Performances by 3-year-olds, including victories in all three Triple Crown races, feature prominently in this year’s list of candidates for the Moment of the Year, an award administered by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association that is determined by votes from racing fans.
Voting for the 11 candidates opened on Tuesday at the X social-media site and at NTRA.com. Voting closes on Jan. 15, with the top vote-getter scheduled to be honored at the Jan. 22 Eclipse Awards Ceremony in Palm Beach, Florida.
Sovereignty, the winner of last year’s Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, has both of those victories up as candidates, as well as his dominant win in the Travers Stakes in late August at Saratoga. Journalism, the winner of the Preakness, has that victory as a candidate, as well as his win in the Haskell Stakes in mid-summer.
Other race candidates include a win by Good Cheer in the Kentucky Oaks to stretch her undefeated streak to seven races, Forever Young’s win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the victory by Fierceness in the Pacific Classic, and Ted Noffey’s win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to remain undefeated in his 2-year-old campaign.
Moments not pegged to a single race include the death of Hall of Famer and trainer-of-trainers D. Wayne Lukas in late June, and Flavien Prat winning seven races from 10 mounts on closing day of Aqueduct’s fall meet on Nov. 2.
The NTRA created the Moment of the Year Award in 1999.
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