Top juvenile looks like a 2 horse race

With the final Grade 1 race in the books for 2-year- old males, the debate begins about who will earn the Eclipse Award as division champion.

McKinzie won the $300,000 Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity last weekend, although he didn’t finish first.

First across the line was Solomini, who ran a third straight good race in a Grade 1 event, but who was taken down by the stewards for interference in the stretch.

McKinzie, trained by Bob Baffert, was favored in the Futurity off his highly impressive firstout score on Oct. 28 at Santa Anita.

He is now unbeaten in two starts with earnings of $210,000, and is the sixth different winner of a Grade 1 race in the division this year.

There are seven such races in all, and the only winner of two is Bolt d’Oro, who captured the Del Mar Futurity and the Front Runner, the latter at Santa Anita.

Bolt d’Oro and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic figure to attract the most attention among Eclipse Award vot--

ers later this month.

The other male 2-yearold Grade 1 winners this year are Sporting Chance in the Hopeful at Saratoga, Firenze Fire in the Champagne at Belmont Park, and Free Drop Billy in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland.

The Eclipse picture became quite interesting when Good Magic won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

In his two previous starts he was second in a maiden event at Saratoga, and second in the Champagne behind Firenze Fire.

Bolt d’Oro was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, so he lost to Good Magic in their only meet-

ing

However, his earlier two Grade 1 wins and consistent campaign of hitting the board in all four starts could possibly offset Good Magic’s win in the most important race for the division.

Make no mistake about the importance of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile when it comes to the championship.

Through 2016, 25 winners of the 33 editions of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile have won the Eclipse Award.

Of the remaining eight, champions Declan’s Moon (2004), Lookin at Lucky (2009), and Shared Belief (2013) all won the Cash Call Futurity.

McKinzie, though, will not win the Eclipse Award this year.

So it looks like Bolt d’Oro and Good Magic are

the main contenders.

And the Eclipse Award drought of the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga will continue.

The only Hopeful winner in this century to go on to win the Eclipse Award is Shanghai Bobby in 2012, and he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to complete an unbeaten season.

The Hopeful might have produced another one last year in Classic Empire, who won the title with his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Unfortunately, he dumped rider Irad Ortiz Jr. shortly after the start of the Hopeful, losing his only race in five outings.

As for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, he was winning his fourth consecutive edition of the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity with McKinzie.

Since the race was inaugurated in 1981 at Hollywood Park, Baffert has won 10.

By the way, Baffert also trains Solomini.

Three of his Cash Call winners went on to play major roles in the Triple Crown series.

Real Quiet won the Derby and Preakness in 1998, Point Given won the Preakness and Belmont in 2001, and Lookin at Lucky won the Preakness in 2010.

While he is not going to win an Eclipse Award this year, watch for McKinzie to continue the Baffert assault on the Triple Crown in 2018.