While Scorpiancer only made two starts on the season—both before Memorial Day—his performances were so dominating that he survived a late run by fellow finalists Mr. Hot Stuff and All the Way Jose to earn the Eclipse Award as the top steeplechase horse of 2017.
Trained by Jack Fisher, who also trains Grand National Hurdle Stakes (G1) winner Mr. Hot Stuff, Scorpiancer races for Bruton Street-US, the racing operation of Marylanders Mike Hankin, Charlie Fenwick, and Charlie Noell. The ownership group was honored earlier in the year as steeplechasing's leading owner at the National Steeplechase Association's annual gala awards in Baltimore.
The 2017 season was full of promise for the then 8-year-old Irish-bred son of Scorpion—Janebailey, by Silver Patriarch, following a runner-up effort in the Grand National to close his 2016 campaign. On April 22 he scored a neck triumph in the Temple Gwathmey Hurdle Handicap (NSA-G3) at Glenwood Park at Middleburg in Virginia. Less than a month later he rolled to a 16-length score at Percy Warner in Tennesse in the NSA-grade 1 Calvin Houghland Iroquois Hurdle Stakes.
To cap the year, Scorpiancer was high weighted at 158 pounds on the NSA's Theoretical Handicap for 2017, 10 pounds higher than Mr. Hot Stuff, Modem, and All the Way Jose.
