Remembering the champions we lost in 2024

Through Dec. 20, six Eclipse Award-winning Thoroughbreds are known to have died in 2024. Here are short sketches of each one in chronological order according to the year their championships were attained.

Macho Uno

It was a close run thing for Macho Uno to earn a championship, as he survived a belated surge by Hall of Famer Point Given to win the 2000 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) by a diminishing nose. The stellar field also included future Dubai World Cup (G1) winner and prominent sire Street Cry, as well as Yonaguska and City Zip, who had defeated Macho Uno by a neck when dead-heating for the win in the Hopeful (G1).

Macho Uno's Juvenile triumph followed a seven-length score in the Grey (G3) at Woodbine, and he was duly awarded champion two-year-old honors. Owned by Frank Stronach and trained by Joe Orseno, the gray son of Holy Bull later won the 2001 Pennsylvania Derby (G3) and 2002 Massachusetts H. (G2).

Macho Uno was euthanized due to liver complications Aug. 30 at his owner's Florida farm at the age of 26.

Lemon Drop Kid

Lemon Drop Kid, whose death was reported Dec. 13 by Lane's End Farm, was a Grade 1 winner all three seasons he competed. Owned by Jeanne Vance and trained by Scotty Schulhofer, Lemon Drop Kid captured the 1998 Futurity (G1) and the following year posted a 29-1 upset in the Belmont S. (G1) over the Triple Crown-seeking Charismatic.

Lemon Drop Kid later added the Travers (G1) but was even better at four, reeling off consecutive victories in the Brooklyn H. (G2), Suburban H. (G2), Whitney H. (G1), and Woodward (G1). The son of Kingmambo was voted champion older male of 2000.

Blind Luck

Like Lemon Drop Kid, Blind Luck was a top-level performer throughout her career. Victorious in the Oak Leaf (G1) and Hollywood Starlet (G1) at two, she was even more accomplished at three in 2010 when earning a division title. Her five stakes wins that season included the Las Virgenes (G1), Fantasy (G2), Kentucky Oaks (G1), Delaware Oaks (G2), and Alabama (G1).

Blind Luck's rivalry with 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, encompassing six races over two seasons, was one of the most thrilling of modern times. Blind Luck came out ahead in four of their meetings, including an epic renewal of the 2012 Delaware H. (G2) which Blind Luck won by a nose. That followed earlier wins in the Vanity H. (G1) and La Troienne (G2).

A daughter of Pollard's Vision, Blind Luck died April 22 in Japan at age 17. She was owned in a partnership headed by Dr. Mark Dedomenico (who died Dec. 7) and was trained by Jerry Hollendorfer.

Uncle Mo

The brilliant two-year-old colt champion of 2010, Uncle Mo was a stallion of widespread renown when he was shockingly euthanized on Dec. 19 at the age of 16 after suffering a foreleg injury the previous day.

Owned by Mike Repole and trained by Todd Pletcher, the son of Indian Charlie blazed through an undefeated first season, which included dominating scores in the Champagne (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Health issues kept him out of the Kentucky Derby the following spring, his two stakes wins at three instead coming in the Timely Writer S. at Gulfstream and the Kelso H. (G2) at Belmont.

Uncle Mo's offspring includes classic winners Nyquist and Mo Donegal, plus various Grade/Group 1 winners over a variety of distances and surfaces. The final chapter on his illustrious stud career remains to be written.

Improbable

Improbable, a son of City Zip, was just beginning his fourth season standing at WinStar Farm when he was euthanized due to a neurological condition on March 16 at age eight.

Owned by WinStar in partnership with CHC Inc. and SF Racing, Improbable was voted champion older dirt male in 2020 following consecutive victories in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1), Whitney (G1), and Awesome Again (G1). The Bob Baffert trainee concluded his career with a second to stablemate Authentic in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).

Improbable's earlier stakes victories included the Street Sense S. and Los Alamitos Futurity (G1) in 2018, and the Shared Belief S. in 2019.

Echo Zulu

From the first crop of Hall of Fame inductee Gun Runner, Echo Zulu met defeat only twice in an 11-race career for owners Ron Winchell and L and N Racing. Trained by Steve Asmussen, she was most dominant at two, winning all four starts by a combined margin of 22 lengths. Her victories in that 2021 season included the Spinaway (G1), Frizette (G1), and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

Adding the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and Dogwood (G3) at three, Echo Zulu spent the remainder of her career concentrating on sprints. She won her final three starts in the Winning Colors (G3), Honorable Miss H. (G2), and Ballerina (G1) before suffering a life-threatening injury in preparation for the 2023 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).

While in recovery last winter in Southern California, Echo suffered a stall injury and was euthanized on Feb. 18 at the age of five.