Alexander Crispin named top bug rider; Authentic horse of the year * The Racing Biz

ALEXANDER CRISPIN NAMED TOP BUG RIDER; AUTHENTIC HORSE OF THE YEAR

*Preakness winner Swiss Skydiver (inside) was named top three-year-old filly. Photo by Allison Janezic.*

Frank Vespe
January 29, 2021

Following a year in which he won 103 races, Midlantic-based apprentice rider Alexander Crispin has earned the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey.

Crispin narrowly emerged from a tight race, receiving 79 first-place votes versus the 74 grabbed by Midwest rider Yarmarie Correa. Luis Cardenas was third, and another Midlantic rider, Charlie Marquez, finished fourth.

The Eclipse Awards were announced Thursday night.

Crispin rode during the second half of 2020 at Delaware Park and then at Laurel Park. He was the second leading rider by wins at Delaware, visiting the winner’s circle 58 times from 290 mounts. At Laurel he finished third by wins during the fall meet, notching 29 victories from 135 starts.

Crispin also registered the first stakes win of his career during the season. That came in September, when he piloted Singlino to victory in Delaware’s First State Dash.

In all, Crispin won 103 times from 539 starts in 2020, a 19% strike rate. His mounts earned just shy of $2.2 million.

Not surprisingly, Authentic was the overwhelming choice as champion three-year-old male and Horse of the Year. The Bob Baffert trainee won both the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic en route to the honors.

From August: Alexander Crispin, following a dream, making a mark

January 28: “Huge future,” exciting present for Alexander Crispin

In between those two triumphs, he met defeat at the hands of the filly Swiss Skydiver, in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. Swiss Skydiver earned top three-year-old filly honors after an old-school season in which she raced 10 times, won five, and earned nearly $1.8 million. All five of her wins came in graded company, two In Grade 1 events.

The runner-up for top sophomore filly honors, Gamine, romped home the top filly sprinter. The Bob Baffert trainee won three times during the year, including in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Those three wins were one more than the number of positive tests she recorded during the season. She was disqualified from an allowance win at Oaklawn Park in May after testing positive for lidocaine, and she also came back positive for betamethasone following her third-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Baffert has appealed in both cases, which are still pending.

Voters had no apparent issues with the controversy, however. Gamine received 219 first-place votes, compared to 13 for Serengeti Empress.

The list of winners:

“Something from Grandmother” helps Post Time win Carter
Family connections abounded as Post Time won the Carter, and owner Ellen Charles thinks her star may get a little bit extra from that.