Throughout a night celebrating excellence in North American Thoroughbred racing, a star filly, as anticipated, was the culminating focus of consideration on the 54th annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards ceremony Jan. 23 at The Breakers Palm Seashore. Following a near-perfect marketing campaign in 2024, Thorpedo Anna, the sensible 3-year-old filly of final 12 months, shot to victory because the unanimous alternative for champion in that class, and she or he simply outpolled her counterparts for essentially the most coveted prize in racing: Horse of the 12 months.
The Horse of the 12 months announcement that got here Thursday night on the posh South Florida lodge was hardly a shock, however when her title was known as as 2024 Horse of the 12 months by Nationwide Thoroughbred Racing Affiliation president and CEO Tom Rooney, it was no much less appreciated by these in attendance. The sell-out crowd of 500 for the black-tie occasion clapped in approval for Thorpedo Anna, who grew to become simply the seventh feminine horse to win the award and the primary since Havre de Grace in 2011. She and Rachel Alexandra in 2009 are the one ones to take the award as 3-year-old fillies.
Propelled by victories in races such because the Longines Kentucky Oaks and Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff and by a near-miss, second-place end to Fierceness within the DraftKings Travers Stakes, Thorpedo Anna outpolled fellow 3-year-olds of 2024, the males Sierra Leone and Fierceness on a 193-10-5 foundation to earn her place among the many elite equines to have been named Horse of the 12 months.
Homeowners Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks, and Magdalena Racing proceed to race the daughter of Quick Anna below the route of coach Kenny McPeek. She is presently in coaching in Florida towards a marketing campaign as a 4-year-old.
Hicks, who bred the filly, mentioned Thorpedo Anna’s success was the “fruits of so many issues,” from breeding to upbringing, gross sales, and racing.
She thanked “final however not least, Kenny McPeek for his unseen, eager eye of seeing her untappable expertise and to the fan base who adopted her from coast to coast.”
“We’re privileged to have the Horse of the 12 months, Thorpedo Anna,” she concluded, hoisting the Horse of the 12 months trophy over her head.
“It’s been a incredible experience, and it’s solely began,” McPeek mentioned moments earlier.
This 12 months’s Travers Stakes featured all three Horse of the 12 months members, although the winner of that contest, Fierceness, was outvoted by a 169-to-34 whole by Sierra Leone for the 3-year-old male championship, with voters swayed by the latter’s efficiency within the Longines Breeders’ Cup Traditional when he rallied previous Fierceness down the Del Mar stretch.
One in every of his homeowners, Peter Brant, expressed appreciation for Sierra Leone for “offering us with one of many best thrills of my life” in capturing the Traditional.
It was one other race for 3-year-olds, the Preakness Stakes that earned the FanDuel Racing-NTRA Second of the 12 months, a distinction decided by fan voting, by which MyRacehorse’s Seize the Gray, educated by Corridor of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, upset Kentucky Derby Introduced by Woodford Reserve winner Mystik Dan.
Nevertheless, Sierra Leone’s Breeders’ Cup Traditional-winning jockey, Flavien Prat, and the colt’s coach, Chad Brown, would earn Eclipse Awards after each topped their respective classes by North American earnings. It was the fifth Eclipse Award for Brown and the primary for Prat, who shifted his spring-through-fall base from California to the East starting in 2022.
Brown edged McPeek by a 101-88 margin within the closest tally of the human Eclipse classes.
“Nicely, I used to be removed from sure from being up right here tonight. So that may solely imply one factor: I lastly beat Kenny McPeek in a photograph,” Brown quipped, a reference to the McPeek-trained Mystik Dan nipping his trainee, Sierra Leone, by a nostril within the Derby.
A record-setting season for Prat, who surpassed Corridor of Famer Jerry Bailey’s single-season graded stakes-winning mark by profitable 56 such races in 2024, resulted in him outpolling Irad Ortiz Jr., a five-time Eclipse Award winner and the winningest jockey of final 12 months with 328 victories.
