The American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when both Turf & Sports Digest (TSD) the Daily Racing Form (DRF) 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. The only disagreement came in 1968, when Turf & Sports Digest named Forward Pass as champion whereas the other two organizations voted for Stage Door Johnny.
Champions from 1871 through 1935 were selected retrospectively by a panel of experts as published by The Blood-Horse magazine.[1]
There were co-champions chosen retrospectively for 1876, 1882, 1885, 1886, 1888, 1893, 1894, 1904, 1906, 1917, 1923, and 1932.
The Daily Racing Form, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, and the National Turf Writers Association all joined forces in 1971 to create the Eclipse Award.
As of 2021, Bob Baffert won the award 10 times as a trainer. No other trainer won the award more than twice.[2]
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| Year | Horse | Trainer | Owner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Capot | John M. Gaver Sr. | Greentree Stable | |
| 1948 | Citation | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | |
| 1947 | Phalanx | Sylvester Veitch | Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney | |
| 1946 | Assault | Max Hirsch | King Ranch | |
| 1945 | Fighting Step | Charles C. Norman | Murlogg Farm | |
| 1944 | By Jimminy | James W. Smith | Alfred P. Parker | |
| 1943 | Count Fleet | Don Cameron | Fannie Hertz | |
| 1942 | Alsab | Sarge Swenke | Albert Sabath | |
| 1941 | Whirlaway | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | |
| 1940 | Bimelech | William A. Hurley | Idle Hour Stock Farm | |
| 1939 | Challedon | Louis J. Schaefer | Branncastle Farm | |
| 1938 | Stagehand | Earl Sande | Col. Maxwell Howard | |
| 1937 | War Admiral | George Conway | Glen Riddle Farm | |
| 1936 | Granville | James E. Fitzsimmons | William Woodward Sr. |
A ‡ designates co champion three-year-olds.