The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when both the Daily Racing Form (DRF) and Turf and Sports Digest (TSD) magazine began naming an annual champion. Starting in 1950, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA) began naming its own champion. The following list provides the name of the horses chosen by these organizations. There were several disagreements, with more than one champion being recognized on five occasions. In 1949, two Calumet Farm fillies, Wistful and Two Lea, shared the Champion's title after finishing equal top of the Daily Racing Form poll.
The Daily Racing Form, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, and the National Turf Writers Association all joined forces in 1971 to create the Eclipse Award. In 1978, the voting resulted in a tie between two fillies.
Champions from 1887 through 1935 were selected retrospectively by a panel of experts as published by The Blood-Horse magazine.
Honorees
Eclipse Awards
Daily Racing Form, Turf & Sport Digest and Thoroughbred Racing Association Awards
Daily Racing Form and Turf & Sport Digest Awards
| Year |
Horse |
Trainer |
Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Two Lea (DRF tie) | Horace A. Jones | Calumet Farm |
| 1949 | Wistful (DRF tie) | Horace A. Jones | Calumet Farm |
| 1948 | Miss Request | James P. Conway | Florence Whitaker |
| 1947 | But Why Not | Max Hirsch | Robert J. Kleberg Jr. |
| 1946 | Bridal Flower | James W. Smith | John R. Bradley |
| 1945 | Busher | George M. Odom | Louis B. Mayer |
| 1944 | Twilight Tear | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm |
| 1943 | Stefanita | Bert Mulholland | George D. Widener Jr. |
| 1942 | Vagrancy | James E. Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud |
| 1941 | Painted Veil | Graceton Philpot | Louis B. Mayer |
| 1940 | Fairy Chant | Richard E. Handlen | William du Pont Jr. |
| 1939 | Unerring (DRF) | Ben A. Jones | Woolford Farm |
| 1939 | War Plumage | Howard Oots | James Cox Brady Jr. |
| 1938 | Handcuff | Hugh L. Fontaine | Isabel Dodge Sloane |
| 1937 | Dawn Play | Max Hirsch | Robert J. Kleberg Jr. |
| 1936 | High Fleet | Bert Mulholland | George D. Widener Jr. |
The Blood-Horse retrospective champions
References
- The Eclipse Awards at the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America, Inc.
- The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts
Notes
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - "Forty Marcy tabbed". Ocala Star-Banner. November 29, 1970. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
- "Damascus top horse". Victoria Advocate. November 24, 1967. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
- "Sword Dancer unanimous choice". Montreal Gazette. November 29, 1959. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
- "In racing". Vancouver Sun. December 1, 1959. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
- ^ "Capot captures horse of the year". Toledo Blade. November 28, 1949. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
- Avalyn Hunter (2003-05-25). American Classic Pedigrees. Blood-horse Publications. ISBN 9781581500950. Retrieved 2012-07-14.