Objectivity is a foundation of Journalism 101, but you can bet nearly everyone chronicling the 151 st running of the Kentucky Derby has picked their horse. Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism is expected to be the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby set for May 3 at Churchill Downs . The horse got his name from co-owner Aron Wellman, a one-time sports editor of the Beverly Hills (Cali f ornia) High School newspaper, Highlights. “I’ve often been accused of being a disgruntled sportswriter because of all the writing I do for Eclipse for our partners and our horse updates and weekly newsletter,” Wellman said earlier this week via telephone while attending a horse sale in Ocala, Florida. “So journalism is something that I value very much, and I appreciate responsible and diligent journalists.” Wellman gave up his job as a lawyer and founded Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners in 2011. He said his process of naming horses is based on “the old-school Claiborne Farm way — one-word names with clever connotations to pedigrees.” Wellman noted Journalism’s sire, Curlin, is a difficult name to manipulate. Journalism’s dam, Mopotism, also provided a challenge. “For the life of me, I can’t figure out what Mopotism means,” Wellman said. “We played off of the ‘ism’ part of Mopotism and just tried to find a really good, strong word that ended in ‘ism.’ We came up with Journalism.” In a political world divided by left- and right-leaning media outlets and accusations of “fake news,” Journalism might be considered by some to be a controversial name for a horse these days. Wellman said he enjoyed writing for the student newspaper but ultimately decided to study law after graduating from high school in 1995. “I played soccer and baseball myself, so I was precluded from covering those sports,” Wellman said. “But just about anything else I did. I had a weekly column called ‘Ace in the Hole’ that was fun to write. … “I enjoyed my minimal journalistic experience, but that was the extent of it.” Wellman founded Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners as a way to expand a love of horse racing that began at the age of 8 when he convinced a trainer to let him on the backside at Del Mar. He’s reached the Kentucky Derby four times, his best finish coming with third-place Danza in 2014. Journalism could be Wellman’s best chance to win the Kentucky Derby, entering with a four-race winning streak. Wellman said Journalism “stamped himself as a brilliant horse” and showed his “killer instinct” by overcoming a troubled trip and still winning the Santa Anita Derby on April 5, beating Baeza by three-quarters of a length. “It’s rare for a horse to get held up at the three-eighths pole and to get back in the race in that way,” jockey Umberto Rispoli said after the race. “It’s always difficult, especially for such a big horse. But he has such an amazing style and is just an amazing horse.” Journalism is on a short list of media-related horse names included in Kentucky Derby records. Newsboy finished 11 th in 1882, Media was fifth in 1975 and Editor’s Note came in sixth in 1996. Suddenbreakingnews (fifth in 2016) and Mr. Big News (third in 2020) were in the hunt in recent years. And for those really wanting to dive into the narrative, Publisher will offer a compelling exacta pairing with Journalism in this year's Derby. The “write stuff,” perhaps? “It wasn’t intended to be this way,” Wellman said, “but it’s certainly nice to have the media and journalists on our side.”
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