Eclipse Award winners express gratitude

"I was driving to the barn (Saturday) morning and sort of

reflecting back a little bit," Pletcher said. "I was thinking about December of

1995 when I was driving to Hialeah because my Gulfstream stall application was

rejected, and rightfully so. I had seven horses, four of them were owned by my

dad, and they were all maidens. At the time, I never could have even dreamed

that even being nominated for an award like this was possible.

"I've just been so fortunate. I have such a terrific wife and family at home,

supportive parents, unbelievable staff and, most importantly, a lot of great

owners that have given me an opportunity with some really special horses."

Largely on the strength of their stallion and former

champion grass horse Kitten's Joy, the Ramseys, winners of the past two

Championship Meet owner titles, were voted their second straight Eclipse Award

as both leading owner and breeder, winning 153 races and banking more than $10.5

million in 2014.

Trained by Gulfstream Park-based Wesley Ward, Judy the

Beauty (Ghostzapper) earned the Eclipse Award as champion female sprinter. The

six-year-old

chestnut mare won four of five starts in 2014, all graded, including the

Madison (G1) at Keeneland and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Santa

Anita Park.

It was the first Eclipse Award as a trainer for Ward, 46, a

former jockey who won the award as leading apprentice rider in 1984.

"It's unbelievable. It took me 30 years and a hundred

pounds to get back here," Ward quipped.

"This has just been an unbelievable ride with this filly. She's named after a

very special lady, my mother's best friend that died of cancer a number of years

back. It took me a long time to get one that I could name, a yearling or what

have you, for a very special lady. She's a very special horse. She's overcome a

lot of adversities and she finally got there."

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