For the third time in the last four years the China Horse Club has had a star racehorse nominated for the Eclipse Awards – America’s horse of the year honours.
Three-time G1 winner Improbable has been nominated for both the Eclipse Older Dirt Male award and for the Eclipse Horse of the Year award. His nomination among the very best of his peers in 2020 follows the Eclipse Award successes of Abel Tasman in 2017 and the irrepressible Justify in 2018.
“China Horse Club is immensely honoured to have Improbable nominated as the Older Dirt Male and in the Horse of the Year category,” said Michael Wallace, Chief Operating Officer of the China Horse Club.
“The Eclipse Awards represent the measure of excellence and recognize the very elite of America’s racehorses, owners, trainers, jockeys and breeders not just now but historically.”
Justify swept all before him in 2018. The handsome chestnut was anointed the Eclipse Horse of the Year and Eclipse Champion Three-Year-Old Male with a groundswell of votes. His achievements were supported by nominations for Abel Tasman as Eclipse Champion Older Dirt Mare, the aforementioned Improbable in the Eclipse Champion Two-Year-Old category and ‘Team Justify’ in the Eclipse Owner of the Year category.
In 2017, Abel Tasman secured the Club its first Eclipse Award when crowned Eclipse Outstanding Three-Year-Old of the Year after a season of three G1 triumphs including the Kentucky Oaks.
“2020 was a banner year for the China Horse Club in the United States and we are very thankful to all the staff and participants who have made that possible,” Wallace added.
“Improbable did all we hoped he would and more. Credit to Bob Baffert and his team and to jockeys Drayden Van Dyke and Irad Ortiz who rode him to his three G1 wins. But Improbable wasn’t alone in ensuring we had such a great year.
“Valiance’s G1 win was very important to us and credit goes to Todd Pletcher and his team for that. Valiance graduated through our breeding programme to score at the highest level. That is very rewarding. She will race on in 2021 and we hope that, along with some promising performers, we can continue to do great things.”
The Eclipse Awards will be held on 28th January 2021.
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