Valedictorian (Temple City), a two-time graded-stakes winner in 2019, has been named New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year, champion older female and champion turf runner by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey.
Trained by Kelly Breen for Epic Racing, the daughter of Smart N Classy (Smart Strike) posted a 9-1 upset of the GIII Suwannee River S. last February and added Monmouth Park's GIII Eatontown S.–won by her dam in 2005–as the odds-on favorite in June while also hitting the board in the GIII Honey Fox S. and GIII Noble Damsel S. Bred by John Bowers, Jr., Valedictorian earned nearly $340,000 of her $708,000 career bankroll in 2019. Valedictorian makes her seasonal return in Saturday's GIII Honey Fox S. at Gulfstream.
Horologist (Gemologist) also proved her merit against open company last season en route to champion 3-year-old filly honors. The Holly Crest Farm-bred bay went on a tear last summer at the Jersey Shore, winning three straight, including the Smart and Classy H. as the 1-20 chalk ahead of a defeat of champion Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) in the GIII Monmouth Oaks. She was also third to Street Band (Street Boss) and 'TDN Rising Star' Guarana (Ghostzapper) in the GI Cotillion S. Owned at that time by There's a Chance Stable and trained by John Mazza, an interest in the filly was sold to a group including Parkland Thoroughbreds, Medallion Racing and Abbondanza Racing LLC. She remains in training this season in California with Richard Baltas.
Dennis Drazin's homebred Sunny Ridge (Holy Bull) was named champion older male of 2019, having won two of his seven trips to the post, including the GIII Salvator Mile S. at Monmouth and the Richard W. Small S. at Laurel before closing the season with a narrowly beaten third in the GIII Toboggan S. at Aqueduct. With earnings of $1,432,577, Sunny Ridge is the second leading New Jersey-bred money spinner in history.
Other divisional champions included: Pnutnbutter Special (Jump Start), champion 3-year-old colt/gelding, champion sprinter; Irish Mias (Sky Mesa), champion 2-year-old; Irish Score (Even the Score), broodmare of the year; Hey Chub, stallion of the year.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
