Top horses of 2012 and potential Eclipse Award winners
The year 2012 in North American horseracing brought some memorable moments, and some spectacular races, tragedies that brought the industry together, but are carved in the history of the sport forever. With the Eclipse Award creeping upon us slowly, the need to review the year is necessary to determine why these runners lit up the tracks and gave us one of the most memorable years in racing.
To start from the 2-year-old division, we don’t need to look any further, as Todd Pletcher trained Shanghai Bobby has showed some serious guts in his debut season, which puts him as the frontrunner for the champion 2-year-old Eclipse Award. Shanghai Bobby in the colours of Starlight Racing, made the ownership known throughout the country, and with the perfect 5 in 5, he is at the top of his division.
In the older horse category, it is the winner of the 2011 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, Shackleford, however, the 4-year-old colt had plenty of competition for this award, but what makes him edge past them a little from the rest is his career ending race. The Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs was one of his best, as he was ready to bow out of racing, the son of Forestry turned in a spectacular front-running run to win the race.
The Comeback Horse of the year clearly goes to someone Shackleford has gone against plenty in his sophomore career, and that is the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner, Animal Kingdom. Injury stricken career, but the Derby winner’s connections, Team Valor and Graham Motion, stuck by their tremendous horse and kept the faith alive, and he never let them down, as he showed when he turned in an amazing run in the Breeders’ Cup after such a long layoff speaks volume of his ability to outperform the best in the division.
Well for the outstanding horse of the 2012 season is non-other than Reddam and O’Neill’s partnership produced. The Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes winner, I’ll Have Another, who showed the world what the Triple Crown is all about. The horse kept everyone at their toes as the Triple Crown progressed, and gave hope of a new Triple Crown winner since Affirmed back in 1978.
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