Year in review: These are racing's top stories of 2024
It's time to review the ups and downs in the racing industry in 2024. Rather than trying to choose the top 10 stories, here's a look back at some of the significant developments.
The Triple Crown trail was pretty much a snapshot of the unpredictability of the 3-year-old colt situation. Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby at 18-1 then ran second in the Preakness and eighth in the Belmont before taking off until returning in the Grade 1 Malibu on Thursday, where he finished last. Fierceness came to the Derby in as the favorite but finished 16th, then came back to win the Jim Dandy (G2) and Travers (G1) and run second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Seize the Grey won the Preakness for D. Wayne Lukas but was 1-for-4 since with a victory in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1). Dornoch was the surprise winner of the Belmont Stakes and backed it up by winning the Haskell (G1). He was fourth in the Travers before being retired because of bone bruising. Sierra Leone must have felt like the horse that couldn’t before being redeemed. He was the second choice and runner-up in the Derby, then was close but not close enough, finishing in the money in the Belmont, Jim Dandy and Travers but then winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Speaking of the Breeders’ Cup, there were plenty of other heartwarming results. Thorpedo Anna might not have surprised in winning the Distaff after the defection of Idiomatic, but she sealed her Eclipse Award by finishing the year 6-for-7 with a win in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and a tough second-place effort in the Travers. Cherie DeVaux got her first Breeders’ Cup win with More Than Looks in the Mile, Saffie Joseph Jr. got his first with Soul of an Angel in the Filly & Mare Sprint and Kevin Attard got his first in the Filly & Mare Turf with Moira, the fan favorite who finally got her first Grade 1 win at age 5.
California racing suffered a significant loss in June when the Stronach Group closed Golden Gate Fields, a stage for Thoroughbreds in the San Francisco Bay Area for most of the last 83 years. Horsemen from the north created a new circuit in Pleasanton, but it failed after only one meet. A 27-day calendar attracted barely one-third the handle Golden Gate got last fall, so Golden State Racing decided not to keep going this winter. Two purse reductions during the meet signaled the fate of the venture, which was run by the same people who put on summer races during county fairs.
The picture is not rosy in the south, either. Del Mar and Santa Anita also have witnessed shrinking purses with graded stakes at the bare minimum to keep their classifications. Other than the Breeders’ Cup, the only $1 million races in the state are the Pacific Classic (G1) and the newly rebranded California Crown (G1).
Pimlico had its last day of training Aug. 31 as the 154-year-old track will undergo a $375 million renovation, its first since 1960. A subsidiary of The Stronach Group sold the track for $1 to the state of Maryland while retaining rights to run the Preakness Stakes for three more years. The Preakness is expected to be run at Pimlico in May before it is moved in 2026 and 2027 to Laurel Park, which Stronach intends to sell afterward.
Another Triple Crown race got a new temporary home as the Belmont Stakes was held at Saratoga as part of a four-day racing festival. With the massive project to rebuild Belmont Park getting underway, the third leg of the Triple Crown will be held at Saratoga again in 2025, and the New York Racing Association also is moving its July 4th festival to the upstate track this year. The Belmont Stakes is expected to return to Belmont Park in June 2026 ahead of the full opening of the new building, which is scheduled for September 2026. One of the changes coming to Belmont Park is a one-mile synthetic track, which will be the only surface for winter racing when the track reopens.
Colonial Downs is undergoing a transformation as well, though not a physical project. Track owner Churchill Downs Inc. is expanding its race dates in 2025 to 47 days from 27. And the Virginia Derby will become a Kentucky Derby qualifier, with 50-25-15-10-5 points going to the top five finishers. It will be held March 15 as part of a three-day meet, and the traditional summer meet will run from July 9 to Sept. 13.
All was not well at Woodbine this fall, as the Ontario track canceled the final two races on its Nov. 9 card after two fatal breakdowns during races on its artificial Tapeta track and a third fatality during workouts that morning. Racing was canceled the next day as well, but training resumed a few days later after a thorough review and extensive maintenance.
Tampa Bay Downs had a problem of a different nature, and it occurred ahead of the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) on March 9. Just after the Florida Oaks (G3) was finished, with the Tampa Bay Derby coming up next, the toteboard displaying the amount wagered on the Florida Oaks, the time of day and the top four finishers froze for almost an hour. In the interim, the 10 entrants for the Tampa Bay Derby made their way to the paddock for saddling and then waited much longer than usual before the decision was made to proceed with the race, even though no more wagers could be taken. Track officials also canceled the 12th and final race. Domestic Product won the Tampa Bay Derby, by the way.
Bob Baffert returned to Churchill Downs in November with his first starter since a three-plus-year suspension. Barnes, a 2-year-old colt who sold for $3.2 million, won by a head in a maiden special weight in his debut. With other promising juveniles such as Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull and runner-up Gaming, look for Baffert to be back in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. Owner Amr Zedan took a shot at getting Baffert in the 2024 Derby with Muth. He went to court in a late effort to have the colt declared eligible but was unsuccessful.
With the Baffert situation resolved, Churchill Downs joined with NYRA to sue the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority in December, saying their costs had gotten out of hand illegally and that they had been threatened with a shutdown. CDI and NYRA claimed HISA broke its own rule that racetracks and their operators would be charged a fee based on the number of starts they host in a given year. The lawsuit said fees actually are based 50% on purses and 50% on starts. As a result, big purses at Churchill and New York tracks then have raised fees illegally, according to the lawsuit. HISA said it would “aggressively defend itself against (the suit) filed in the companies’ attempt to avoid paying their fair share of HISA’s fees.”
Several jockey controversies are worth noting. In July, Yuri Yaranga was charged by West Virginia stewards with striking a rival horse at Mountaineer with his crop and served a 10-day suspension. Paco Lopez apologized for striking a horse in the neck with a crop during the gallop-out after a race at Parx. He said he would take a break from racing and seek counseling. And Luan Machado eased his mount at the wrong finish line not once, but twice. In October, he had a big lead before easing his horse approaching the finish at Keeneland He was suspended three days and fined $2,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation. Then in November at Churchill Downs, he and his mount were caught by another runner and lost by a neck after Machado eased his horse. That brought a $1,000 fine.
Horses of note this year include two who made stirring comebacks. Señor Buscador traveled to Saudi Arabia in February with a five-race losing streak, including finishing a neck short in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1). The 6-year-old son of Mineshaft rallied to win the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) by the bob of a head. He’s 0-for-5 since, but still. White Abarrio was the favorite in the Saudi Cup and was riding high after closing 2023 with wins in the Whitney (G1) and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. But he finished 10th in at King Abdulaziz and followed that by finishing fifth of six in the Met Mile (G1). He was a question mark as he was moved from Rick Dutrow to his former trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., and the 5-year-old son of Race Day returned with a 10 1/4-length win in an optional-claiming allowance at Gulfstream Park and then a second in the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector (G3) on Saturday after a slow start.