This past week DRF released the finals for the 2010 Eclipse Awards that will be announced in a few weeks. The 2010 finalists are Uncle Mo, Boys at Tosconova and To Honor and Serve. How do this year's finalists compare with previous winners?
Uncle Mo is 3/5 to come away with the Divisional Championship, so lets compare him to recent winners.
BC Juvenile History:
Winning the Breeder's Cup Juvenile has become a strong predictor of winning the Eclipse Award. Overall 11 of the last 13 Breeder's Cup Juvenile winners have later been voted the the Juvenile Champion. In 2004 Wilko upset the Breeder's Cup Juvenile, allowing Declan's Moon to run away with the year-end honors. In 2009 Lookin at Lucky lost by a head in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile to Vale of York, but Lucky's overall record allowed him to earn divisional honors.
The Breeder's Cup Juvenile has become the De Facto visional Championship. Since 1984 19 of the 26 winners of the BC Juvenile have won the Eclipse Award. Uncle Mo more than likely will make it 20 of 27 later this month.
Other Juvenile Debates:
1987: Success Express wins the Breeder's Cup Juvenile, but Forty Niner wins the Eclipse
1988: Is It True defeats Easy Goer in the Mud at Churchill but Easy Goer claims the Eclipse Award
1993: Brocco wins the Breeder's Cup with Dehere winning the Eclipse
1995: Unbridled's Song win the BC Juvenile with Maria's Mon winning the Eclipse
The 1995 Eclipse Championship was very interesting. Maria's Mon finished his campaign with 4 wins in 5 starts defeating the Champagne Stakes by 4 lengths, but did not run in the BC Juvenile. Unbridled's Song finished 4th in the Champagne and finished with just three starts as a Juvenile winning a maiden race at Saratoga by 8 lengths, losing the Champagne after running fractions of 22 3/5 for the quarter, 45 and 1/5 for the half mile and 6 furlongs in 1:10 and 2/5's. Unbridled's Song was truly a running fool, recording 5 speed figures over 100 before running in the Kentucky Derby. His Champagne pace figures were well over 100 and he finished with a raw "Beyer" speed figure of 96.
Fast forward to 2010 and Uncle Mo, wins his Maiden race at Saratoga by 14 lengths, wins the Champagne and then closes out the year with a 108 speed figure winning the Breeder's Cup Juvenile. Through three races, Mo has a very similar running profile to Unbridled's Song.
Comparing Uncle Mo to recent Eclipse Award winners:
2009 Lookin At Lucky: Five for six as a Juvenile. Three Grade 1 wins. Don't forget "Lucky" came back to win the Cash Call Futurity after losing the Breeder's Cup Juvenile.
2008 Midshipman: Three for four as a Juvenile. Two Grade 1's.
2007 War Pass: Three for four, Champagne/BC Juvenile Double
2006: Street Sense: Only two for five as a Juvenile, Maiden Race at Arlington Park and the 10 length Breeder's Cup Juvenile Romp.
2005: Stevie Wonderboy. Five Starts. Del Mar Futurity and BC Juvenile Stakes wins
With just three starts, Uncle Mo will become the most lightly raced Eclipse Award winner since Action This Day in 2003.
Future Predictor?
Street Sense broke the dreaded Juvenile Jinx in 2006 becoming the first BC Juvenile Champion to win the Kentucky Derby. The bigger picture shows that this has become an Eclipse Award Jinx. Street Sense was also the first Eclipse Award Juvenile winner to win the Kentucky Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1978!
The six non Breeder's Cup Juvenile winners also were Roses the following spring with Easy Goer's 2nd place finish in 1988 the closest call. Lookin at Lucky should become the first Eclipse Award Winner as a Juvenile to win three year old Champion honors since Spectacular Bid captured the Juvenile in 1978 and the Three Year-Old Championship in 1979.
Comma to The Top!
Lost in Juvenile top three finalists and not event listed is for the Juvenile finalists is Comma to the Top. In this day and time, this is completely unacceptable. Closing out the year with five straight wins, including a 8 length win in the Real Quiet Stakes and a dominating win in the Hollywood Futurity. With modern day simulcasting, instant results and online communication, how does Comma to the Top not make the Finalists? Let alone the top three? Boys at Tosconova has a 12 length maiden win at five furlongs as his Resume. Comma to the Top has Five wins. Boys at Tosconova defeated a four horse field in the hopeful and finished a non competing second verus Uncle Mo in the BC Juvenile. Comma to the Top has wins on multiple surfaces, dominating wins and the Hollywood Futurity has historically been a strong race of two year old form. A case could even be made that JP's Gust with two Graded Stakes wins and 2 Grade One Stakes placings very well could have been a third finalist. Flat out the Voter's got this one wrong.
To Honor and Serve showed both brilliance and class as a Juvenile. Winning his maiden race by 8 lengths and then coming back and winning two grade 2 races. His Nashua win was dominating and his Remsen win efficient, although both races only had 5 horse fields.
In case you missed it. Jeremy's Plonk's Countdown to the Crown returned last friday. Sometime's enlightening, always entertaining, and chock full of Derby Debate.
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