A look back at the 25 moments that shaped racing in 2024: Part 1, moments 25-12
As 2024 draws to a close the team at Racenet looks back at the 25 key moments that shaped the year just past.
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If you are after headlines, racing has a habit of delivering in spades.
And the year 2024 was no different.
As the curtain closes on another year we look back at the top 25 racing moments that shaped racing in the year past, be it the good, the bad or the sometimes ugly.
Part 2 – moments 11 to 1 – will be published on New Year’s Day.
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25) Racing mourns the passing of Sam Kavanagh
Sam Kavanagh’s inspirational fight against cancer sadly came to an end in mid-December, passing away aged just 38. While Sam’s health battles were well documented, it didn’t make the news of his passing any easier, with the racing community rallying behind his partner Kelly and their 11-year-old daughter, Sienna. A week before his death, Sam’s final ever runner, Sharpen The Knives, scored at Armidale.
READ: Racing mourns passing of Sam Kavanagh
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24) Broadsiding arrives with stunning season, wins Golden Rose first-up
Godolphin was on the hunt for their newest superstar and in the shape of Broadsiding he arrived … and arrived in style. A first up winner of the G1 Golden Rose in September, Broadsiding launched 2024 in spectacular fashion, winning the G1 Champagne Stakes in the autumn before romping away with the G1 JJ Atkins in Brisbane during the winter carnival. He’d go on to finish third in the Cox Plate behind Via Sistina after finishing fourth in a somewhat controversial Caulfield Guineas.
READ: Cummings masterminds historic Golden Rose quinella
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23) Brett Prebble signs off from race riding
After booting home more than 2000 winners, including 37 at Group 1 level, Brett Prebble announced his retirement from the saddle in 2024.
“It’s a real mix of emotions, but I know the time is right,” Prebble said at the time.
“I’ve had the most incredible career. It’s not lost on me just how fortunate I am to leave my time in the saddle a fit, healthy, happy and content 46-year-old. Over four decades of riding, I’ve seen way too many times just how incredibly dangerous, devastating and life-changing the job can be.”
Prebble won the 2010 Golden Slipper on Crystal Lily for trainers Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra and the 2012 Melbourne Cup on Green Moon for Lloyd Williams.
He also steered the Peter Moody-trained Incentivise to a memorable win in the 2021 Caulfield Cup.
READ: ‘Time is right’: Melbourne Cup-winning jockey calls time on career
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22) Romantic Warrior utterly dominant in Hong Kong Cup three-peat
After his Cox Plate heroics in 2023, Romantic Warrior returned in 2024 for an undefeated year of racing, headlined by his Hong Kong Cup (2000m) three-peat in December.
Following the mesmerising success, jockey James McDonald declared “He is just the best.”
In victory, Romantic Warrior became the first horse to win the showpiece event on three occasions, treating his opposition, the best from the world all over with the exception of Via Sistina, with utter contempt.
What will 2025 bring for the Hong Kong superstar?
It begins in late January with a three-run raid in Dubai, culminating in the $20 million Group 1 Saudi Cup (1800m) in February.
READ: Romantic Warrior creates history with Hong Kong Cup hat-trick
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21) Ceolwulf announces arrival on big stage with Epsom/King Charles double
Following an autumn campaign that returned runner-up efforts in the Rosehill Guineas and ATC Derby, Joe Pride’s Ceolwulf returned in the spring with a bang, scooping the G1 Epsom-King Charles III double. The sensational wins announced Ceolwulf as a genuine weight for age star.
“There is so much more to come with this horse,” Pride said after the King Charles III Stakes.
“He’s only lightly-raced and he’s on the improve, he keeps getting better.
“I’ve been confident he’s on that path towards being one of the best horses around. After today, he’s there. He’s on his way, I think he’s already a star.
“I have always wanted to win the Cox Plate and he’s my Cox Plate horse but I will wait a year.”
READ: Ceolwulf reigns in thrilling King Charles showdown
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20) Aaron Morrison takes the reins at RV
Following a thorough search to find the successor for Andrew Jones, Racing Victoria didn’t need to look any further than up the hall with then chief operating and financial officer Aaron Morrison, who had been interim boss since May, getting the job.
And the new CEO hit the ground running, making instant moves to repair relationships and setting about a restructure of the peak body to deliver all important savings for the industry.
