The title of American Champion Older Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a stallion or gelding, four years old and up. In 1971, it became part of the Eclipse Awards program.
The award originated in 1936 when the Daily Racing Form (DRF) began naming an annual champion. In the same year, the Baltimore-based Turf and Sports Digest magazine instituted a similar award. Starting in 1950, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA) began naming its own champion. The following list provides the name of the horses chosen by these organizations. Whenever there were different champions named, the horses are listed side-by-side with the one chosen as champion by the Daily Racing Form noted with the letters (DRF), the one chosen by the Thoroughbred Racing Associations by the letters (TRA) and the one chosen by Turf and Sports Digest by the letters (TSD). Prior to 1971 this award was referred to as "Champion Handicap Male Horse". The Daily Racing Form version was open to any horse, three years old and up and this award was given to some Champions at the age of three, such as Citation, Buckpasser, Damascus and Arts and Letters.
The Daily Racing Form, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, and the National Turf Writers Association all joined forces in 1971 to create the Eclipse Award.
Champions prior to 1936 were selected retrospectively by a panel of experts as published by The Blood-Horse magazine.
Famous quotes containing the words american, champion, older, male and/or horse:
“The root of the discontent in American women is that they are too well educated.... There will be no real content among American women unless they are made and kept more ignorant or unless they are given equal opportunity with men to use what they have been taught. And American men will not be really happy until their women are.”
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973)
“What a terrible thing has happened to us all! To you there, to us here, to all everywhere. Peace who was becoming bright-eyed, now sits in the shadow of death; her handsome champion has been killed as he walked by her very side. Her gallant boy is dead. What a cruel, foul, and most unnatural murder! We mourn here with you, poor, sad American people.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)
“Forty years on, growing older and older,
Shorter in wind, as in memory long,
Feeble of foot, and rheumatic of shoulder
What will it help you that once you were strong?”
—E.E. Bowen (1836–1901)
“There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
—Bible: New Testament Galatians 3:28.
“I am a feather on the bright sky
I am the blue horse that runs in the plain
I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water”
—N. Scott Momaday (b. 1934)