During an evening celebrating excellence in North American Thoroughbred racing, a star filly, as expected, was the culminating focus of attention at the 54th annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards ceremony Jan. 23 at The Breakers Palm Beach. Following a near-perfect campaign in 2024, Thorpedo Anna, the brilliant 3-year-old filly of last year, shot to victory as the unanimous choice for champion in that category, and she easily outpolled her counterparts for the most coveted prize in racing: Horse of the Year.
The Horse of the Year announcement that came Thursday evening at the posh South Florida hotel was hardly a surprise, but when her name was called as 2024 Horse of the Year by National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Tom Rooney, it was no less appreciated by those in attendance. The sell-out crowd of 500 for the black-tie event clapped in approval for Thorpedo Anna, who became just the seventh female horse to win the award and the first since Havre de Grace in 2011. She and Rachel Alexandra in 2009 are the only ones to take the award as 3-year-old fillies.
Propelled by victories in races such as the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) and by a near-miss, second-place finish to Fierceness in the Travers Stakes (G1)—she outpolled fellow 3-year-olds of 2024, the males Sierra Leone and Fierceness on a 193-10-5 basis to earn her place among the elite equines to have been named Horse of the Year.
Owners Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks, and Magdalena Racing continue to race the daughter of Fast Anna under the direction of trainer Kenny McPeek. She is currently in training in Florida toward a campaign as a 4-year-old.
Hicks, who bred the filly, said Thorpedo Anna's success was the "culmination of so many things," from breeding to upbringing, sales, and racing.
She thanked "last but not least, Kenny McPeek for his unseen, keen eye of seeing her untappable talent and to the fan base who followed her from coast to coast."
"We are privileged to have the Horse of the Year, Thorpedo Anna," she concluded, hoisting the Horse of the Year trophy over her head.
"It's been a fantastic ride, and it's only started," McPeek said moments earlier.
This year's Travers Stakes featured all three Horse of the Year participants, though the winner of that contest, Fierceness, was outvoted by a 169-to-34 total by Sierra Leone for the 3-year-old male championship, with voters swayed by the latter's performance in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) when he rallied past Fierceness down the Del Mar stretch.
One of his owners, Peter Brant, expressed appreciation for Sierra Leone for "providing us with one of the greatest thrills of my life" in capturing the Classic.
It was another race for 3-year-olds, the Preakness Stakes (G1) that earned the FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year, a distinction determined by fan voting, in which MyRacehorse's Seize the Grey , trained by legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas, upset Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan.
However, Sierra Leone's Breeders' Cup Classic-winning jockey, Flavien Prat, and the colt's trainer, Chad Brown, would earn Eclipse Awards after both topped their respective categories by North American earnings. It was the fifth Eclipse Award for Brown and the first for Prat, who shifted his spring-through-fall base from California to the East beginning in 2022.
Brown edged McPeek by a 101-88 margin in the closest tally of the human Eclipse categories.
"Well, I was far from certain from being up here tonight. So that can only mean one thing: I finally beat Kenny McPeek in a photo," Brown quipped, a reference to the McPeek-trained Mystik Dan nipping his trainee, Sierra Leone, by a nose in the Derby.
A record-setting season for the rider, who surpassed Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey's single-season graded stakes-winning mark by winning 56 such races in 2024, resulted in him outpolling Irad Ortiz Jr., a five-time Eclipse Award winner and the winningest jockey of last year with 328 victories.
Erik Asmussen was honored as outstanding apprentice of 2024. His parents, Julie Asmussen and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, wiped away tears as their son spoke after accepting his trophy.
"I mean, this game means everything to me. Thank you to my family. I got the best group around me," Erik said, his voice cracking. "Most importantly, just thank you to the horses."
Eclipse Award ballots were cast by 87% of eligible voters of the NTRA (consisting of member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel), the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and Daily Racing Form. Finalists were determined by voters' top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.
Though most winners were among many foregone conclusions at the ceremony, the outcomes of at least several divisions remained in doubt until the envelopes announcing the winners were opened. Still, there were no surprises.
Breeders' Cup victories catapulted Soul of an Angel and Straight No Chaser to Eclipse awards as female sprinter and male sprinter, respectively.
Speaking of Soul of an Angel, co-owner Mark Martinez of Agave Racing Stable said of her after she competed 11 times last year and 42 times over her career, "I know I'm a little biased, but this is a throwback mare," he said.
World traveler Rebel's Romance prevailed in 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 in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T).
Rebel's Romance and Immersive, the champion 2-year-old filly, were two champions for Godolphin in 2024. The global breeding and racing operation also captured Eclipse titles as owner and breeder for the fourth straight year.
The Sheikh Mohammed-founded Godolphin set another record for the most Eclipse titles earned with this year's awards, raising its total to 13 under the Godolphin and Darley banners since 2006.
Reflecting on the work ethic of Godolphin's staff, Godolphin USA farm manager Danny Mulvihill said, "Well, these guys bring their game days every day of the week."
Besides Godolphin, other owners to campaign multiple Eclipse winners in 2024 included the SF Racing, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing-headed partnership.
Together with Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, they raced National Treasure , the champion older dirt male of 2024. Those same owners, minus Schoenfarber, but plus Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, and Tom Ryan, own Citizen Bull, the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male of last year. Bob Baffert is their trainer.
SF Racing and Madaket Stables also teamed with X-Men Racing to race 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year Moira, who became the Eclipse Award-winning female turf horse of 2024. In the fall, she captured the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T).
As usual, victories in Breeders' Cup races Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar carried weight with voters, irrespective of whether horses had short campaigns or raced sparingly in North America. Not counting steeplechase winner Snap Decision, only National Treasure and Idiomatic won Eclipse Awards without taking a Breeders' Cup race this past fall. Idiomatic, who missed the Breeders' Cup Distaff due to injury, prevailed for the second straight year as older dirt female.
Others to be honored Thursday night with media Eclipse Awards included NBC Sports, Chris McGrath and Sue Finley of Thoroughbred Daily News, Sean Clancy of The Saratoga Special, and Scott Serio for his 2024 Charles Town Classic Stakes (G2) photograph that appeared in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred.
Mike Gillum was presented with an Eclipse Award as the 2024 Horseplayer of the Year.
Frank Taylor and the Stable Recovery Program also received a special Eclipse Award for service to the Thoroughbred industry. Taylor and Stable Recovery CEO Christian Countzler have led Stable Recovery and the Taylor Made School of Horsemanship, two programs that work in tandem to take recovering addicts, give them support, and find them meaningful employment in the Thoroughbred racing industry. Taylor received a standing ovation.
"We have graduated 100 men and women from the program, and we reunited over 1,200 family members and saved countless lives. Let's keep this rolling, and God bless you all," he said.
Thursday's ceremony, hosted by Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak with Caton Bredar serving as the announcer, began by honoring the memory of the late Ed Bowen, the longtime author, racing journalist, and script writer for the Eclipse Awards since the event's inception in 1971. Bowen was editor-in-chief for The Blood-Horse from 1987-92.
