Courtney, Eurton, Gaudet and Yu To Host Eclipse Awards

Acacia Courtney, Britney Eurton, Gabby Gaudet and Michelle Yu have been named as the hosts of the 51st Annual Eclipse Awards to be held Thursday evening, Feb. 10, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Courtney, Eurton and Gaudet began hosting the event together in 2020, while this will be Yu's first appearance as a host.

Courtney is in her sixth year as on-air talent at Gulfstream Park, while also working for the New York Racing Association as the host for 'America's Day at the Races' and Saratoga Live on FOX Sports.

Eurton is primarily a reporter with TVG, having joined the network in 2014, but also contributes to NBC Sports' coverage of the Triple Crown, Royal Ascot and the Breeders' Cup.

Now a TVG analyst, Gaudet, the daughter of trainers Linda and the late Eddie Gaudet, began her career as a paddock analyst for the Maryland Jockey Club in 2013 and has held similar positions at Arlington, Gulfstream and Keeneland. She also served on the NYRA broadcast team as a racing analyst and reporter and is a current member of the on-air talent at TVG. Gaudet joined the network in 2019.

Yu is a member of the Santa Anita simulcast team who broke into the business as a hotwalker before moving on to TV production. Her resume includes FOX, Breeders' Cup, HRTV, TVG and a variety of international programming.

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Courtney, Eurton, Gaudet, And Yu To Host Eclipse Awards On Feb. 10 At Santa Anita

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced today that preeminent broadcast talent Acacia Courtney, Britney Eurton, Gabby Gaudet and Michelle Yu will host the 51st Annual Eclipse Awards on Thursday, Feb. 10 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

The Eclipse Awards, which honors the 2021 champions of Thoroughbred racing, will be held in California for the first time since 2012. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced at Santa Anita and live on TVG, and other outlets, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2021 Horse of the Year.

Eclipse Awards tickets and information on the awards show, dinner and party is available at the NTRA website https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-awards/.

Courtney, Eurton and Gaudet began hosting the Eclipse Awards ceremony together in 2020. Yu joins as a host for the first time.

Courtney is in her sixth year as a handicapper and paddock reporter for Gulfstream Park's simulcast feed. She also works with the New York Racing Association and is one of the hosts of the popular show America's Day at the Races, and a paddock reporter for Saratoga Live, both on FOX Sports. A native of Connecticut, Courtney began riding at the age of eight, training in the hunter-jumper and dressage disciplines.

In 2011, Courtney founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Racing for Home, Inc., which she runs with her mother, Sherrie. Accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, Racing for Home is dedicated to retraining and re-homing Off-Track Thoroughbreds for new careers after the track.

Eurton serves as a reporter and host for many of horse racing's largest events through her continuing work with TVG Network and NBC Sports, including the Triple Crown, Royal Ascot, and the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Eurton began her broadcasting career in 2014 with TVG Network, where she covers Thoroughbred racing across the U.S. and internationally.

Eurton, who made her NBC Sports debut in June 2017 on the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, worked her first Triple Crown for NBC Sports in 2018 and was a co-host for the network's coverage of Royal Ascot in 2019. She resides in Los Angeles and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. She is the daughter of Peter Eurton, a former jockey and accomplished Thoroughbred trainer.

Gaudet grew up in a horse racing family as her parents, Linda and the late Eddie Gaudet, were trainers in the Mid-Atlantic region. She began her career as a racing analyst and paddock reporter for the Maryland Jockey Club in 2013 and from there went on to cover horse racing nationally at Arlington Park, the Breeders' Cup, and at Gulfstream Park. In 2016, she joined the New York Racing Association's broadcast team as a racing analyst and reporter.

In 2019, Gaudet joined TVG on a year-round basis as an analyst and reporter covering premier racing including the Gulfstream Park Championship Meet, Keeneland and Churchill Downs. In addition to being part of the Keeneland team in April as co-host of “Today at Keeneland” and as paddock commentator, Gaudet expanded her responsibilities with the track to include U.S. sales representation and recruitment. Gaudet is married to trainer Norm Casse. Her sister, Lacey Gaudet, is also a trainer.

Yu is currently a member of the award-winning Santa Anita Park simulcast team. An avid horsewoman from a young age, Yu's first foray onto the backside was as a hotwalker before moving onto TV production. Eventually this landed her in front of the camera as an analyst and presenter. After nearly two decades in the industry, her resume includes FOX, Breeders' Cup, HRTV, TVG and various international shows. Yu is married to Santa Anita based trainer Ryan Hanson and they have two children, Olivia (5) and Spencer (3). Still involved in horses daily, Yu assists in yearling pretraining and is also an owner.

The Eclipse Awards are sponsored by Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders' Cup, FanDuel Group, The Stronach Group and 1/ST Racing, Santa Anita Park, TVG, Dean Dorton, Stonestreet Farm, Keeneland, Racetrack Television Network, Jackson Family Wines, 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.

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Beat Ray At Del Mar: Will New Challenger ‘Peak’ At Right Time?

XBTV's Zoe Cadman joins host Michelle Yu and Ray Paulick as guest handicapper for the final weekend of the Beat Ray Everyday Beach Boss competition at Del Mar, a free-to-play online contest that gives each player a mythical $100 to wager in win, place and show bets on selected races.

The contest, which takes place each racing day of the Bing Crosby Season, awards the player with the highest mythical bankroll at the end of the meet with two VIP tickets, hotel and a travel stipend to visit the Del Mar summer season. (More information here.)

While Paulick is drowning in bad picks, Cadman comes on strong with her selection of Irish-bred Cathkin Peak in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, citing trouble at the start of his last race in the G2 Twilight Derby and a jockey switch to Flavien Prat.

Paulick goes with Beyond Brilliant, a horse that was outrun down the stretch by Cathkin Peak last out. Yu, whose insights have been on target for much of the meet, cautions both players not to overlook Camp Hope, the Kenny McPeek-trained Midwest invader coming off two successive wins at Keeneland.

Watch the season finale of Beach Boss below.

 

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Beat Ray At Del Mar: Doug O’Neill Dives Into Beach Boss Waters

While I've been struggling to get out of a prolonged slump, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has brought someone to this week's Beach Boss online competition who has more than a little knowledge when it comes to handicapping: two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill.

O'Neill joins Michelle Yu and me to make picks and analyze Saturday's Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar, one of two Beach Boss contest races in a free-to-play competition that takes place every day during the Bing Crosby season at the seaside track. While he doesn't have a starter in this year's Native Diver – a race he's won twice – O'Neill has some insights on one of the participants who shipped into his barn from the East Coast.

O'Neill also provides an update on how Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie came out of his fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic and when we might next see this son of Oxbow.

Watch the video below to find out who O'Neill, Yu and I like in the Native Diver.

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