The Horse of the Year returns to the races March 8, intent on a full season of competition for the first time in a decade. Yes, it has become that unusual.
Thorpedo Anna , long may she reign, is entered against six older fillies and mares in the 1 1/16-mile Azeri Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park. Kenny McPeek will be at the cinch and Brian Hernandez Jr. will be in the saddle, so that’s covered.
Post time is 5:25 p.m. Central Time, and sunset in Hot Springs, Ark., is a quarter past 6. There’s a 50-50 chance of rain during the afternoon—which is really going out on a limb—and the temperature doesn’t look like it will get much past 50 degrees.
Thorpedo Anna will carry 119 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Azeri, which is okay for a starting point. Only she’s getting weight from three of her opponents, which is downright strange and should be embarrassing to someone in charge. Wild Bout Hilary (124), Recharge (121), and Free Like a Girl (121) are all being penalized for recent good behavior, while Thorpedo Anna, nicknamed the Grizzly, is emerging from a restful, four-month hibernation.
The last time a Horse of the Year embarked on a full-throated title defense was 2015. Coming out at age 4, California Chrome finished second to Shared Belief in the San Antonio Invitational Stakes (G2) and second to some horse we never saw again, Prince Bishop , in the Dubai World Cup (G1) before diverting to England for an ill-advised attempt to make the Royal Ascot meet, better known as catnip to American owners.
California Chrome did not race again until 2016, and this time he got it right, crafting a second Horse of the Year campaign. In a last hurrah, he flopped in the 2017 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) then went off to stud, as planned, which is the same route taken by freshly crowned Horses of the Year Gun Runner and Knicks Go , to happier results. For purposes of this discussion, none of them were serious about defending their titles.
By contrast, the people around Tiznow were deadly serious about a defense of his 2000 Horse of the Year title, and they came close to pulling it off. After winning the 2001 Santa Anita Handicap (G1), the big colt was forced out of action over the summer with a muscle pull, then became the first—and still the only—two-time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
Point Given was the glamour boy of 2001, so he got the title without bothering to face older horses. No one was surprised when he was retired before turning 4, as were fellow 3-year-old Horses of the Year American Pharoah , Justify , and Authentic .
In this century, the older runners Mineshaft , Saint Liam, Zenyatta , Bricks and Mortar , Flightline , and Cody’s Wish all called it a career after winning Horse of the Year. Fortunately, there were exceptions.
Ghostzapper was delicately raced but a treat when he came to play, which is why it was such a disappointment that Bobby Frankel got only one start from the 5-year-old in 2005 as reigning Horse of the Year. Invasor likewise was intended for a full defense of his 2006 Horse of the Year title and seemed well on his way, with a victory in the 2007 Dubai World Cup. Then a fractured sesamoid while training for the Suburban Handicap (G1 back then) ended that dream.
Two-time Horse of the Year Curlin walks his paddock at Hill ’n’ Dale at Xalapa near Lexington
Compared to stallions, there is always more incentive to continue racing a female Horse of the Year, like Thorpedo Anna. Havre de Grace, Rachel Alexandra , and Azeri come to mind, and while they failed to mount a successful title defense, they were great to have around a while longer.
Curlin got it right, with an adventurous 4-year-old season of 2008, during which he was triumphant in Dubai and tried both turf and synthetic surfaces. He was an easy choice for a second Horse of the Year title. So was Wise Dan in 2013 after winning several of the same premier events he took in 2012, including a second victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T).
Where Are They Now?
Tiznow turns 28 March 12, making him the oldest living Horse of the Year.
“He’s doing well,” said Elliot Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm, where Tiznow spent his whole stallion career before he was pensioned in 2020. “He’s had a couple issues over the past year and a half, including a colic where we almost had to take him to the clinic. He goes out in good weather for three or four hours a day and mostly just stands by the gate, being Tiznow.”
The other living Horses of the Year are scattered far and wide. Azeri, 27, has retired after spending her broodmare career in Japan. Mineshaft, 26, still stands at Lane’s End. Ghostzapper, 25, has gone back to his roots for breeder Adena Springs, but now in Canada instead of his native Kentucky. Invasor, 23, stands in his native Uruguay.
Curlin, doing business at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, will celebrate his 21st birthday March 25 as the sire of Journalism , a top prospect for the Kentucky Derby (G1). Zenyatta, 21, at Lane’s End, and Rachel Alexandra, 19, at Stonestreet Farm, are out of the baby-making business, but still cherished for the thrills they gave the game. California Chrome, 14, has become a celebrity in residence at Arrow Stud in Hokkaido, Japan. Bricks and Mortar, 11, is also on the island of Hokkaido, at prestigious Shadai Stallion Station.
The rest of the living members of the Horse of the Year club are at Kentucky farms, earning their keep as stallions. American Pharoah, 13, and Justify, 10, are at Ashford Stud. Gun Runner, 12, is at Three Chimneys Farm. Knicks Go, 9, is at Taylor Made Stallions, with his first batch of 2-year-olds on the boil. Authentic, 8, is at Spendthrift Farm. Flightline, 7, is at Lane’s End, and Cody’s Wish, also 7, stands at Darley’s Jonabell Farm.
That leaves Wise Dan, who turned 18 Feb. 20. The old gelding still hangs out with his stakes-winning older half brother, Successful Dan , at the Forest Lane Farm of trainer Charlie LoPresti, southeast of Lexington. They were about to head for their pasture and a little late winter sunshine March 7 when LoPresti answered the phone.
“They’re both still going pretty good,” LoPresti said of the Brothers Dan. “Wise Dan still gets birthday cards, letters, and treats in the mail all the time.”
Brothers Successful Dan (left) and two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan at Forest Lane Farm near Lexington
Wise Dan ended his career with a perfect campaign of four stakes wins at age 7 during a 2014 season interrupted by colic surgery and cut short by a suspicious tendon. As a racehorse and two-time Horse of the Year, he had not lost a step. According to LoPresti, it took the retired Wise Dan a while to decompress, which was apparent on the day the horse was guest of honor for the first running of the Wise Dan Stakes (G2T) at Churchill Downs in 2016.
“When we took him there he kind of rested all day in his stall, just the way he used to on a race day,” LoPresti said. “It was almost like he thought we brought him over there to run. We were in the paddock before the race, and when the other horses left, he got so fired up. He was such an absolute handful, I was afraid he might hurt himself.”
There have been no more racetrack visits for Wise Dan, although he has turned up for fans to admire at Old Friends retirement farm and the Kentucky Horse Park.
“You’d be amazed at the connection he still has with people who come to see him,” LoPresti said. “He’s definitely a different sort of horse.”
Make that a different sort of Horse of the Year.
