There's an old saying that the best way to become a millionaire in the Thoroughbred industry is to start with $2 million. A corollary could be that a horse can sell for $1 million and earn a few thousand or, in rare cases, sell for a few thousand and earn a million. Twilight Eclipse exemplifies the latter in the extreme.
As a newly-turned yearling at the 2010 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages, Twilight Eclipse was sold to trainer John Langemeier on a $1,000 bid. As superior horses often do, Twilight Eclipse won his career debut on June 2, 2012 at Indiana Grand. He returned to Indiana Grand 17 days later and won again. And as often happens, his performances came to the attention of those seeking a potential star. Langemeier capitalized on the opportunity and sold him to West Point Thoroughbreds.
In his fourth start in the black and gold silks, Twilight Eclipse became a graded stakes winner by capturing the W.L. McKnight Handicap at Calder Race Course in late 2012. He concluded his remarkable run for West Point and trainer Tom Albertrani as an 8-year-old in 2017 with a $2,103,953 bankroll and lifetime record of 40-8-5-11. Highlights include his Grade 1 triumph in the Man o'War Stakes at Belmont Park in 2015 and four appearances in the Breeders' Cup Turf topped by his third-place effort in 2014 at Santa Anita. With the exception of seven races, Twilight Eclipse competed only in the graded ranks throughout his career.
With his glory days behind him, Twilight Eclipse is enjoying full retirement with his 16-year-old next-paddock neighbor Seminary Ridge at Erin and Daniel Birkenhauer's farm near Bowling Green, Ky. As the daughter of West Point President Terry Finley and his wife Debbie (West Point Chief Administrative Officer), Erin is quite familiar with Twilight Eclipse.
“I vividly remember a hot, muggy day in the summer of 2012 when my husband and I saw him for the first time at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington,” she said. “We saw him on the shank and my dad called when we were on the way home and asked what we thought. I said, 'He's a plain brown wrapper, but there's something about him.' The fact that my husband and I were the first members of the West Point family to lay eyes on him was very special, and we often reminisce about that day.”
Birkenhauer has zeroed in on the quality that is easy to recognize but impossible to explain in superior horses. She also noticed that his movement made him a prime candidate for other endeavors.
“I watched Twilight Eclipse train and always loved his big, floaty trot,” she said. “With him having such a long and successful career, I had myself convinced he was just going to race forever. But a few weeks after his final race in May of 2017, the partners graciously agreed to allow us to provide their champ with a great home.”
Twilight Eclipse wins the Man o' War Stakes in 2015
Birkenhauer began reschooling him on their property and then transferred him to a boarding facility to fine-tune him for jumping and the precision movements of dressage collectively known as eventing. In late July that year, he strutted his stuff at a show. By September he was at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington where he won the “most money earned” and “war horse in hand” divisions at the New Vocations All-Thoroughbred Show. He also made a stop in Pennsylvania, where Erin guided him in the Real Rider Cup that highlights celebrity riders and well-known mounts to promote second careers for racehorses.
When the Birkenhauers decided to start a family, Erin stopped riding regularly and briefly considered allowing someone else to continue with Twilight Eclipse's progress.
“It weighed heavily on me how he'd react to not having a job,” said Birkenhauer, West Point's racing manager and communications director. “We brought him back home and turned him out alongside Seminary Ridge and he settled right in. I haven't ridden him in a couple of years, but the last time I did, he was convinced we were in the post parade for the Breeders' Cup!”
After six years of the energized atmosphere of the track, Twilight Eclipse has fully adjusted to a life of leisure and requires little attention.
“He doesn't like being groomed at all and we've nicknamed him Hangry because of his antics at feed time,” she said. “He also is not one of those horses who is lovey-dovey and in your lap, but he is very sweet and gentle with kids, which makes me very happy.”
Twilight Eclipse relaxes at home. Photo courtesy Erin Birkenhauer
That affection for youngsters is special to the Birkenhauers, who a have a nearly 2-year-old son and a second child due in April.
“Sometimes I feel a ping of guilt that he's not out there galloping and jumping around big cross-country tracks, but those feelings quickly subside when I look out my kitchen window and see the 'two ole geldings' fat and happy as clams,” she said.
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