Photo:

Alex Evers / Eclipse Sportswire

There can be no doubt. The Horse of the Year is a filly.

Thorpedo Anna’s inevitable selection is what is known among voters as a no-brainer. From her dominant four-length score in the Fantasy (G2) to open her memorable campaign to an authoritative 2 1/2-length decision in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, she never failed to bring her oft-overpowering game in sweeping six of seven starts for a whopping $3,653,050 in earnings.

Her glitzy record includes five Grade 1 successes: Kentucky Oaks, Acorn, Coaching Club American Oaks, the Cotillion and, of course, the Distaff. How hard are Grade 1 victories to come by? Fierceness and Classic winner Sierra Leone, long shot Horse of the Year candidates, brought home two apiece all season.

Through her first four starts, the daughter of Fast Anna manhandled the competition within her division. She dusted 2-year-old champion Just FYI by 4 3/4 lengths in the May 3 Kentucky Oaks after regular rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. rocketed her to the front and never looked back at sloppy Churchill Downs.

She lost a shoe in the June 7 Acorn as part of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. No problem. She drew clear by 5 1/2 lengths. She endured an awful start in the July 20 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, lunging and striking the gate and getting off oh-so-slowly. No problem. Hernandez, Jr. stayed cool, knowing the power beneath him. Seemingly in an instant, she made up the lost ground and was on her way by 4 1/2 lengths. The combined margin through her first four starts: 18 3/4 lengths.

There may be a contrary few who will point to the Travers (G1) in building a case for Fierceness as Horse of the Year. Yes, history will forever show that he denied Thorpedo Anna’s bid to become the first filly to defeat males in the mid-summer derby since 1915. It also should be noted that she brushed the gate and the final margin was a diminishing head. If ever there was a powerful sense of accomplishment in defeat, this was it.

Eclipse Award voters must keep a constant eye on the big picture. That is what separates Thorpedo Anna from Fierceness and Sierra Leone, third in the Travers. In her most important test within her division, the pride of trainer Ken McPeek’s barn delivered a butt-kicking in the Oaks.

Fierceness got his butt kicked the following day in the Derby, a race that goes such a long way toward defining greatness. After asserting himself early in the Derby, he steadily weakened and struggled home 24 1/2 lengths behind 18-1 Mystik Dan, Thorpedo Anna’s stablemate.

Consistency is a must to be considered for Horse of the Year. The Kentucky Derby inexplicably followed a 13 1/2-length tour de force in the Florida Derby (G1) for Fierceness. He did not manage consecutive victories until the July 27 Jim Dandy (G2) and the Aug. 24 Travers.

There is much to admire in Fierceness. His ability to finish second by a length and a half in the Classic was special after he became embroiled in a wicked pace. Very few horses would have persevered through that. The mile-and-a-quarter contest shaped up perfectly for Sierra Leone’s late kick and the $2.3 million yearling capitalized for trainer Chad Brown and jockey Flavien Prat.

Fierceness entered the Classic having considerable ground to make up on Sierra Leone in the race for leading 3-year-old male. The Gun Runner colt endured one of the toughest beats in Derby history by a nose as part of a three-way photo. In his only other Triple Crown start, Sierra Leone finished a solid third in the Belmont. Fierceness did not come out of the Derby well and was conspicuous in his absence from the final two legs of the spring classics.

There is one certainty when it comes to Eclipse voting. Awards cannot be won by staying in the barn.