What a year. From powerhouse older horses throwing down in the biggest Grade 1s to a juvenile crop that already looks like it wants to run the sport for the next decade, 2029 gave us a little bit of everything: star turns, divisional grudges, and a few “how are they still improving?” campaigns. These mini awards are my Horse-of-the-Year-style love letter to the season, based solely on the stakes results so it’s all about who showed up when it mattered and who kept doing it more than once.
| Horse |
Stakes wins |
Winning races (short list) |
| Esplanade |
3 |
G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, G1 The Black Breeders’ Stakes, G2 Lonesome Glory |
| Sigma Iotia |
3 |
G2 Planet Hollywood, G2 Silver Slipper, Ungr. Three Chimneys Juvenile |
| About A Boy |
3 |
G1 BC SC Endurance, G3 Bay Shore, G3 Silverton |
| Kallias |
2 |
G1 BC SC Classic, G2 Bowling Green |
| Heza Manic |
2 |
G1 Donn, G3 Fort Marcy |
| Sushi |
2 |
G1 Mackinnon, G2 Strub |
| Grand Larceny |
2 |
G2 Pat O’Brien, G2 Whimsical |
| Prosecco |
2 |
G1 Beverly D., G3 Fire de Flame |
| Lysandra |
2 |
G1 Eclipse, Ungr. Pro Or Con |
| Gleaming War |
2 |
G1 BC Filly & Mare Sprint, Ungr. Survive |
| Exs and Ohs |
2 |
G3 Townsend Holly, Ungr. Osunitas |
| Life and Death |
2 |
G2 Seabiscuit, G3 Graduation |
| National Velvet |
2 |
G1 BC SC Distaff Endurance, G3 Shirley Jones |
| Squall Line |
2 |
G1 Del Mar Futurity, G3 Dante |
| Melbourne |
2 |
G3 Tokyo City Cup, G3 Queen’s Country |
The Mini Awards
Decided to give our horses their own “titles” out of just our stable for our end of year bragging post haha. Big points for Grade 1 wins, multiple stakes wins, and winning at the end of the year when the spotlight is the brightest. That said, consistency matters too: a horse who stacks stakes wins across the calendar (or keeps hitting the board in major company) deserves their flowers, even if they weren’t the flashiest name every single week.
2YO Dirt
Champion 2YO Dirt Colt: Sigma Iotia
The juvenile who never blinked. Multiple stakes wins, kept turning up in the big spots, and stacked top-three finishes all season — the kind of 2yo campaign that feels like a preview of something scary at three.
Champion 2YO Dirt Filly: Star Thief
Didn’t have the easiest path, but she kept landing on the biggest stages — including a Breeders’ Cup board hit — and that kind of class + consistency is what earns the title.
2YO Turf
Champion 2YO Turf Colt: Life and Death
Two turf stakes wins and a late-season Grade 1 placing gave him the most complete grass résumé of the juveniles. When the turf got testing, he still showed up.
3YO Dirt
Champion 3YO Dirt Colt: Alexander Malcom
He grabbed a graded stakes win early (Gr. 2 San Domenio) and kept himself relevant the rest of the season with additional graded form. In a division that didn’t have one runaway king, Alexander Malcom’s résumé reads the most like a true “3yo dirt colt champion” campaign.
Champion 3YO Dirt Filly: Gabrielle
A Grade 1 statement in the Sunshine Millions Oaks puts her right on top of the sophomore filly dirt class. She earned it the old-fashioned way: winning when it mattered.
3YO Turf
Champion 3YO Turf Colt: Miami
Miami put together the deepest 3yo turf profile in this list — a stakes win plus multiple graded placings, capped by a Grade 1 board hit late.
Champion 3YO Turf Filly: Minaudiere
If you’re handing out trophies for “showed up in every major room,” this is your filly. Multiple Grade 1 placings (and not just once) made her the most credible turf sophomore filly across the year.
Older Dirt
Champion Older Dirt Stallion: Esplanade
The big-horse division ran through him. A Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup and a Grade 1 year-end closer, with another stakes win in between — that’s a championship résumé.
Champion Older Dirt Mare: Lestrange
The year-end Grade 1 win was the headline, but the body of work was the real flex — repeatedly turning in top-class efforts against the toughest older mares on the calendar.
Older Turf
Champion Older Turf Stallion: Dictionary
A Grade 1 turf win on the résumé is hard to argue with, and Dictionary paired it with additional top-level form that held up across the season. Classy and dependable.
Champion Older Turf Mare: Lysandra
Two wins on the grass — including a monster performance that proved she could handle open company — made Lysandra the “trust her anywhere” turf mare of the year.
Steeplechase (SC)
Champion SC Stallion: About A Boy
Three stakes wins plus major placings at the top level — he wasn’t just good, he was the standard. Durable, versatile, and constantly in the thick of it.
Champion SC Mare: National Velvet
A Grade 1 championship win and another stakes victory, with elite company form around them — National Velvet owned the SC mare division when it counted.
Honorable mentions (because this year had depth): Esplanade for a monster older-dirt résumé (G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup + G1 The Black Breeders’ Stakes + G2 Lonesome Glory), Prosecco for top-class turf mare brilliance (G1 Beverly D. + G3 Fire de Flame), Sushi for repeatedly knocking on the door at the very top (including 2nd in the G1 Whitney), and Life and Death for stacking juvenile turf credentials all year (then finishing it off with more late-season graded form). And of course, a special nod to the babies: Monochromatic running 2nd in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Star Thief grabbing 3rd in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and our Horse of the Year Sigma Iotia putting a bow on an ultra-consistent campaign with a G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile 3rd to go with those multiple stakes wins.
definitely fewer races than in this past and previous year. Didn’t breed any mares, and returned from my “gap year” after the breeding season. Still, OTB was better than in many years before, so maybe me and the herd needed some rest. I’d like to have a break in real life too, actually 
