Lookin At Lucky named 2009 Eclipse Champion 2yo Male
With five wins and earnings of $1,243,000 for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, the Bob Baffert-trained Lookin At Lucky was named the 2009 Eclipse Champion 2-year-old Male on Jan. 18. This was the second Eclipse Award for the owner/trainer duo; their two-time Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) winner Midnight Lute also garnered 2007 Sprint Champion honors.
On Dec. 19th, Lookin At Lucky put a stamp on a tremendous 2-year-old campaign when the talented Smart Strike colt captured his third Grade 1 triumph with a win in the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park.
Ironically, luck was not on the colt’s side in his lone defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) to Vale of York last November at Santa Anita, where he would fall just a head short while finishing second after a wide trip and traffic trouble from his far-outside post.
Despite the lone blemish on his resume, Lookin At Lucky figured to be a heavy favorite for the Eclipse Award following victories in the CashCall, Norfolk (G1), Del Mar Futurity (G1) and Best Pal (G2). And the final voting reflected the colt’s dominance, as Lookin At Lucky tallied 209 out of first-place 232 votes.
Lookin At Lucky tops a list of 366 sophomore nominated to the 2010 Triple Crown. Along with Vale of York, the duo were named 126-pound co-highweights atop the Experimental Free Handicap for American 2-year-old colts and geldings of 2009 by The Jockey Club.
Lookin At Lucky becomes Baffert’s fifth juvenile to earn an Eclipse, following Silverbulletday (1998), Chilukki (1999), Vindication (2002), and Indian Blessing (2007).