Authentic Becomes 14th Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Winner to be Voted Horse of the Year

LEXINGTON, Ky. (January 28, 2021)  - Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRacehorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, and Starlight Racing’s Authentic became the 14th Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner to be named Horse of the Year, as was announced tonight at the conclusion of the 50th Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony.

Authentic received 224 out of 238 votes in the Horse of the Year tally from representatives of the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters, Daily Racing Form, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, consisting of member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Authentic, a bay son of Into Mischief, won last year’s 1 ¼ mile, $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland Race Course by 2 ¼ lengths. (See list of Breeders’ Cup Classic and Horse of the Year winners below).

Authentic, who was also voted Champion Three-Year-Old Male, accounted for two of seven Eclipse Awards earned by winners at the 2020 Breeders’ Cup. Those horses are:

Two-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality – TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1)
Two-Year-Old Filly: Vequist – Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1)
Older Dirt Female: Monomoy Girl – Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1)
Male Sprinter: Whitmore – Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1)
Female Sprinter: Gamine – Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1)
Three-Year-Old Male and Horse of the Year: Authentic - Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1)

Three other Eclipse Awards winners also participated in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup. Improbable, who finished second in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, was voted Champion Older Dirt Male. Channel Maker, who finished third in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), won the Champion Male Turf Eclipse Award; and Swiss Skydiver, who finished seventh in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, won the Three-Year-Old Filly Eclipse Award.

The following horses won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Horse of the Year title in the same year:

1987, Ferdinand
1988, Alysheba
1989, Sunday Silence
1991, Black Tie Affair (IRE)
1992, A.P. Indy
1995, Cigar
2000, Tiznow
2004, Ghostzapper
2005, Saint Liam
2006, Invasor (ARG)
2007, Curlin
2015, American Pharoah
2017, Gun Runner
2020, Authentic

In addition to the Breeders’ Cup Classic winners, the following horses won Horse of the Year honors for victories in other Breeders’ Cup World Championships races in the same year:

1986, Lady’s Secret – Breeders’ Cup Distaff
1993, Kotashaan (FR) – Breeders’ Cup Turf
1997, Favorite Trick – Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
2002, Azeri – Breeders’ Cup Distaff
2012, Wise Dan – Breeders' Cup Mile
2013, Wise Dan – Breeders’ Cup Mile
2019, Bricks and Mortar – Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf

ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred horse racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The Breeders’ Cup is also a founding member of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an organization composed of industry leaders committed to advancing safety measures in Thoroughbred racing and improving the well-being of equine and human athletes.

The 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Championship races, is scheduled to be held on November 5-6 at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California. The event will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media.