On the surface, horse racing appears to have a singular aim: to find the fastest thoroughbred under a given set of conditions.
Yet the sport is about so much more than that. It’s about the stories that develop around these races and the cohesive narrative that builds across the year.
By that metric, 2024 was the year racing finally got its groove back as some of the world’s best contests added a hint of nostalgia.
Take the Melbourne Cup, a race that has been more mired in controversy and less a nation-stopper in recent years.
There was still controversy when St Leger winner Jan Brueghel was withdrawn after imaging showed he was at a heightened risk of injury. There were shouts from abroad of Australian protectionism, even as local after local was also withdrawn.
In the absence of Jan Brueghel and Cox Plate winner Via Sistina, it was the unheralded Knight’s Choice who caused an almighty shock for singing jockey Robbie Dolan and married training partnership Sheila Laxon and John Symons.
Form wise, it was undoubtedly a weaker Melbourne Cup – but that’s not what the Melbourne Cup was ever about. As a handicap, it was always about putting horses on a level playing field and testing them over two miles, giving the battlers a chance to topple the elites.
Knight’s Choice epitomised everything the Melbourne Cup is supposed to be. There were days of mainstream coverage and a clean race ensured that the once-a-year racing fan could feel good about their support for one of the world’s great races.
What about the Japan Cup? It was devised by the Japan Racing Association (JRA) in 1981 for the best locals to tackle the world on home soil.
In time, Japan proved that they were among the world’s best and over the past two decades the Japan Cup had become a race for their top horses to beat up on second-rate visitors from abroad.
November saw the best foreign contingent descend on Tokyo in many years, including Derby winner Auguste Rodin, King George victor Goliath and German star Fantastic Moon. Yet it was the legendary Yutaka Take who kept the Japan Cup at home with local star Do Deuce able to hold off the foreign raiders.
In America, Japan was denied a maiden Kentucky Derby when Forever Young was edged out by Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone.
Much of the chatter pre-race was about Churchill Downs’ decision to extend Bob Baffert’s suspension, meaning he couldn’t chase Derby glory with Muth and Nysos. And yet, in Baffert’s absence, there was a finish for the ages in which a range of formlines converged on the first Saturday in May.
Baffert will be back in 2025 and is already assembling a strong hand as he aims to become the most successful trainer in Kentucky Derby history. However, will a record-breaking seventh win seem hollow? It certainly won’t carry the same weight as the epic finish of 2024.
With just a handful of Group 1 races left to be run in 2024, the story of the racing year is almost complete.
The official year-end ratings will be confirmed in a ceremony in London next month, but Dubai World Cup winner Laurel River is set to be rated the world’s best racehorse on a mark of 128. That will be the equal lowest rating recorded by a world number one in the last two decades.
Though it may have been a low-performing year across the board, that isn’t the full story. 2024 was the year that some of racing’s biggest events returned to their roots, giving the sport a vital boost as it fights for global relevance ∎
