Horse of the Year

There was never any doubt at all Justify would win Horse of the Year honors.  It would be unprecedented for any Triple Crown winner not to receive it.

It doesn't matter he had only six starts or the motives of his owners in retiring him after the Belmont Stakes.  What matters is the Triple Crown is one of the toughest feats in all sports.  In any other year, Accelerate would have won the award, but this year it belonged to Justify.

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Justify received 191 out of a possible 249 first-place votes for Horse of the Year. Hronis Racing's Acceleratereceived 54 first-place votes to finish second, followed by the filly Monomoy Girl with two votes, and Prince Khalid Abdullah's filly Enable (GB) with one vote. There was one voter abstention.

Justify and Accelerate also won Eclipse Awards in their respective divisions, 3-Year-Old Male and Older Dirt Male. Monomoy Girl was voted Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly.

Justify becomes the third Horse of the Year to be trained by Baffert, who also trained 2015 Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and the 2001 winner Point Given. Baffert had a second Eclipse Award winner of 2018 when Mary and Gary West's Game Winner was voted Outstanding 2-Year-Old Male.

“I'm so proud of Justify and I'm happy to see he is being rewarded for his unbelievable accomplishments in his run up to the Triple Crown,” Baffert said. “I've had the great fortune to be around some of the most talented horses and what Justify was able to do in such a short amount of time still takes my breath away. He is truly a horse for the ages and deserves his place among racing's elite. I'm grateful to WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and SF Bloodstock for sending this horse to me to train. It has been an honor and privilege and a hell of a lot of fun to be part of his story.”