The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

honor awarded annually to a female horse in

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. It became part of the

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

s program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both the ''

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...

'' (DRF) and Turf and Sports Digest (TSD) magazine began naming an annual champion. 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. There were several disagreements, with more than one champion being recognized on five occasions. In 1949, two Calumet Farm fillies,

Wistful Wistful (foaled in 1946 in Kentucky) was an American Eclipse Award, Champion Thoroughbred racemare. The daughter of Sun Again and granddaughter of Sun Teddy is best remembered for wins in the Kentucky Oaks, the Coaching Club American Oaks, the ...

and

Two Lea {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Two Lea , image = , caption = , sire = Bull Lea , grandsire = Bull Dog , dam = Two Bob , damsire = The Porter , sex = Filly , foaled = 1946 , country = USA , colour = Bay , breeder = Calumet Farm ...

, shared the Champion's title after finishing equal top of the Daily Racing Form poll. The ''Daily Racing Form'', the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, and the National Turf Writers Association all joined forces in 1971 to create the Eclipse Award. In 1978, the voting resulted in a tie between two fillies. Champions from 1887 through 1935 were selected retrospectively by a panel of experts as published by ''

The Blood-Horse magazine ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

''.

Honorees

Eclipse Awards

Daily Racing Form, Turf & Sport Digest and Thoroughbred Racing Association Awards

Daily Racing Form and Turf & Sport Digest Awards

''The Blood-Horse'' retrospective champions

References

The Eclipse Awards at the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America, Inc.

''The Bloodhorse.com'' Champion's history charts

Notes

{{Short description, Award for American racehorses Horse racing awards Horse racing in the United States