Erik Asmussen was honored as excellent apprentice of 2024. His dad and mom, Julie Asmussen and Corridor of Fame coach Steve Asmussen, wiped away tears as their son spoke after accepting his trophy.
“I imply, this sport means every thing to me. Thanks to my household. I acquired the perfect group round me,” Erik mentioned, his voice cracking. “Most significantly, simply thanks to the horses.”
Eclipse Award ballots had been forged by 87% of eligible voters of the NTRA (consisting of member racetrack racing officers and Equibase subject personnel), the Nationwide Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and Each day Racing Kind. Finalists had been decided by voters’ high three alternatives, utilizing a 10-5-1 level foundation. Eclipse Award winners are decided solely by first-place votes.
Although most winners had been amongst many foregone conclusions on the ceremony, the outcomes of not less than a number of divisions remained doubtful till the envelopes saying the winners had been opened. Nonetheless, there have been no surprises.
Breeders’ Cup victories catapulted Soul of an Angel and Straight No Chaser to Eclipse awards as feminine sprinter and male sprinter, respectively.
Talking of Soul of an Angel, co-owner Mark Martinez of Agave Racing Secure mentioned of her after she competed 11 occasions final 12 months and 42 occasions over her profession, “I do know I’m somewhat biased, however it is a throwback mare,” he mentioned.
World traveler and Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Insurgent’s Romance prevailed within the closest Eclipse Award division, receiving 89 first-place votes to 81 for Johannes, a five-time graded stakes winner in 2024 and runner-up within the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Introduced by PDJF.
Insurgent’s Romance and Immersive, the champion 2-year-old filly, had been two champions for Godolphin in 2024. The worldwide breeding and racing operation additionally captured Eclipse titles as proprietor and breeder for the fourth straight 12 months.
The Sheikh Mohammed-founded Godolphin set one other document for essentially the most Eclipse titles earned with this 12 months’s awards, elevating its whole to 13 below the Godolphin and Darley banners since 2006.
Reflecting on the work ethic of Godolphin’s workers, Godolphin USA farm supervisor Danny Mulvihill mentioned, “Nicely, these guys carry their sport days day by day of the week.”
Apart from Godolphin, different homeowners to marketing campaign a number of Eclipse winners in 2024 included the SF Racing, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing-headed partnership.
Along with Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, they raced Nationwide Treasure, the champion older grime male of 2024. Those self same homeowners, minus Schoenfarber, however plus Dianne Bashor, Decided Stables, and Tom Ryan, personal Citizen Bull, the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male of final 12 months. Bob Baffert is their coach.
SF Racing and Madaket Stables additionally teamed with X-Males Racing to race 2022 Canadian Horse of the 12 months Moira, who grew to become the Eclipse Award-winning feminine turf horse of 2024. Within the fall, she captured the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
As traditional, victories in Breeders’ Cup races Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar carried weight with voters, no matter whether or not horses had quick campaigns or raced sparingly in North America. Not counting steeplechase winner Snap Determination, solely Nationwide Treasure and Idiomatic received Eclipse Awards with out taking a Breeders’ Cup race this previous fall. Idiomatic, who missed the Breeders’ Cup Distaff as a result of damage, prevailed for the second straight 12 months as older grime feminine.
Others to be honored Thursday night time with media Eclipse Awards included NBC Sports activities, Chris McGrath and Sue Finley of Thoroughbred Each day Information, Sean Clancy of The Saratoga Particular, and Scott Serio for his 2024 Charles City Traditional Stakes {photograph} that appeared within the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred.
Mike Gillum was offered with an Eclipse Award because the 2024 Horseplayer of the 12 months.
Frank Taylor and the Secure Restoration Program additionally obtained a particular Eclipse Award for service to the Thoroughbred trade. Taylor and Secure Restoration CEO Christian Countzler have led Secure Restoration and the Taylor Made Faculty of Horsemanship, two applications that work in tandem to take recovering addicts, give them assist, and discover them significant employment within the Thoroughbred racing trade. Taylor obtained a standing ovation.
