The American Champion Male Turf Horse award is an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

honor. The award originated in 1953 when the '' Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) named Iceberg II their champion. The Thoroughbred Racing Association (TRA) added the category in 1967. The organisations disagreed only once, in 1968. In 1971 it became part of the

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

s program and is awarded annually to a Colt or

Gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, mak ...

, regardless of age, for their performance on

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

race course A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also ...

s. The ''Daily Racing Form'', the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, and the National Turf Writers Association all joined forces in 1971 to create the Eclipse Award. From 1953 through 1978 it was awarded to male or female horses although the only female champion was

Dahlia Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflower, ...

in 1974. In 1979 an individual category was created for each of the sexes. Starting with the 2015 Eclipse Awards it is no longer possible for a Champion Male Turf Horse to also win Champion Older Male Horse, as the latter category is now restricted to horses proficient in dirt or main track races. The last such winner of both awards was

Main Sequence In astronomy, the main sequence is a continuous and distinctive band of stars that appears on plots of stellar color versus brightness. These color-magnitude plots are known as Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams after their co-developers, Ejnar He ...

in 2014.

Records

Most wins: * 4 – John Henry (1980, 1981, 1983, 1984) Most wins by a trainer: * 6 – Ron McAnally (1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1995) Most wins by an owner: * 4 –

Dotsam Stable Dotsam Stable was an American Thoroughbred racing stable owned by New York City businessman Sam Rubin and his wife Dorothy. Sam Rubin (February 23, 1914- February 13, 2006) was a successful bicycle importer and a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing. I ...

(1980, 1981, 1983, 1984) * 4 – Rokeby Stable (1967, 1968, 1970, 1971)

Honorees

Eclipse awards

Daily Racing Form, Turf & Sport Digest and Thoroughbred Racing Association Awards

References

The Eclipse Awards at the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America, Inc.

''The Bloodhorse.com'' Champion's history charts
{{Eclipse Awards Horse racing awards Horse racing in the United States