American Horse of the Year

Horse of the Year
Thoroughbred flat racing
CountryUnited States
WebsiteEclipse Award

The American Award for Horse of the Year, or simply Horse of the Year,[1][2] one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Horse of the Year" is not an official national award.[3]

The Champion award is a designation given to a horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year was deemed the most outstanding. The list below is a Champion's history compilation beginning with the year 1887 published by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's The Blood-Horse magazine (founded 1961),[4] described by ESPN as "the Thoroughbred industry's most-respected trade publication".[5]

In 1936 a Horse of the Year award was created by a poll of the staff of The New York Morning Telegraph and its sister newspaper, the Daily Racing Form (DRF), a tabloid founded in 1894 that was focused on statistical information for bettors.[6] At the same time a rival poll was organised by the Baltimore-based Turf and Sport Digest magazine.[7] Formed in 1942 as an advocacy group, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA) inaugurated a competing award in 1950, selecting its winners from votes by racing secretaries from member tracks across the United States. The three systems resulted in different opinions as to "Horse of the Year" Champions in 1949, 1952, 1957, 1965, and 1970.[8] In 1971, the DRF and TRA made an agreement with the National Turf Writers Association to merge into one set of awards, called the Eclipse Awards.[9]

  1. ^ "BC Champion Cody's Wish voted Horse of the Year at Eclipse Awards". Breeders' Cup. January 26, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  2. ^ Ehalt, Bob (January 25, 2024). "Cody's Wish Earns Horse of the Year Honors". The Blood-Horse. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  3. ^ "February 7, 2008". BloodHorse.com. 2008-02-07. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  4. ^ "The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  5. ^ "Nack: The Final Furlong". ESPN Sports. August 5, 2003. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  6. ^ "Thoroughbred Heritage – Horse of the Year". Tbheritage.com. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  7. ^ Chapel, Jessica. "How the Eclipse Awards Came to Be". Hello Race Fans. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  8. ^ "American Racing Champions 1936–1970: Horse of the Year". Tra-online.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  9. ^ "TRA Eclipse Awards: Horse of the Year". Tra-online.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2012-02-26.