Thorpedo Anna asserting her dominance in the Acorm. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
By Laura Pugh
I’m pleased to say that as of now, there is exactly one division that looks to have a clear-cut leader. That would be the 3-year-old female division, with Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes heroine Thorpedo Anna asserting her dominance. When it comes to the rest of the divisions, well, it’s a bit of a cluster…
Honestly, I am not sure I remember the last time there was a year where so many divisions were completely up for grabs. Yes, most will still consider the Distaff division leader to be Idiomatic, however, the daughter of Curlin only has two starts on the year, and just fell victim to the Graveyard of Champions, when getting out-bobbed by Randomized in the Ogden Phipps. At this point, Randomized has the same record of one win from two starts in 2024, while the California based Adare Manor has two wins from three starts.
Yes, it is likely that Idiomatic, the picture of consistency will rebound, but that isn’t really the point. The fact of the matter is that we are at the halfway point in the season and that division is up for grabs.
The sprinter divisions are also muddled. This isn’t exactly a surprise; the sprinter divisions have a history of struggling in the first half of the season. However, in recent years, the leader typically has emerged by May or June timeframe, after running in the Middle East, setting themselves up for their summer and fall campaigns. This year, as impressive as Baby Yoda was in the True North, the fact of that matter is that the 6-year-old Bill Mott trainee has proven that he is anything but consistent.
The turf divisions are rarely clear at any point in the year, but what is rather shocking is that neither the older male or 3-year-old male divisions, the two that are most likely to have Horse of the Year candidates, have no clear leaders.
National Treasure, winner of this past weekend’s Met Mile, has the strongest claim to the older male division. The problem with National Treasure is that he has not demonstrated a lot of consistency and is also questionable when it comes to races that are 10 furlongs. The son of Quality Road has won going 9.5 furlongs, when nabbing the 2023 Preakness Stakes, but his best efforts have come between a mile (eight furlongs) and nine furlongs. These chinks in his armor could make it easy for horses that are currently light on starts or have yet to start in 2024 to usurp his throne.
Then finally, we come to the 3-year-old males. This division has a reputation for being hit or miss, but this year, it seems to have taken it to a whole new level. Mysik Dan, the 18-1 Kentucky Derby leader failed to capitalize on that win, finishing second and eighth in the final two jewels of the Triple Crown. Seize the Grey captured the Preakness at a price but failed to follow that effort up in the Belmont Stakes, which was won by Dornoch, a horse most people had written off after disappointing in the Blue Grass Stakes and Kentucky Derby.
The division also has horses like the Repole Stables owned Fierceness and Mindframe. The former having a dubious record of on again, off again brilliance, while the other could be hindered by his inexperience. Some might point to the Chad Brown trained Sierra Leone as a potential leader, but let’s be real, the son of Gun Runner can’t run in a straight line which has lost him races on more than one occasion. At this point, Sierra Leone is looking more like Zandon 2.0, only he needs to learn how to color in the lines still.
With so many divisions with either no leaders or weak leaders, racing fans should be in for an exciting Summer and Fall. That is, if they don’t get cases of mental whiplash first. If that happens, at least we can count on Thorpedo Anna to give us some consistency. Who knows, if things stay topsy-turvy, we could see the first ever 3-year-old filly Horse of the Year that never faced males that season.
