Eclipse Awards: Thorpedo Anna is horse of the year 2024

Thorpedo Anna had her five Grade 1 victories including her triumphs in the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders' Cup Distaff rewarded Thursday night when she was named horse of the year at the 54th annual Eclipse Awards at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

"It's been a fantastic ride, and it's only just started," trainer Kenny McPeek said. "She's going to keep running."

Thorpedo Anna was the first female to win the award since Havre de Grace 11 years ago. She also was the unanimous choice as the champion 3-year-old filly of 2024.

Here were the vote totals in each category:

This was how the one-hour, 52-minute show was blogged live, shown from the end to the beginning.

9:22 p.m. EST. Sierra Leone, whose Grade 1 wins came in the Blue Grass and Breeders' Cup Classic, was honored as the top 3-year-old male over fellow finalists Dornoch and Fierceness. Each horse won two Grade 1 races in 2024. Sierra Leone never finished off the board.

9:17 p.m. EST. National Treasure, who began his year for trainer Bob Baffert by winning the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and added a victory in the Met Mile (G1) was voted the top older dirt male.

9:13 p.m. EST. Rebel's Romance, a four-time top-level winner, was named the top turf male in what will be a debated outcome. Trained by Charlie Appleby, Rebel's Romance raced only once in the U.S., finishing first in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Johannes, who went 5-for-6 in the U.S. with a Grade 1 win in the Shoemaker Mile and a second in the Breeders' Cup Mile, was denied.

9:10 p.m. Citizen Bull, who went 3-for-4 with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile for the SF Racing partnership and Bob Baffert, was voted the champion 2-year-old male. It was announced the trophy would be given to Bob and Lucy Liewald, Starlight Racing partners who lost their house in the Los Angeles County wildfires this month.

9:06 p.m. Mike Gillum of Indianapolis formally received his honor as horseplayer of the year. He won the award in March by winning the National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas.

9:03 p.m. Straight No Chaser, owned by 953 partners in MyRacehorse, was voted the top male sprinter despite racing only three times last year. His two victories included the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

8:59 p.m. Jockey Flavien Prat was a record-setting champion in 2024. He earned his first with an unprecedented 56 graded victories and a total of 82 stakes triumphs, including his ride on Sierra Leone in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

8:52 p.m. Chad Brown won his fifth trophy as champion trainer, his first since 2019. He led all trainers in earnings with wins in 15 Grade 1s and 47 graded stakes. "I finally beat Ken McPeek in a photo," Brown said, referring to his narrow loss with Sierra Leone to McPeek's Mystik Dan in Kentucky Derby 2024.

8:49 p.m. Now the show begins. Most of the awards so far could have been predicted with morning lines of 1-9. Six of the last nine will be worthy of debates over cocktails after the show. Speaking of which, it has gone quickly. Almost too quickly. Commercial-free is all fine and good, but a little breathing room would not be the worst thing in the world.

8:47 p.m. Media Eclipse Awards were presented formally to NBC Sports twice and once each to Chris McGrath of Thoroughbred Daily News, Sean Clancy of The Saratoga Special, Scott Serio of Eclipse Sportswire and Sue Finley of TDN.

8:44 p.m. Frank Taylor and the Stable Recovery Program were honored with a special Eclipse Award for service to the Thoroughbred industry. "I thank God for giving us the horse, which has amazing healing powers for all men and women," Taylor said. He and CEO Christian Countzler "are the driving force behind Stable Recovery and the Taylor Made school of horsemanship, two programs that work in tandem to take recovering addicts, give them the ongoing support they need and find them meaningful employment in the Thoroughbred racing industry," the NTRA said in a news release two weeks ago.

8:38 p.m. Godolphin won the for the fifth year in a row as champion owner and the fourth consecutive year as top breeder.

8:27 p.m. In the most obvious victory of Thursday evening, Thorpedo Anna was named the top 3-year-old filly on the strength of her five Grade 1 victories.

