The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, 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 bas ...

honor awarded annually to a female horse in

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, 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 spor ...

. 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. The trophy is made by a few small selected A ...

s program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both the ''

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of rac ...

'' (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 Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...

fillies, Wistful and

Two Lea Two Lea (1946–1973) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1949 Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and 1950 Champion Older Female. Background Born at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, her sire was Bull Lea whose progeny ...

, 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 ''The Blood-Horse'' (also referred to simply as ''Blood-Horse'' and displayed on its nameplate in upright all-capital letters without hyphenation as BLOODHORSE) is a news magazine that originated in 1916 as a monthly bulletin of the Thoroughbred ...

''.

Honorees

Eclipse Awards

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

Daily Racing Form and Turf & Sport Digest Awards

''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

{{Short description, Award for American racehorses Horse racing awards Horse racing in the United States