Kentucky-breds dominated the Eclipse Awards, highlighted by Cody’s Wish being named the 2023 Horse of the Year during the 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony at The Breakers Palm Beach on Thursday, Jan. 25. Presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), the Eclipse Awards honor excellence in North American Thoroughbred racing.
Cody’s Wish, a Godolphin homebred trained by Bill Mott, received 134 out of a possible 219 first-place votes for Horse of the Year. At age five, Cody’s Wish won four of five starts, including three Grade 1 races. He captured the Churchill Downs S. (G1) in May, the Metropolitan H. (G1) at Belmont Park in June and prevailed in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at season’s end. The son of Curlin was named after Cody Dorman, a boy born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, which severely restricts body movements. Dorman bonded with Cody’s Wish at a meeting at Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm in 2018. Dorman attended many races and sadly, died the day after watching Cody’s Wish win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Cody’s Wish was also honored as Champion Older Dirt Male.
Godolphin was also represented by Kentucky-bred Pretty Mischievous, who was named Champion 3-Year-Old Filly. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Pretty Mischievous won three Grade 1 races in 2023, highlighted by a score in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs. Blue Rose Farm’s Kentucky-bred Arcangelo won the Champion 3-Year-Old Male Eclipse Award. Trained by Jena Antonucci, Arcangelo won the Belmont S. (G1) and the Travers S. (G1). Antonucci became the first female trainer to saddle a Champion 3-Year-Old.
Kentucky-bred Just F Y I, owned and bred by George Krikorian, won the Champion 2-Year-Old Filly title by winning the Frizette S. (G1) and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Repole Stable’s Kentucky homebred Fierceness was voted Champion 2-Year-Old Male on the strength of his dominating victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Champion Older Dirt Female title went to Juddmonte’s Kentucky-bred Idiomatic. Trained by Brad Cox, Idiomatic won eight of nine races, including closing out the year with consecutive Grade 1 wins in the Personal Ensign (G1), the Spinster S. (G1) at Keeneland, and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita.
Kentucky-breds Elite Power and Goodnight Olive swept the Male Sprinter and Female Sprinter Awards for the second straight year. Elite Power, owned by Juddmonte and trained by Mott, won the Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1) at Saratoga and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). First Row Partners and Team Hanley’s Kentucky-bred Goodnight Olive won the Madison S. (G1) and the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) for trainer Chad Brown.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC’s Kentucky-bred Up to the Mark was crowned Champion Male Turf Horse. He won the Turf Classic S. (G1), the Manhattan S. (G1), and the Turf Mile S. (G1) for trainer Todd Pletcher. Up to the Mark finished a close second to Auguste Rodin (IRE) in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1).