THE Eclipse Award winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced during the 54th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, on January 23rd.

The 2024 Awards Finalists include four horses who raced in Britain and Ireland.

Ballydoyle’s unbeaten juvenile filly Lake Victoria, who won four Group/Grade 1s is in the final three in the two-year-old filly category but has Godolphin’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, the also unbeaten Immersive, as the likely winner here.

In the three-year-old filly category, Charlie Appelby’s Cinderella’s Dream is nominated but has no chance against the outstanding dirt filly, Thorpedo Anna.

The Shamardal filly won the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks and Grade 2 Saratoga Oaks but, while also nominated in the Female Turf Horse category, she is likely to lose out again to the horse who beat her in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in Moira.

Appleby has a better chance in the Male Turf Horse with Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance against a dual Grade 1 winner in the son of Lope De Vega, Carl Spackler, and Grade 1 winner Johannes, who went unbeaten until second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, where Carl Spackler was sixth.

There will be close contests also for owners between Godolphin, Juddmonte and Klaravich Stables and Three-Year-Old Male between Belmont and Haskell winner Dornoch, Travers winner Fierceness and the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, before the Horse of the Year winner is announced.

BOB Baffert will be allowed to have runners in the Kentucky Derby for the first time in three years and he had his three-year-olds quick off the mark with $3.2 million colt Barnes winning the weekend highlight, the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes, romping home by five and a half lengths.

Barnes, who was named after Baffert’s longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes, was purchased by Zedan Racing at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale.

Though he faced only four rivals in the seven-furlong San Vicente, Bullard had won a Grade 3 at Del Mar, and he and Barnes vied for favouritism before Barnes went off at even-money.

McKinzie Street and Barnes pulled away early and Barnes passed McKinzie Street on the turn, and lengthened his stride to go on to win by five and a half lengths, racing the seven furlongs in 1m22.15secs.

“He’s really good - I love him. He was aggressive down the backside, but he’s still learning how to run. I like him because around the quarter pole he got off the bridle and was kind of looking around a little bit. But when I corrected him, he came back to me,” jockey Juan Hernandez said of the Into Mischief colt.

Baffert also took a maiden on the card with a wide-margin winner in Rodriguez, a son of his Kentucky Derby winner Authentic. The colt made all and ran out a seven-length winner.

Emotional victory

Trainer Michael McCarthy had an emotional victory on January 5th for owner Reddam Racing as Look Forward, the last winner trained by the late Ben Cecil, earned her first stakes victory in the Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita.

The daughter of Bolt d’Oro won her November debut for Cecil, in a six-furlong maiden sprint at Del Mar. The British-born trainer died after a battle with cancer on November 29th.

Paul Reddam transferred the filly to McCarthy, who had worked as an assistant for Cecil before joining the team of Todd Pletcher.

Aqueduct

The first of four 2025 Derby preps at Aqueduct turned into a rout as Cyclone State (Luis R. Rivera, Jr.) easily beat six three-year-old rivals to take the January 4th stakes race, the Jerome Stakes, his third victory at the track, all over a mile.

“He certainly likes this track and the distance,” trainer Chad Summers said.

The victory gave the son of McKinzie 10 qualifying points toward a start in the Kentucky Derby.

“We’ll keep on paying attention but we are not going to commit to anything now. Having a nice three-year-old is great. It gets you excited when you get out of the bed in the morning, and I am thankful to the owners for giving a small stable like ours a chance with a horse like this,” said trainer Chad Summers afterwards.

The outsider Enduring Spirit and Cyclone State duelled through an opening quarter-mile as Cyclone State pulled clear before the turn.

The favourite Studlydoright and second choice Ican made their efforts, but Cyclone State fended them off and drew away, leading by eight lengths with a furlong to go and cruised home three and a half lengths in front of a closing Omaha Omaha.