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Keeneland Sales and Racing Represented by Finalists for 2023 Eclipse Awards as North American Champions

Keeneland sales and Keeneland racing have produced a number of finalists for 2023 Eclipse Awards named today by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. 

Equine champions and outstanding horsemen of 2023 will be announced Thursday, Jan. 25 at the 53rdannual Eclipse Awards Ceremony at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida. Finalists for Horse of the Year will be named early in the event.

Keeneland joins FanDuel, John Deere and The Jockey Club as presenting sponsors of the ceremony.

Ten graduates of Keeneland sales – all are alumni of the prestigious September Yearling Sale – are finalists for Eclipse Awards in flat racing categories. The horses and their 2023 graded stakes victories are:

Two-Year-Old Male: Locked, winner of the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland; Muth, winner of the American Pharoah (G1). 

Two-Year-Old Filly: Hard to Justify, undefeated winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) and the Miss Grillo (G2).

Three-Year-Old Male: Arcangelo, winner of the Belmont (G1) Presented by NYRA Bets, the Travers (G1) and the Peter Pan (G3); Mage, winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Woodford Reserve.

Three-Year-Old Filly: Randomized, winner of the Alabama (G1) Presented by Keeneland Sales and the Beldame (G2).

Older Dirt Male/Male Sprinter: Elite Power, winner of the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), the Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1), the True North (G2) and the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3) Presented by Sports Boulevard.

Female Sprinter: Echo Zulu, winner of the Ballerina (G1), the Honorable Miss (G2) and the Winning Colors (G3); Maple Leaf Mel, winner of the Victory Ride (G3) and the Miss Preakness (G3) Presented by Case Tractor.

Male Turf Horse: Up to the Mark, winner of the Coolmore Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland, the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1) and the Resorts World Casino Manhattan (G1).

Additional finalists who won Keeneland stakes in 2023 are:

Candied  (Two-Year-Old Filly), winner of the Darley Alcibiades (G1).

Goodnight Olive (Older Dirt Female/Female Sprinter), winner of the Madison (G1).

Idiomatic (Older Dirt Female), winner of the Juddmonte Spinster (G1).

In Italian (GB) (Female Turf Horse), winner of the Jenny Wiley (G1).

Mawj (IRE) (Three-Year-Old Filly/Female Turf Horse), winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana.

Meanwhile, these finalists for Eclipse Awards as outstanding horsemen are active at Keeneland:

Owner: GodolphinJuddmonteKlaravich Stables

Breeder: Calumet FarmGodolphinStonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings

Jockey: Tyler GaffalioneIrad Ortiz Jr.Flavien Prat

Trainer: Chad BrownBrad CoxBill Mott