Brown, Castellano lead the charge through New York to Eclipse glory

by Heather Pettinger

Saturday evening proved to be an unforgettable one for a pair of familiar faces on the New York Racing Association circuit, as Javier Castellano picked up his fourth straight Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and Chad Brown, who earned his second year-end training title in New York, was honored with his first Eclipse for Outstanding Trainer at the 46th annual Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla.

Tying Jerry Bailey with the most consecutive Eclipse Awards for jockey of the year, Castellano led all North American riders with over $26.8 million in earnings as well as graded stakes wins in 2016. Castellano, 39, rode nine Grade 1 winners last year, including six on the NYRA circuit.

The Venezuelan native memorably teamed up with Brown as the regular rider of Juddmonte Farm's Flintshire, named Turf Male of the year, during the 6-year-old son of Dansili's championship season, which included stakes victories in the Grade 2 Bowling Green and Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga Race Course. Already a multiple stakes winner in Europe, Flintshire closed out his career with a late-closing second to Highland Reel in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

Also with Brown, Castellano won his first Grade 1 Cigar Mile aboard Connect and his seventh Breeders' Cup event with New Money Honey in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Among the jockey's other major wins in 2016 were the Grade 1 Woodward with Shaman Ghost, the Grade 1 Personal Ensign aboard Cavorting, a finalist for Older Dirt Female, as well as a dead-heat victory in the Grade 1 Spinaway aboard Sweet Loretta.

Brown, 38, saddled 182 winners in 2016, including 42 graded stakes, and led the nation's trainers in earnings with more than $23.1 million.

Eight of Brown's 12 Grade 1 wins in 2016 came in New York, including 2-Year-Old Male finalist Practical Joke's back-to-back scores in the Hopeful and Champagne. The Mechanicville, New York native won three straight meet titles overall, picking up his first leading trainer honors at the Saratoga and Belmont spring/summer meets, as well as taking home his fifth straight Belmont fall meet title.

Additionally, Brown trained Female Turf finalist Lady Eli back from a 14-month recovery from laminitis to a Grade 1 score in the Flower Bowl while Wake Forest and Dacita also found Grade 1 success at NYRA tracks in 2016 with respective wins in the Man o' War and Diana.

Songbird, who won seven straight races in 2016, recorded memorable Saratoga victories while based at the Spa this summer, taking the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks by 5 ¼ lengths and the Grade 1 Alabama by seven, en route to being unanimously chosen as the year's 3-Year-Old Filly champion.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert also utilized prestigious stakes at Saratoga as an important stepping stone to year-end accolades with 3-Year-Old Male champion Arrogate and top Male Sprinter Drefong, who both made their stakes debuts on Travers Day.

Drefong was making only his third career start when he loaded into the starting gate for the Grade 1 Kings Bishop on August 27 but proved to be well-stocked with talent as he posted a 3 ¼-length score in his first stakes, and eventually closed out his year facing older horses for the first time with a 1 ¼-length win in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Largely dismissed at 11-1 in the Grade 1 Travers, Arrogate established his dominance over his sophomore rivals with a 13 ½-length victory in the 147th edition of the Mid-Summer Derby with a record time of 1:59.36, before going on to beat some of the best older horses in the country - including two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome - in the Breeders' Cup Classic on his way to earning Eclipse distinction. Arrogate, like Flintshire, was campaigned by Juddmonte, named the year's Outstanding Owner.

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Brown, Castellano lead the charge through New York to Eclipse glory

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