The end of each flat season sees the leading trainers and jockeys honoured on British Champions Day at Ascot – this year, taking place on Saturday, 19th October, 2024. It is, of course, only right to celebrate the standout efforts of the human performers, but what about the true stars of the sport – the horses?
Happily, the equine athletes are also granted their time in the spotlight during awards season. A little over a month after the Champion Trainer and Jockey awards, the swish Dorchester Hotel in London hosts the annual Cartier Horse of the Year awards, honouring the best Stayer, Sprinter, Older Horse, 3-Y-O colt, 3-Y-O filly, 2-Y-O colt, 2-Y-O filly, and the overall Horse of the Year.
The last of those categories tops the pile in terms of prestige, with 21st-century winners including Ouija Board, Sea The Stars, Frankel (twice), Enable (twice), and Baeed.
With so much talent on display, it is rarely a straightforward task (Frankel aside) to zero in on a single star of the season. Cartier uses a multifaceted approach to crown their king or queen, using points earned in Group 1 events in the current season, together with the opinions of an expert panel and votes cast by readers of the Racing Post and The Telegraph. Many remain in contention ahead of the 2024 ceremony, but the Horse of the Year honour will almost certainly fall to one of the following trio.
Charyn
- Trainer: Roger Varian
- Horse of the Year Group 1 Points: 144
Some runners peak at two and others at three, but some only truly hit top form in their four-year-old campaign. Falling firmly into that latter category is this Roger Varian-trained son of Dark Angel.
Entering 2024 with only two wins from 11 starts, headlined by the 2022 Criterium de Maisons-Lafitte, Charyn has exploded into life in the biggest 1m events on the continent. Kicking off with Listed and Group 2 wins at Doncaster and Sandown, he bagged a first career Group 1 when storming clear in the Queen Anne Stakes and backed that up with a facile victory in the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois. Set to round off his season in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day, he currently leads the way among the older horses.
City Of Troy
- Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
- Horse of the Year Group 1 Points: 144
The name on the lips of the racing world heading into the season, thus far, City Of Troy has delivered on the hype. That said, things couldn’t have started much worse in the 2000 Guineas, with the son of Justify labouring to a ninth-of-11 finish at Newmarket. However, he has since bounced back in style.
Oozing class on his way to a 2¾l success in the Epsom Derby, he then showed grit to go with his talent when landing a soft ground Coral-Eclipse at Sandown before his crowning glory in a stellar edition of the Juddmonte International. Sent off as the 5/4F in a field containing the best of the Classic generation and also the top older horses from Britain, Ireland, and beyond, City Of Troy pulverised them all with a brutal display of front running. Next stop, Del Mar, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Should he become the first to win that race for Aidan O’Brien, it will surely be hard to keep his name off the trophy.
Kyprios
- Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
- Horse of the Year Group 1 Points: 120
More than any other category, the stayers earn increasing levels of affection with each passing year. With the lure of the breeding industry hard to resist, the most talented sprinters, milers, and middle-distance stars tend to be packed off to stud at the end of their three or four-year-old season. However, those who boast stamina as a strong suit often stick around significantly longer. And in the staying division, they simply don’t come better than Kyprios.
Also hailing from the Aidan O’Brien operation, this son of the late, great Galileo proved unstoppable in 2022 – winning six of six starts – only for injury to strike. Beaten in his two outings during a curtailed 2023, could O’Brien restore him to his prime as a six-year-old?
Of course he could! Back in the winning groove, Kyprios is five from five in 2024, including wins in the Group 1 trio of the Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup, and Irish St. Leger. The Champions Long Distance Cup looks there for the taking, but should an ambitious tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe reach a successful conclusion, he may usurp City Of Troy as the favourite for the award.