No American-based jumper was more active at the highest level through 2024 than L’Imperator, a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding steeplechaser.
From late March to mid-October, L’Imperator ran in five Grade 1 races at four venues and started in a restricted stakes for jumpers at the beginning of the year. He was even third in the four-runner Colonial Cup at 1 1/2 miles on turf in a flat race in Virginia in September.
Trained by Arch Kingsley Jr. for Hudson River Farms, L’Imperator’s 2024 season is the latest installment in a fascinating career that began in flat racing in France in 2019. L’Imperator was a maiden race winner there and later was a four-time winner for trainer Chad Brown in 2021 and 2022, including a win in the Grade 2 Fort Marcy Stakes at Belmont Park in 2022.
For the 2023 racing season, L’Imperator was switched to hurdles. He won a maiden race in his third start over obstacles and later was second in the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory Stakes over hurdles at Aqueduct in September.
The placing was foreshadowing for a more lucrative 2024 campaign. A 7-year-old gelding in 2024, L’Imperator won once in seven starts, in the Grade 1 Beverly Steinman Hurdle Handicap at Aqueduct in June.
:: Full list of 2024 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
Later in the summer, Kingsley told New York Racing Association publicity that L’Imperator “was deserving” of a Grade 1 win.
“He carries himself like a great champion, so I’m glad that we got that officially inked on his résumé,” he said. “He certainly acts the part and looks the part and has the form to go with it.
“It’s very gratifying when they make the transition from flat to jump. There’s no guarantee that form will translate. He’s such a warrior and it translated like another extension of who he already was – more excellence in a different discipline.”
L’Imperator began the year with two third-place finishes – in the restricted Carolina Cup Hurdle Stakes in South Carolina on March 30 and a third in the Grade 1 Commonwealth Cup Stakes in Virginia on May 4.
After the Steinman, L’Imperator was a well-beaten fourth behind Ziggle Pops in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Hurdle at Saratoga in July, his lone start of the year at that famous racetrack. Kingsley opted not to start L’Imperator in the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Handicap at Saratoga in August.
In the fall, after the third in the Colonial Cup, L’Imperator started in two of the leading jump races for that time of year. He was second by a length to Freddy Flintshire in the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory Handicap, a hurdle race at 2 1/2 miles on Sept. 19 at Aqueduct. L’Imperator carried 158 pounds, four more than the winner.
In his final start of 2024, L’Imperator closed from eighth in a field of nine to finish fourth by 2 3/4 lengths in a tough running of the Grade 1 American Grand National at 2 5/8 miles at Far Hills in New Jersey.
The race was won by Snap Decision, another nominee for champion steeplechaser, with Galvin of Ireland second in his first start since a fourth in the English Grand National at Aintree in April.
L’Imperator banked $187,528 in 2024, his richest season as a jumper.
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