American racing was not going very well for the gelding Carloun until a maiden hurdle at 2 1/4 miles at Colonial Downs on a Thursday last August.
Carloun, returning to action after a seventh-place finish in a $20,000 claimer for nonwinners of two at Laurel in June, took an early lead in a nine-horse field and led throughout, winning by 7 1/2 lengths.
He has not lost since, rising to the Grade 1 level by late October. For his late-season success, Carloun is a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the outstanding steeplechaser of 2024.
Carloun, who races for Paul and Molly Willis and trainer Keri Brion, ended the year on a three-race winning streak that included a victory in the Magalen Bryant Handicap Hurdle by 3 3/4 lengths at 2 1/8 miles at Middleburg, Va., on Oct. 12, and another bold win in the Grade 1 William Allison Sport of Kings Hurdle by 3 1/2 lengths at 2 1/8 miles at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va., on Oct. 27.
Stephen Mulqueen was aboard for all three of the wins.
:: Full list of 2024 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
The success in the second half of 2024 was a fine turnaround for a 5-year-old gelding, who was beaten in his first three starts of the year in maiden races, finishing third twice in Aiken, S.C., and Malvern, Pa., and losing Mulqueen at the final hurdle in another start at Great Meadow.
Carloun did not show that ability earlier in his American career, losing his first 15 starts. Bred in Ireland, Carloun began his career in France, where he won once, in a claiming race in January 2022 in his eighth and final start in the country.
Carloun began his American career on the flat, with three third-place finishes in starter-allowance races in his first four starts. His debut over obstacles did not go well, with a fall in the Gladstone Stakes at Far Hills in October 2022.
In 2023, Carloun was beaten in four starts on the flat before he finished a well-beaten third in his final start of the year in a $15,000 claimer for maidens in Charleston, S.C. He held an early lead in that race but faded to lose by 8 3/4 lengths.
The maiden win at Colonial was a measure of relief and pride for Brion.
“It has taken a bit for it all to click, but I’ve always thought very highly of the little guy,” she wrote on social media the day of the win.
Brion described Carloun “as small but mighty” after his win in Middleburg.
The Grade 1 win in the Allison Hurdle at Great Meadow led to a poignant tribute to Paul Willis, complete with a brief video of the owner walking Carloun in 2022 at Saratoga.
“In 2022, Carloun gave Paul Willis his first flat runner in Saratoga,” Brion wrote that day. “Today, he gave him his first 100 percent-owned Grade 1 winner.”
Carloun had a vacation in the final months of the year. By the first week of January, he was back at Brion’s stable in advance of a scheduled campaign in 2025.
“Barn/fan favorite is back,” Brion wrote.
The diminutive Carloun was impossible to catch in his final three races in 2024. As Brion noted, it all finally clicked.
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