By Dick Jerardi
The Eclipse Award ballots are due Jan. 2. The “Let’s Go Racing Team” (Dani Gibson, Bruce Casella, and me) all have votes. Some categories are obvious, others less so. I have made most of my choices, but am going to wait to fill out my ballot until after the opening day stakes at Santa Anita (Dec. 26).
Nothing is going to change my Horse of the Year vote. It’s Thorpedo Anna. She raced all year long, won the Kentucky Oaks, won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and is line to be the first H/Y to win a Parx stakes the same year as the award. She was at less than her best in the Cotillion, but, as only the best of the best do, found a way to win despite all that went wrong during the race.
Thorpedo Anna only lost once, but another few yards and she would have caught Fierceness in the Travers. It was, by objective data, her best performance during a year when she was often dominant and always reliable. In a sport of inconsistency, Thorpedo Anna showed up every time and knew the way to the winner’s circle.
The 3-year-old champion is going to be the most debated category regardless of whether Fierceness or Sierra Leone gets the most votes. It is the marquee division. Interestingly, neither of the contenders won a Triple Crown race in three combined tries.
One could make a case for Belmont Stakes and Haskell winner Dornoch because he did win a Triple Crown race. But the colt just had too many no shows for me. Same with Pat Day Mile, Preakness and Pennsylvania Derby winner Seize the Grey.
Speaking of no shows, that is really the difference between Fierceness and Sierra Leone. While Sierra Leone fired in every race, Fierceness did not. In the biggest 3-year-old race of the year, the Kentucky Derby, Sierra Leone lost by a nose while Fierceness, as the favorite, hit a wall in the stretch and finished far back.
Fierceness did finish in front of Sierra Leone in the Jim Dandy and Travers and was the leader in the division heading into the Breeders’ Cup Classic. If Fierceness had finished in front of Sierra Leone again, there is no debate. It’s Fierceness.
But, in the Classic, it was the sustained move of Sierra Leone that carried the day, with Fierceness, after attending a hot pace, showing incredible heart to be a clear second, with Forever Young third.
The Classic was a great race with 3-year-olds finishing 1-2-3, demonstrating not just the strength of the division, but also the weakness of the older horses in 2024. That won’t be the case in 2025 with Sierra Leone, Fierceness and Forever Young all returning as 4-year-olds.
If it’s just wins, Fierceness won the Florida Derby, Jim Dandy and Travers while Sierra Leone won the Risen Star, Blue Grass and BC Classic. That’s a really close call.
But it should also be about consistent performance. Sierra Leone was seven months between wins, but he gave a big effort every time he ran. He ran in Louisiana, Kentucky, New York and California, all in major stakes, was never worse than third and never far back at the finish.
Fierceness raced in Florida, Kentucky, New York and California, also in major stakes. But the dull efforts in the Derby and the Holy Bull, when third in a very slow race, were just enough to send me Sierra Leone’s way.
Would not be surprised to see them battling again in the stretch of the 2025 BC Classic at Del Mar, with Horse of the Year on the line.
As to the humans, regular viewers of LGR have been watching us explain the rare talents of Flavien Prat for years. The jockey dominated the Southern California scene, but knew if he wanted to get a chance to ride the best horses for the best barns in the biggest races, he needed to move to New York.
All he did in 2024 was break Irad Ortiz’s record for most stakes wins (new record of 80) and tie (with a few chances to break) Jerry Bailey’s record 55 graded stakes wins. Prat is a lock to win his first Eclipse Award as champion jockey.
As good as Prat was and he was great this year, the dominant human was Ken McPeek. Yes, he became the first trainer since 1952 to win the Oaks and Derby (Mystik Dan by a nose) in the same year. Yes, he kept Thorpedo Anna going all year. Yes, he had the best year of his career.
But, more than anything, McPeek found a way to share all of it with the racing fans through videos he shot and countless interviews he gave. It was a wonderful example of how to be a part of a big story and make it even bigger. It was very similar to how Parx Hall of Fame trainer John Servis handled everything 20 years during the midst of Smarty Jones mania – all class all the time.
McPeek went over 2,000 winners early in 2024. He won all those big races this year with the same types of horses he’s always won with – off brand, pedigrees that often end up in claiming races, overachievers.
Chad Brown’s powerhouse stable won the most money and the most graded stakes. He may very well win another Eclipse Award as top trainer for those reasons. He obviously is terrific.
But, to me, 2024 was the Year of Ken McPeek. So he will get my vote as Trainer of the Year.
