Through victories in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and the Metropolitan Handicap (G1), National Treasure was named champion older dirt male on January 23rd at the 54th annual Eclipse Awards dinner. A classic winner at 3, National Treasure added to the long list of Eclipse Award winners trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.
National Treasure, who has earned $5,578,000 in his career, is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan. The son of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Treasure was bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds and was bought for $500,000 by Donato Lanni from the Bridie Harrison consignment at Fasig-Tipton’s 2021 The Saratoga Sale.
“National Treasure was a 2-year-old who showed promise (when third) in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He fought hard to win the Preakness Stakes and was unlucky when he could not hold off Cody’s Wish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile,” said SF Racing and SF Bloodstock’s Tom Ryan, the managing partner of the group that owns the 2023 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner. “His defining moments came in the Pegasus and the Met Mile. A rare triple grade 1 winner, he demonstrated precocity and matured into a force with age. His win in the Met Mile remains one of my favorite days. He was emphatic that day and no one was beating him.”