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Gary Johnson / Eclipse Awards – edited

It might not be a slam dunk, but the consensus of publicly expressed opinion suggests it is a layup that Thorpedo Anna will be named horse of the year.

The five-time graded-stakes winner in 2024 is widely expected to get two trophies Thursday night at the 54th annual Eclipse Awards at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. A division championship as the top 3-year-old filly really is a slam dunk before the big prize is announced around 9 p.m. EST.

FanDuel TV, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association website and the NTRA YouTube page will have live coverage of the ceremony, which is scheduled start at 7:30 p.m. EST. The show will be hosted by Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak and announced by Caton Bredar. Horse Racing Nation will have a live blog starting around 7 p.m. EST to provide a forum for reader comments.

Thorpedo Anna would be the 10th filly or mare to be named horse of the year since awards were established in 1936 and the first since Havre de Grace in 2011. Sierra Leone, who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and Fierceness, who narrowly defeated Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 Travers, made competitive cases of their own last year.

Trainer Kenny McPeek and breeder Judy Hicks also were announced as finalists for Eclipse Awards in their own categories for their connection to Thorpedo Anna, who completed her 3-year-old season by winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

The filly by Fast Anna out of Uncle Mo mare Sataves is owned by Nader Alaali’s Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Hicks and Sherri McPeek, the trainer’s wife who uses the business name Magdalena Racing. Brian Hernandez Jr. has been Thorpedo Anna’s regular jockey.

The 3-year-old male division was expected to be one of the most competitive categories. Dornoch, Fierceness and Sierra Leone emerged as the finalists after each won two Grade 1 races last year. Dornoch took the Belmont and Haskell before being retired with bone bruising following a fourth in the Travers. Fierceness finished first in the Florida Derby and Travers on either side of a 15th-place result as the Kentucky Derby favorite. Sierra Leone was victorious in the Blue Grass and Breeders’ Cup Classic and never finished off the board.

These are all the finalists, alphabetically listed in each category:

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.

Balloting for the 17 awards was done 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.

Thursday’s Eclipse Awards program has been dedicated to the memory of the late Ed Bowen, the racing journalist and historian who wrote the script for the Eclipse Awards since their first year in 1971. Bowen, 82, died Monday at his home in Versailles, Ky.