The year put forth by jockey Flavien Prat in 2024 was nothing short of sensational.
In addition to his highly publicized single-season stakes records, Prat led all North American jockeys in purse money won by his mounts with a total of $37,274,176. That figure topped his previous best from 2022 by about $7.5 million and gave him a sizeable $4.3 million lead over Irad Ortiz Jr. in the standings.
The French jockey, who turned 32 in August, has seen his success grow since relocating to the United States in 2015. It didn't take long for Prat to make an imapct, finishing 11th by earnings in 2016 and remaining in the top 11 since. He has finished in the top five in five of the last six years and has now completed three consecutive years in the top three.
Prat's successful season can be largely attributed to his willingness to travel, riding at 20 different racetracks throughout 2024. Keeping himself based in California, New York, and Kentucky at different points in the season has helped build connections with trainers across the country; relationships that have put Prat in contention for his first Eclipse Award.
In 2024, Prat scored in 16 grade 1 competitions and broke Jerry Bailey's single-season graded stakes win record, which the Hall of Fame rider held since 2003, with 56 victories. An additional 26 ungraded stakes brought Prat's stakes total to 82, topping Ortiz Jr.'s 79 stakes-win record in 2022. Overall he won 230 races, the third-highest of his career, from a career high 1,040 mounts.
"He's a very veratile jockey," said trainer Chad Brown. "We've been working very well together as we do more together. He was a big part of our great year that we had in 2024. He's very talented, he's very intelligent and he's got a tremendous work ethic. Now he's taking his buisness coast-to-coast where he's the top choice in a lot of the top barns."
Brown himself is a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation's leading trainer, topping the 2024 leaderboard with over $30.8 million in earnings. Brown trained half of Prat's 16 grade 1 winners, including Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Sierra Leone.
Prat picked up the mount on Sierra Leone ahead of the June 8 Belmont Stakes (G1), a month after the colt's erratic stretch run potentially cost him a victory in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Despite Prat not attaining a victory aboard the colt in his first three attempts, all graded stakes placings at Saratoga Race Course, his persistence with the horse resulted in victory on North America's richest stage: the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic.
"He took over at a time when we were still working on some issues with the horse, lugging in and such," Brown said. "He also took him over at a time that, in hindsight, (Sierra Leone) clearly disliked. Nethertheless, he worked with the horse and, as a team when it came time for the Classic, everyone was on the same page—trainer, jockey, horse. It all culminated in the biggest win."
Prat also rode 2-year-old colt Chancer McPatrick to a pair of grade 1 victories for Brown, as well as earning top-level victories aboard 3-year-old sprinters Domestic Product and Ways and Means, distaffer Raging Sea, and turf runners Program Trading and Whitebeam.
"I found him to be very effective on all types of horses that we have in our barn," Brown said. "It's a good match because we have a very versatile stable and he seems to adapt to all horses: turf, dirt, long, short; young inexperienced horses all the way to veteran horses that have form that he picks up for the first time and keeps moving forward."
All but two of the aforementioned Brown runners picked up a grade 1 win at historic Saratoga, where Prat set single-season records of 18 stakes wins, 14 graded stakes, and seven grade 1s.
Other notable victories for Prat came aboard National Treasure in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and Metropolitan Handicap (G1) and Moira in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T).
Prat's main competition for the Eclipse Award comes from Ortiz Jr., who has won the award in five of the last six years and is a finalist for the honor again along with Tyler Gaffalione. Although his two-year streak atop the earnings leaderboard came to an end in 2024, finishing second with $32,963,380, the 32-year-old's 327 wins led all North American jockeys for the eighth straight year. Only the legendary Russell Baze has led the win standings more, having done so 13 times in his career.
Ortiz Jr. also became the first jockey to win 300 races for 10 straight years since Ramon Dominguez did so from 2003-12. Baze holds the record with 19 straight 300-win seasons from 1992-2010.
"It's amazing for his age that he's been able to maintain this level of consistency," said Brown, who was the winning trainer for 11 of Ortiz Jr.'s 34 graded victories. "He has an enormous amount of ability, intelligence, and work ethic. He's taken good care of himself physically. He takes good care of himself, he's always been very healthy. More often than not, he gets the job done."
It was also a historic year for jockey Joel Rosario. Not only was he honored with an induction to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in August, but his $15,677,549 in purse earnings for 2024 secured his status as the first jockey in history to amass $15 million in purses for 15 consecutive years (2010-24).
Leading the way for apprentice jockeys by wins and earnings was Erik Asmussen. The youngest son of North America's all-time winningest trainer, Steve, Asmussen rode 127 winners from 793 starts while accumulating purse earnings of $5,078,150.
