Blame the enthusiasm of youth, but Aron Wellman hoped to conquer American racing when he launched Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners in 2011. “Naively and ambitiously, we wanted to build the stable to have runners in every division of the Breeders’ Cup,” Wellman recalled with a laugh Thursday. Having horses good enough to run in all 14 Breeders’ Cup races is nearly impossible, but Eclipse Thoroughbreds and the limited partnerships it forms have plenty to look forward to when the Breeders’ Cup races are run Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland. Earlier this week, Eclipse pre-entered seven horses in six Breeders’ Cup races, though a few are stuck on also-eligible lists and may not start. Considering their success last year, the stable’s runners could merit attention this year. In 2019, Sharing gave Eclipse its first BC win in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. This year, Eclipse and partners have Spanish Loveaffair for the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Gretzky the Great for the Juvenile Turf, Speech for the Filly and Mare Sprint, Bulletproof One for the Turf Sprint, Point of Honor and Valiance for the Distaff, and Dirty Dangle for the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Bulletproof One and Dirty Dangle are not certain to run. :: Play the Breeders’ Cup with DRF! Visit our Breeders’ Cup shop for Packages, PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more “To be able to bring this type of contingent to Lexington is pretty cool,” Wellman said. “We’re honored to have this deep of a group.” The horses are trained by Mark Casse, Michael McCarthy, Peter Miller, Todd Pletcher, and George Weaver, and represent 10 percent of the approximately 70 horses Eclipse has spread across the continent. Gretzky the Great, trained by Casse and owned in partnership with Gary Barber, won the Grade 1 Summer Stakes on Sept. 20 at Woodbine, earning a fees-paid berth to the Juvenile Turf. “Our best win chance is Gretzky the Great in the Juvenile Turf,” Wellman said. “He’s such a good mover and he should handle any type of going.” Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners is one of dozens of limited partnerships operating at various levels throughout the nation. The number of such partnerships has risen in the last 20 years, and allow wider participation for owners with reduced financial risk. Eclipse typically has four to 12 partners invested in each horse. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2020: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division Wellman, 43, grew up in racing, the son of longtime California owners and breeders Michael and Cory Wellman. “Rumor has it I was on my mother’s back on the Del Mar backstretch a few days after I got out of the hospital,” Wellman said. Through his youth, Wellman’s weekends frequently included trips to Southern California tracks. In the 2000s, while practicing law, Wellman and a few longtime friends formed a partnership that raced the graded stakes winners Three Degrees and Valbenny. The success of those horses led to Wellman’s decision to interrupt his law career and join Barry Irwin’s management team with the Team Valor Racing partnership, an arrangement that lasted until spring 2011. By the end of that summer, Wellman had launched Eclipse Thoroughbreds. The operation received a massive boost through a 2013 merger with Dogwood Stable, a partnership operated by Cot Campbell since the 1970s. Several members of Dogwood partnerships have continued with Eclipse. “Cot’s endorsement within two years of launching Eclipse was the ultimate,” Wellman said. “It propelled us forward several years from where our natural progression would have been.” Campbell died in 2018 at the age of 91. “I still consider my relationship with him and him giving Eclipse the nod and putting his faith in Eclipse to perpetuate his legacy and the Dogwood brand to be one of my finest professional achievements,” Wellman said. Winning helps to attract attention. In 2013, Eclipse was part of the ownership group of Danza, who won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and finished third in the Kentucky Derby. In 2017, Eclipse was a part-owner of Tapwrit, winner of the Belmont Stakes. Wellman, who lives in Del Mar, Calif., with his wife, Talya, and two children, is the president of Eclipse, which has a small management team that includes Brian Spearman as chairman and former Dogwood executives Jack Sadler and Bill Victor. In its first five years, Wellman said, the stable numbered 30 to 50 horses, making the current team the largest. There is annual turnover, including selling some fillies and mares. Valiance and Point of Honor are cataloged to sell at the Fasig-Tipton November sale on Nov. 8. In recent months, Eclipse has been active at yearling auctions, preparing partnerships for 2021 and beyond. There will be more purchases at juvenile sales in the spring and the likelihood of buying horses of racing age in the United States or abroad. Some of those horses could develop into candidates for the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar next year. While having runners in all races will remain a lofty goal, another big team is possible for a vast and growing stable.