“We now have graduated 100 women and men from this system, and we reunited over 1,200 relations and saved numerous lives. Let’s maintain this rolling, and God bless you all,” he mentioned.
Thursday’s ceremony, hosted by Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak with Caton Bredar serving because the announcer, started by honoring the reminiscence of the late Ed Bowen, the longtime creator, racing journalist, and script author for the Eclipse Awards because the occasion’s inception in 1971. Bowen was editor-in-chief for The Blood-Horse from 1987-92.
In voting that concluded on Jan. 2, 2025, Eclipse Awards voters forged their ballots to rank the highest three horses and people in every Championship division on a 10-5-1 level system.
This voting established the highest three finalists in every division, whose names had been launched on Jan. 5, 2025.
The tallies under characterize solely first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Each day Racing Kind, and Nationwide Turf Writers And Broadcasters.
Voter participation fee: 208/240 = 87%
(Title, First-Place Votes)
Horse of the 12 months
Thorpedo Anna, 193; Sierra Leone, 10; Fierceness, 5.
Two-12 months-Outdated Male
Citizen Bull, 204; Chancer McPatrick, 2; Henri Matisse, 1; voter abstention, 1.
Two-12 months-Outdated Filly
Immersive, 202; Lake Victoria, 6.
Three-12 months-Outdated Male
Sierra Leone, 169; Fierceness, 34; Dornoch, 2; Seize the Gray, 1; voter abstentions, 2.
Three-12 months-Outdated Filly
Thorpedo Anna, 208.
Older Filth Male
Nationwide Treasure, 148; Full Serrano, 19; Kingsbarns, 7; Senor Buscador, 6; Mullikin, 5; Subsequent, 5; Subsanador, 4; Straight No Chaser, 4; Put up Time, 3; Newgate, 2; voter abstentions, 5.
Older Filth Feminine
Idiomatic, 144; Raging Sea, 38; Adare Manor, 23; Soul of an Angel, 1; Candy Azteca, 1; voter abstention, 1.
Male Sprinter
Straight No Chaser, 125; Cogburn, 38; The Chosen Vron, 23; Mullikin, 11; Raging Torrent, 2; Starlust, 2; Gun Pilot, 1; Locked, 1; Put up Time, 1; voter abstention, 4.
Feminine Sprinter
Soul of an Angel, 168; Candy Azteca, 11; Methods and Means, 10; Society, 8; Ag Bullet, 6, Emery, 2; Kopion, 1; Vahva, 1; voter abstention, 1.
Male Turf Horse
Insurgent’s Romance, 89; Johannes, 81; Carl Spackler, 15; Extra Than Appears, 14; Cogburn, 6; Far Bridge, 2; Trikari, 1.
Feminine Turf Horse
Moira, 176; She Feels Fairly, 21; Cinderella’s Dream, 8; Didia, 1; Gina Romantica, 1; Sacred Want, 1.
Steeplechase Horse
Snap Determination, 182; Carloun, 7; Freddy Flintstone, 3; Too Pleasant, 1; voter abstentions, 15.
Proprietor
Godolphin, 193; Brookdale Racing, Inc., Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks, and Magdalena Racing, 5; Klaravich Stables, 4; Coolmore and Companions, 1; SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, 1. voter abstentions, 4.
Breeder
Godolphin, 176; Judy Hicks, 21; Calumet Farm, 3; Brereton Jones, 2; Coleswood Farm, 1; voter abstentions, 5.
Coach
Chad Brown, 101; Kenny McPeek, 88; Brad Cox, 9; Steve Asmussen, 8; Bob Baffert, 1; voter abstention, 1.
Jockey
Flavien Prat, 202; Irad Ortiz Jr., 5; Brian Hernandez Jr., 1.
Apprentice Jockey
Erik Asmussen, 168; J.G. Torrealba, 15; Gabriel Maldonado, 8; Sofia Vives, 8; Manuel Americano, 1; Pietro Moran, 1; voter abstentions, 7.
