Cody’s Wish and Mawj headline Eclipse Awards finalists

Godolphin’s exceptional year in North America has been recognised with Cody’s Wish, Mawj, Pretty Mischievous and Master Of The Seas all featuring among the finalists for the 2023 Eclipse Awards.

Cody’s Wish is nominated in the Older Dirt Male and Male Sprinter categories after winning four of his five starts in 2023, including top-level victories in the Churchill Downs Stakes and Met Mile in addition to a successful defence of his Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile title.

Trained by Bill Mott, Cody’s Wish could yet feature among the contenders for the Horse of the Year award, for which the finalists are announced at the ceremony itself on Thursday, 25 January.

Mawj also only met with defeat once in five appearances during 2023 and the half-sister to last year’s Champion Male Turf Horse Modern Games is a finalist in the Female Turf Horse and Three-Year-Old Filly divisions.

After capturing the 1,000 Guineas in May, the Saeed bin Suroor-trained filly made a successful United States debut with an all-the-way win in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland in October. She ran another superb race in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita in November, when she was collared on the line by Master Of The Seas.

Pretty Mischievous joins Mawj in the Three-Year-Old Filly category, having provided Godolphin with a first success in the Kentucky Oaks. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the daughter of Into Mischief went on to complete a hat-trick of G1 wins in the Acorn Stakes and Test Stakes.

Master Of The Seas will be hoping to provide Charlie Appleby with a third consecutive Male Turf Horse award following Yibir and Modern Games. In addition to his Breeders’ Cup victory, the son of Dubawi dominated the Woodbine Mile and was beaten a nose in the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland.

Godolphin is a finalist in the Champion Owner and Champion Breeder categories, having received both awards in 2021 and 2022. Horses in the royal blue silks amassed prize money in excess of US$17.2m in North America during 2023, with homebreds responsible for 26 of 27 Graded Stakes wins.