Aron Wellman knows a thing or two about horse racing. He gave up a lucrative practice as a litigator to follow this crazy dream of running a racing partnership, where there are no negotiated settlements and your chances of losing are much greater on the track than in a courtroom.
He formed a partnership group called Eclipse, just like the awards given out for the best horses in the country. In fact Eclipse has an Eclipse, winning the 2022 3-year-old filly division with Nest. Eclipse also won the 2017 Belmont Stakes with Tapwrit and has had some reasonably good showings in the Kentucky Derby.
But this year is different. Very different.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which is managed by Wellman, is front and center in the road to the Kentucky Derby with a standout colt named Journalism. The son of Curlin is the future book leader at 4-1, with betting in the final Derby advance pool set to close Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.
Before he travels to Churchill Downs, however, he must prove himself again Saturday when he runs in a small but talented field in the Grade 1 $500,000 Santa Anita Derby.
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Journalism doesn’t have to win, or even finish second, in the five-horse field as he already has 47.5 points after wins in the Los Alamitos Futurity and San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. Even finishing last in Saturday’s race will bring him more points, most assuredly gaining him a spot in the Derby starting gate. Although if he runs poorly, it might make Wellman and trainer Michael McCarthy rethink a trip to Louisville.
“This is a Grade 1 that carries with it a lot of importance and it would be a huge feather in Journalism's cap to add it to his resume,” Wellman said this week. “So we are going out there on Saturday with every intention of him competing to the fullest extent of his abilities. We have an enormous amount of respect for Citizen Bull. He's the champion. So until somebody knocks him off his throne, he’s the champ."
Citizen Bull won the Eclipse Award as best 2-year-old male last year for trainer Bob Baffert after winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November. Citizen Bull won the Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 1 and is the 9-5 second choice on the morning line behind Journalism at 6-5. Also in the Santa Anita Derby is
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