Sharing, Justify babies, and #NeverEclipsed: The week in social media

by Chelsea Lowman | Jan 10, 2020 | Breaking, Business, Regionwide, Top Stories

Sharing. Photo by Dottie Miller.

A Maryland-bred filly is a finalist for the 2019 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Eclipse Award category, a new campaign to honor Off-Track Thoroughbreds during the Eclipse Awards has been launched, and Triple Crown hero Justify was represented by the birth of his first offspring.

Here is the 411 on what racing fans in the Mid-Atlantic region have been talking about on social media this week:

Sharing leads the charge

Finalists for the 2019 Eclipse Awards were announced this past week, and Maryland-bred Sharing was among the finalists for the category of Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

Last seen winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) on November 1, Sharing established a record of three wins from four starts in 2019. Along with her score in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Sharing also picked up a black-type win in the Selima Stakes at Laurel Park earlier in the season. The chestnut filly concluded her 2019 racing season with earnings of $730,300.

Bred by Sagamore Farm, Sharing is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway Stable. Sharing is trained by Graham Motion, who also conditioned her dam, Shared Account, to a score in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) back in 2010 for Sagamore Farm.

Other finalists competing with Sharing for the title of Champion Two-Year-Old Filly include multiple graded stakes winner Bast and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly (G1) winner, British Idiom, who is by Pennsylvania stallion, Flashback. Sharing is the only horse bred in the Mid-Atlantic to be an Eclipse Award finalist this year.

The Eclipse Award winners will be announced on January 23, at the 49^th annual Eclipse Award ceremony at Gulfstream Park.

#NeverEclipsed

A new campaign has been created to honor Off-Track Thoroughbreds during the Eclipse Awards.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is allowing people to share their retired thoroughbreds who have moved on to second careers. The Off-Track Thoroughbreds can be nominated on Facebook or Twitter, with pictures or videos of them in their new careers with the hashtag #NeverEclipsed.

Retired Thoroughbreds that are selected for the #NeverEclipsed campaign will be displayed during the Eclipse Award ceremony through a montage of videos and pictures. The goal for the #NeverEclipsed movement is to showcase the many thoroughbreds who went on to productive post-racing careers, proving that there is a life after the races.

The deadline for the #NeverEclipsed submissions is January 17.

First foal for Justify

Triple Crown hero Justify was represented with the birth of his first foal on January 3, and news of his offspring’s arrival has fans on social media buzzing.

Born at Amaroo Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, Justify’s first reported foal is a bay filly owned by Audley Farm. The filly is out of the Exchange Rate mare Foreign Exchange, who delivered the foal during the night.

In 2018, Justify lit up the track with his thrilling run to the Triple Crown. The chestnut son of the late Scat Daddy retired from the track with a perfect record of six wins from six starts, and earnings of $3,798,000. Justify now stands at stud at Coolmore Stud in Versailles Kentucky, for a fee of $150,000 for 2020.