It wasn’t quite as dramatic as any come-from-behind victory by Silky Sullivan, Vigors or Zenyatta, but California horses collectively summoned a stirring rally in 2024.
After failing to win a single Eclipse Award in 2023, thoroughbreds who raced at Santa Anita and Del Mar beat expectations and deserve to win as many as four national divisional championships for 2024 when the honors are announced at a Jan. 23 dinner in Palm Beach, Fla.
Voting by racing journalists and executives ended Thursday. Here are the first-, second- and third-place choices on my ballot in 17 equine and human categories, including the Horse of the Year title that was decided in the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in November.
Older male on dirt
1. National Treasure, 2. Highland Falls, 3. Full Serrano
The Bob Baffert trainee lost his only home-track race at Santa Anita, but 4-year-old National Treasure’s two Grade I wins elsewhere with jockey Flavien Prat led the division.
Older female on dirt
1. Idiomatic, 2. Raging Sea, 3. Adare Manor
It should be a repeat championship for 5-year-old Idiomatic even though her season ended before the Breeders’ Cup.
Male on turf
1. Johannes, 2. Rebel’s Romance, 3. Carl Spackler
Four-year-old Johannes embodied sustained excellence with five graded stakes wins at Santa Anita and Del Mar under Umberto Rispoli and a sharp second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Female on turf
1. Moira, 2. Cinderella’s Dream, 3. She Feels Pretty
Moira, a 5-year-old mare from Canada, capped her best season by winning the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf under Prat.
Male sprinter
1. The Chosen Vron, 2. Straight No Chaser, 3. Cogburn
The Chosen Vron defended his 2023 California-bred Horse of the Year title by winning five straight stakes at Santa Anita and Del Mar with jockey Hector Berrios, giving the 6-year-old gelding the nod over Santa Anita-based Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Straight No Chaser.
Female sprinter
1. Soul of an Angel, 2. Ways and Means, 3. Society
Jockey Drayden Van Dyke got 5-year-old Soul of an Angel home from sixth in mid-stretch to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at 19-1.
3-year-old male
1. Sierra Leone, 2. Fierceness, 3. Mystik Dan
Sierra Leone and Prat had the last word in a season-long scramble for this championship, getting past Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
3-year-old female
1. Thorpedo Anna, 2. She Feels Pretty, 3. Cinderella’s Dream
Thorpedo Anna’s convincing win over elders in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff completed a season only barely blemished by a photo-finish loss to Fierceness when she challenged males in the Travers.
2-year-old male
1. Citizen Bull, 2. Chancer McPatrick, 3. East Avenue
Winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at 15-1 with jockey Martin Garcia — and the American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita before that — Citizen Bull should be Baffert’s seventh 2-year-old champion.
2-year-old female
1. Immersive, 2. Lake Victoria, 3. Scottish Lassie
Immersive, the unbeaten Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, and Idiomatic can give trainer Brad Cox two champions.
Steeplechase horse
1. Snap Decision, 2. L’Imperator, 3. Jimmy P
Ten-year-old Snap Judgment won the American Grand National on his fourth try to earn this niche division title.
Horse of the Year
1. Thorpedo Anna, 2. Sierra Leone, 3. Fierceness
There should be no argument. No other horse dominated a division, all year and all over the country, the way the 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna did.
Jockey
1. Flavien Prat, 2. Brian Hernandez Jr., 3. Irad Ortiz Jr.
The French-born Prat, who calls Southern California home and begins each year at Santa Anita, won two Breeders’ Cup races and set American records for graded-stakes victories, and can’t be denied his first Eclipse Award.
Apprentice jockey
1. Erik Asmussen, 2. J.G. Torrealba, 3. Francisco Martinez
Asmussen, 22, is son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and nephew of 1979 apprentice-jockey champion Cash Asmussen.
Trainer
1. Ken McPeek, 2. Chad Brown, 3. Bob Baffert
To the rare feat of winning the Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna and the Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan, McPeek can add the achievement of training separate horses to a Horse of the Year title and a Derby triumph in the same season.
Owner
1. SF Racing, Madaket Stables, et al, 2. Godolphin, 3. Brookdale RAcing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing
The top choice owns — in various partnerships — potential champions National Treasure, Moira and Citizen Bull.
Breeder
1. Godolphin, 2. Judy Hicks, 3. Peter Blum Thoroughbreds
Only perennial champion Godolphin can top what Hicks experienced when the product of the mating of the unraced dam Sataves with the low-priced sire Fast Anna turned out to be Thorpedo Anna.
It was a rough year in many other ways for the California racing industry.
But thanks to Johannes, The Chosen Vron, National Treasure, Citizen Bull and more, 2024 was a bounce-back year for California racehorses.
Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti.