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National Thoroughbred Racing Association

7:31 p.m. EST. 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 the late Ed 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.” A longtime journalist, historian and contributor to the Keeneland Library, Bowen, 82, died Monday in Versailles, Ky., at age 82. The Eclipse Awards show has been dedicated to his memory.

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.

Thorpedo Anna is the presumptive favorite to be named horse
of the year and is certain to be named the top 3-year-old filly of 2024. But will she carry her trainer Kenny McPeek and breeder Judy Hicks
to victories in their own categories? That is one question that will be
answered Thursday at the 54th annual Eclipse Awards.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. EST at The
Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. The show will be shown on FanDuel TV and streamed live
on the National Thoroughbred Racing Association website and the NTRA YouTube
page. Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak will host, and Caton Bredar will be
the off-stage announcer. Horse Racing Nation will have a live blog
starting around 7 p.m. EST to provide a forum for reader comments.

Seventeen trophies will be 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 are 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.

Horse-of-the-year finalists will be unveiled during the
show. They have been withheld by organizers to avoid spoiling the outcome of
divisional categories.