Here comes 2025, so it’s time to revisit racing’s biggest moments in 2024.
JANUARY
Cody’s Wish, Coglianese Photo.
The coronation of Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish, spirit animal of the late, beloved Cody Dorman, completes a feel-good saga at the Eclipse Awards ceremony. Besides Cody’s Wish, Hall of Famer Bill Mott trained champions Elite Power and Just F Y I and got his fourth Eclipse. Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. earned his record-tying fifth.
Two days later at Gulfstream Park, 2023 Preakness hero National Treasure held off Senor Buscador by a neck in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup.
FEBRUARY
Senor Buscador, at odds of 13-1, made up for his near miss in the Pegasus by surging from far back to edge Japan star Ushba Tesoro by a head in the world’s richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup. A finish for the ages produced a $161.80 exacta for the aged, with a 6-year-old catching a 7-year-old.
MARCH
Laurel River crushed the $12 million Dubai World Cup, leading throughout 1¼ miles in an 8½-length runaway at Meydan Racecourse. Ushba Tesoro and Senor Buscador were second and third.
APRIL
The final Kentucky Derby preps were won by Sierra Leone (Blue Grass), Muth (Arkansas Derby), Stronghold (Santa Anita Derby) and Resilience (Wood Memorial). Sierra Leone was nosed out on the first Saturday in May, when Resilience (sixth) and Stronghold (seventh) were far back and Muth was ineligible because of Bob Baffert’s suspension.
All-time great Frankie Dettori revived his career by moving from England to California. His 2024 highlight was April 6, when he rode six winners before losing by a neck in the Santa Anita Derby.
MAY
Thorpedo Anna. Coady Photo.
Trainer Kenny McPeek and rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. pulled off the first Kentucky Oaks-Kentucky Derby double since 1952. Their filly Thorpedo Anna won easily, and 18-1 shot Mystik Dan lasted by two noses over Sierra Leone and Japan’s Forever Young in the first three-way Derby photo since 1947. Although Sierra Leone interfered with Forever Young throughout the stretch, there was no stewards’ inquiry.
Father Time may be undefeated, but 88-year-old D. Wayne Lukas defied him at muddy Pimlico. The ageless trainer earned his seventh Preakness trophy as young Jaime Torres wired the field on 9-1 Seize the Grey. Mystik Dan was second, so for the sixth straight year there would be no Triple Crown sweep.
JUNE
With Belmont Park under construction, the Triple Crown finale moved to Saratoga, where the inaugural Belmont Stakes Festival was a smash hit on and off track. In the big race, 17-1 shot Dornoch rebounded from a Derby flop to outduel Mindframe by a half-length. Total wagering for the four-day bash was $197.4 million, and local hotels, restaurants and merchants reaped a bonanza estimated at more than $50 million.
Once again trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore dominated Royal Ascot, England’s “Greatest Show on Turf.” They collaborated for six wins at the five-day meeting, which O’Brien and Moore led for the 13th and 11th time, respectively. Among their Group 1 winners were Auguste Rodin and Kyprios.
A few weeks earlier, O’Brien and Moore scored in the 245th Epsom Derby, O’Brien’s 10th victory in the 1½-mile “Blue Riband of the Turf.”
JULY
Mindframe challenged Dornoch at Monmouth Park in the Haskell, with the same result as the Belmont. Dornoch passed 4-5 favorite Mindframe near the sixteenth pole and won by 1¼ lengths.
Churchill Downs rescinded Baffert’s three-year suspension. The six-time Kentucky Derby winner hadn’t raced there since 2021, when his colt Medina Spirit finished first in the Derby but later was disqualified for a medication violation.
AUGUST
Fierceness. NYRA Photo.
The Travers Stakes, the centerpiece of the Saratoga meet, was even more compelling as a Battle of the Sexes matching superstar filly Thorpedo Anna and reigning 2-year-old champion Fierceness. The colt proved he could run two big races back-to-back and held off the Amazon princess by a diminishing head. Doubts about whether either could stay 1¼ miles were unfounded.
SEPTEMBER
Kentucky Downs kept going from strength to strength. Full fields (average of 10.89 horses) and huge purses drew top grass runners from around the country and even some from Europe. Almost all of America’s elite trainers and riders showed up at the undulating, kidney-shaped turf course near the Tennessee border. Handle at the seven-day boutique meet, which staged 18 stakes, was a record $90.18 million, up 8% from 2023.
OCTOBER
Bluestocking thrived on Longchamp’s soft turf in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for English trainer Ralph Beckett. The 4-year-old daughter of Camelot, ridden by Irishman Rossa Ryan, was the ninth filly in the past 16 years to win Europe’s most prestigious race.
NOVEMBER
The marquee events at the 41st Breeders’ Cup were the Classic and the Distaff, whose outcomes at Del Mar would determine Horse of the Year. Would it be Thorpedo Anna or Fierceness?
Thorpedo Anna, as expected, ruled the Distaff, but Fierceness fell short by 1½ lengths despite a game effort in the Classic. He ran second to Sierra Leone, who finished far ahead of him in the Derby but behind him in the Jim Dandy and Travers.
It will be a close election for the 3-year-old male Eclipse, but expect Thorpedo Anna to be voted the first female Horse of the Year since Havre de Grace in 2011.
Sierra Leone’s Classic was one of 15 Grade 1 victories for Chad Brown, a heavy favorite for his fifth Eclipse. Brown won 47 stakes and led the nation with more than $30 million in earnings. He called Sierra Leone’s Classic “my most significant accomplishment” in 18 years as a trainer.
A favorite and a huge longshot got the money in two of the world’s most important international races. Robbie Dolan, riding for the first time in Australia’s Melbourne Cup, scored on 80-1 shot Knight’s Choice in “The Race That Stops a Nation.” In Tokyo, Do Deuce (9-5) went from last to first in the $6.2 million Japan Cup.
DECEMBER
Transplanted French rider Flavien Plat had a career year, setting records for stakes wins (81) and graded stakes victories (56), surpassing Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Jerry Bailey, respectively. Prat will get his first Eclipse.
Uncle Mo, the 2010 2-year-old champion and world-class sire, was euthanized Dec. 19 after suffering complications from foreleg surgery.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) suspended Paco Lopez indefinitely for whipping a horse on the neck and side of the head after it bore out dramatically in the stretch of a race it won at Parx.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
