American Champion Older Dirt Female Horse
Year Horse Age Trainer Owner
2019 Midnight Bisou 4 Steven Asmussen Bloom Racing
2018 Unique Bella 4 Jerry Hollendorfer Don Alberto Stable
2017 Forever Unbridled 5 Dallas Stewart Charles E. Fipke
2016 Beholder 6 Richard Mandella Spendthrift Farm
2015 Beholder 5 Richard Mandella Spendthrift Farm
2014 Close Hatches 4 William I. Mott Juddmonte Farms
2013 Royal Delta 5 William I. Mott Besilu Stables
2012 Royal Delta 4 William I. Mott Besilu Stables
2011 Havre de Grace 4 J. Larry Jones Rick Porter/Fox Hill Farms
2010 Zenyatta 6 John Shirreffs Ann & Jerry Moss
2009 Zenyatta 5 John Shirreffs Ann & Jerry Moss
2008 Zenyatta 4 John Shirreffs Ann & Jerry Moss
2007 Ginger Punch 4 Robert J. Frankel Stronach Stables
2006 Fleet Indian 5 Todd A. Pletcher Paul H. Saylor
2005 Ashado 4 Todd A. Pletcher Jonabell Farm
2004 Azeri 6 D. Wayne Lukas Allen E. Paulson Living Trust
2003 Azeri 5 Laura de Seroux Allen E. Paulson Living Trust
2002 Azeri 4 Laura de Seroux Allen E. Paulson Living Trust
2001 Gourmet Girl 6 Pico Perdomo Gary A. Tanaka
2000 Riboletta 5 Eduardo Inda Aaron & Marie Jones
Honorees -- Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female
The Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a filly or mare, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of the Eclipse Awards program as the award for Champion Older Female Horse. In 1936 both the Turf & Sports Digest magazine and 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 both of 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 Female Handicap Horse or Champion Handicap Mare. The Daily Racing Form version was open to any female horse, and was given to some Champions at the age of three, such as Tosmah, Twilight Tear and Busher. Champions from 1887 through 1935 were selected retrospectively by a panel of experts as published by The Blood-Horse magazine. In 2015, the Daily Racing Form, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, and the National Turf Writers Association decided that the award would be renamed and awarded to older female horses proficient in dirt and main track races.