($420,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Cove Springs, LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $340,000.
3–Le Da Vida (Chi), 124, m, 6, by Gemologist
        1st Dam: Viene Cantando (Chi) (MG1SW-Chi, $119,875), by Gstaad
        2nd Dam: Cantan Las Flores (Chi), by Dynamix
        3rd Dam: Lanza Flores (Chi), by Gallantsky
O-Masaiva Inc.; B-Haras Santa Olga (Chi); T-Ignacio Correas, IV. $180,000.
Margins: HF, NO, NK. Odds: 1.80, 7.90, 16.60.
Also Ran: Clairiere, Desert Dawn, Search Results, Adare Manor, Wet Paint, Hoosier Philly. Scratched: A Mo Reay, Pretty Mischievous. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by Fanduel TV.

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