8:22 p.m. Undefeated with three Grade 1 wins, Immersive used her victories in the Spinaway, Alcibiades and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies to make her case as the top 2-year-old filly of 2024.

8:18 p.m. EST. Erik Asmussen, 22, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, earned the honor as champion apprentice jockey. He won the riding title at Lone Star Park, the launch pad for his 127 wins in 2024. "I get emotional talking about it," Asmussen said, fighting back tears. "This game means everything to me."

8:13 p.m. Soul of an Angel, who was a three-time graded-stakes winner who took the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, was honored as the top female sprinter.

8:08 p.m. Moira, a Sovereign Award winner as Canada's top horse of 2023, was chosen as the female-turf champion on the strength of her wins in the Beverly D. (G2) and the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

8:03 p.m. Snap Decision was named the champion steeplechase horse. The 10-year-old was a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2024.

8:01 p.m. Idiomatic repeated as the older dirt-female champion over finalists Adare Manor and Raging Sea. She had two wins and two close seconds in Grade 1 races in 2024. Her season ended after she took the Spinster (G1) at Keeneland. She was unable to race in the Breeders' Cup Distaff because of a diagnosis of lameness in late October.

7:57 p.m. Fierceness, Sierra Leone and Thorpedo Anna were introduced as the finalists for horse of the year.

7:55 p.m. Seize the Grey's victory in the Preakness Stakes was honored as the moment of the year as voted by racing fans. "What a joy to be around this horse and what he meant to so many people," trainer D. Wayne Lukas said in a recorded video.

7:47 p.m. The dedication of the show was made to the late Ed Bowen. A longtime journalist, historian and contributor to the Keeneland Library, Bowen, 82, died Monday in Versailles, Ky.

7:42 p.m. The show begins with the microphone working for Lindsay Czarniak and not so much for Britney Eurton.

7:31 p.m. Caton Bredar, in her role as show announcer, admonished winners to limit their comments to one minute and one person per horse. She pointed out the average attention span for anyone watching shows like these is eight seconds. Because of the last race coming at Santa Anita, the show will start at about 7:40 p.m.

7:13 p.m. Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin paid tribute to Bowen. "He was just such an incredible and kind man and so wise," she said, later adding, "I don't think we have many like him anymore, and we're really, really going to miss him."

7:10 p.m. Because all times are EST around here. I am monitoring as you may be via the video feed, wondering if there are any late races that could pop up during the show. Maybe they should have betting windows at The Breakers. This is my first time since COVID being absent from the Eclipse Awards. Health concerns have curtailed my travel, but not my laptop.

Seventeen trophies were handed out to horses and humans whose championships were voted on by media members, publicists, racing officials and unnamed voters via the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters and Daily Racing Form. Only the NTRA reveals its voters and their ballots after the awards are presented.

The three finalists in each category were based on a points system of 5-3-1 for first-, second- and third-place votes. Only first-place votes, however, were counted for the championships themselves.

These were the finalists:

2-year-old male: Chancer McPatrick, Citizen Bull, Gaming.

2-year-old filly: Good Cheer, Immersive, Lake Victoria.

3-year-old male: Dornoch, Fierceness, Sierra Leone.

3-year-old filly: Cinderella’s Dream, She Feels Pretty, Thorpedo Anna.

Older dirt male: Full Serrano, National Treasure, Straight No Chaser.

Older dirt female: Adare Manor, Idiomatic, Raging Sea.

Male sprinter: Cogburn, Straight No Chaser, The Chosen Vron.

Female sprinter: Society, Soul of an Angel, Ways and Means.

Male turf horse: Carl Spackler, Johannes, Rebel’s Romance.

Female turf horse: Cinderella’s Dream, Moira, She Feels Pretty.

Steeplechase horse: Carloun, L’Imperator, Snap Decision.

Owner: Godolphin, Juddmonte, Klaravich Stables.

Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin, Judy Hicks.

Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Kenny McPeek.

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione, Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat.

Apprentice jockey: Erik Asmussen, Gabriel Maldonado, J.G. Torrealba.