Sovereignty nearly ran the table, going 5-for-6 in a stellar season. The Godolphin homebred secured five graded stakes including Grade 1 scores in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers.

After the Travers, Bill Mott stood outside his stall and watched the son of Into Mischief dive into his feed tub. “You could stand here and set your timer and see how it long it takes him to eat,” Mott said. “After Cigar, I never thought…how would it be possible? I’d say this horse is right there.

“We’ve been doing it for 55 years. And it’s the first time we’ve had a three-year-old like him.” A fever derailed Sovereignty’s denouement in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Here’s to a four-year-old season that finishes with flourish rather than fade. The sky is still the limit.

Journalism won four races and finished second three times in eight consistent starts. Second to Sovereignty in the Derby and Belmont, the three-year-old son of Curlin was simply born in the wrong year.

But there is next year. Circle the Met Mile on your calendar for the California-based colt who still somehow has unfinished business.

Sharp Warning won 10 of 16 races for owner/trainer Kayla Warren. The California-bred wrote postcards from Turf Paradise, Miles City, Energy Downs, Great Falls, White Pine Racing, Blackfoot and Arapahoe. A ski bum’s dream from Montana to Wyoming.

The eight-year-old won the aptly named Good Old Boys Stakes and Fun at the Fair Stakes in Idaho. The hard way? He earned $4,950 for those two wins and $51,572 for the year.

Busk, Motown Dynamic and He’s In Charge each won nine races on the year and were still going strong in December.

Forever Young got his big one, rallying to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic for his first North American win.

Third in a ‘bump and run’ Derby and third in fast and frantic Classic last year, the Japanese-bred four-year-old put up a flawless performance to stave off leading older horses Sierra Leone and Fierceness to win for the 10th time in 13 starts and pushed his earnings to $19.3 million.

The world gets a little smaller with every international star. There wasn’t any brighter one than Forever Young.

Godolphin continued its dominance at the top of the sport, winning 98 races and $21.7 million. First in earnings and fourth in wins, Godolphin has become the sport’s most prolific owner/breeder.

No more sales sprees, this is all home-grown talent. Sovereignty led the way, securing an Oaks/Derby double for Godolphin. Sorry, no Derby predictions this year.

Brad Cox led all trainers with $29.2 million in earnings and Jamie Ness led all trainers with 333 wins. Chad Brown continued his torrent, Steve Asmussen banged out another 300 wins, Mark Casse, Todd Pletcher and Bill Mott stayed at the top.

But this one goes to Miguel Clement. At 34, Clement was forced from assistant to trainer, boy to man, when his father Christophe died at 59 this summer. The son grew up fast, winning 131 races in one of the toughest roles any trainer, any son, has ever had to play.

Irad Ortiz Jr. and Flavien Prat are still sparring for the earnings title. Ortiz, who relocated his tack from New York to Kentucky this fall, led with 334 winners and $39.4 million while Prat had 294 winners and $39.1 million.

A Puerto Rican ball of muscle and a French magician of finesse at the height of their powers. Watch this space.

Irish-bred Cool Jet secured the earnings title, winning a Grade 1 stakes and two Grade 3 stakes to lead all horses with $190,500.

The son of Jet Away finished 12th, when trained by Willie Mullins, in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in 2021, went to Brian Ellison for three starts and then to Jack Fisher in 2022.

With 57-year-old Bernie Dalton aboard, the nine-year-old won three in a row before falling at the first fence in the Colonial Cup.

In a year when eight Grade 1 stakes were spread around to eight different winners, Cool Jet let the way in consistency and earnings.

Irish-born Graham Watters broke his left wrist twice during the season but still managed to win his fourth jockey title. Led by Cool Jet, Riverdee Stable earned its first leading owner title, all 13 wins were supplied by Fisher who won his 16th training championship.

Ethical Diamond earned that accolade in his one-start, one-win raid of the Breeders’ Cup Turf. In a country where they tend to dismiss jump racing, this was a win for all codes. Willie Mullins, take a bow, another bow.

Other Irish-breds Rebel’s Romance, El Cordobes, Special Wan, Zulu Kingdom and Laurelin hit the top 100 earners’ list.

Veteran Maryland-based trainer Henry Walters choreographed a six-win campaign with Barbadian Runner to push his career earnings to $790,630 to become Walters’ leading earner.

The $5,000 yearling surpassed Walters’ Tommy Shelby by a cool $578,449 at the top of a list slowly compiled since 1980. Like most of us, Walters followed his dad (and his brothers) into the game.

“It was all we cared about. We got bit by the bug, the horse bug,” Walters said. “Dad would be proud, I guess. That’s where we all got our education, from his horses.

“It cost him a lot of money for our education in horses. He would look back and think maybe it paid off.”

Nah, not Frankie. Snap Decision walked soundly and proudly off the stage after finishing fourth in the Grand National at Far Hills in October.

In 32 starts over hurdles, the 11-year-old gelding won 17 races, finished second eight times and was third twice. He earned $1,258,150 over jumps, second only to Hall of Famer McDynamo’s $1,310,104 in North American history. Owned by Bruton Street US and trained by Jack Fisher, the son of Hard Spun won an Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser of 2024 and was a finalist for the 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020 awards – receiving the second-most votes each time.

He won five Grade 1 stakes, captured 15 stakes overall and led the National Steeplechase Association annual earnings table in 2024 and 2022.

“He didn’t quite tell us it was time, he didn’t blurt it out anyway, but he’s going to be 12 years old next year,” said Fisher. “There isn’t much more he can do and he’s done a lot.

“To walk away sound and still happy, that’s the best part, that’s the cool thing. Just having an 11-year-old running was cool. He’s done so much for the sport, for horse racing in general and for us. He’s a horse of a lifetime.” Thanks for the memories, Snap.

Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, forever linked to Triple Crown winner Secretariat, died at 84.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas went on his own terms, training horses to his final days. Another indelible trainer, Christophe Clement left us way too soon.

And a long, sweet goodbye to Mike Doyle, who won races and friends with Irish ease and Canadian charm.