“As an owner of multiple horses and a keen punter, I have developed a great love for the sport, an admiration for its equine athletes and respect for those who work tirelessly to put on the show each day,” Morrison said at the time of his appointment.
“Victorian racing is a leader, whether through the quality of our racing, the strength of our engagement and wagering, or the heritage of our clubs and events, and it’s from this strong base that we need to continue to evolve and improve.
“I also recognise the challenges ahead and the need for necessary change to position us for long-term success and sustainability.”
READ: Morrison appointed new Racing Victoria chief
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19) King Of The West! Overpass defends Quokka, Winterbottom crowns
There’s such a thing of horses for courses but the record Overpass is assembling at Ascot over in the west is nothing short of remarkable.
Winner of the inaugural The Quokka and G1 Winterbottom Stakes in 2023, the Bjorn Baker-trained sprinting star returned in 2024 to defend both titles and did so in style to make it four from four at the Ascot 1200m circuit.
“That was a really gutsy win today,” Baker said after the Winterbottom.
“He had to absorb a heap of pressure early and I must admit I was a bit worried after 200m with how it was unfolding.
“But he’s a very, very special horse and he’s showed that again. I don’t know if we can call him a champion, but he’s getting very close.
“A massive shout out to (owners) Darby Racing. They are my biggest supporter.
“Just amazing to be here and get the result. Very grateful.”
READ: Overpass maintains western perfection in Winterbottom defence
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18) Storm Boy blitzes Magic Millions, sold for $50m to Coolmore
A bidding frenzy began for boom colt Storm Boy in the aftermath of his slashing Magic Millions victory on the Gold Coast in January. In the end it was breeding goliath Coolmore that won out, securing the son of Justify in a deal that could have been worth up to $50 million, results pending.
Storm Boy would go on to finish third in the Golden Slipper while after finishing eighth in The Everest, Coolmore announced he would transfer to leading Ballydoyle trainer Aidan O’Brien to further his career.
READ: Magic Millions winner Storm Boy set to be sold in potential $50m deal
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17) Last hurrah – grand warrior Fab’s Cowboy runs his last race
A nondescript country meeting at Longreach in late July isn’t noted for grabbing headlines but that wasn’t the case in 2024 with racing saying a final goodbye to racetrack hero Fab’s Cowboy.
Winner of a remarkable 54 races from a career spanning 159 starts, 12-year-old Fab’s Cowboy didn’t win his final start but the result didn’t matter, the day a chance for racing to celebrate a truly inspirational galloper.
“He’s been a great horse and I will be sad to lose him, there’s plenty of emotions right now,” trainer Billy Johnson said post race.
Fab’s Cowboy is now living out his days at Living Legends in Melbourne.
READ: Racing the winner as Fab’s Cowboy bows out a ‘legend’
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16) Think About It walks off the track after Sydney Stakes
The Everest Day at Royal Randwick is renowned for loud roars and euphoric cheers but you could have heard a pin drop among the 50,000-strong crowd after the previous year’s The Everest winner Think About It came to grief in the Sydney Stakes.
Laying idle on the ground, racing fans feared the worst, as a distraught trainer Joe Pride made his way up the Randwick straight to be beside his superstar galloper.
But in remarkable scenes, moments later Think About It rose to his feet and walked off the track of his own accord, the vision bringing about an enormous cheer from the Randwick crowd, one that would rival the one generated by Bella Nipotina’s The Everest success an hour later.
READ: Think About It walks from track after horror fall
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15) 10-time Group 1 winner Imperatriz sold for record $6.6 million
How much does it cost to land a 10-time group 1 winning mare for stud? It would seem the $6.6 million Yulong shelled out to purchase NZ superstar Imperatriz following her retirement back in May.
In a battle of two of Australia’s biggest studs, Yulong beat out the big-spending Coolmore for the 10-time Group 1 winner at the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast, with her new connections confirming she would remain retired from racing.
With bidding opening at $4m, Yulong came out strongest, further stamping itself as one of the biggest players in global bloodstock.
Yulong’s Zhijun Zhao did the bidding online to secure the winning bid.
The previous broodmare sale record in Australia was $5 million for Milanova back in 2008.
READ: Imperatriz sold for record $6.6 million in two-stud bidding war
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14) Cylinder scores emotion-charged win in Newmarket Handicap
Racenet’s Brad Waters said it best when he wrote “racing transcended into supernatural areas during the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington” where “hardened souls might use a weights and measures argument to explain the result but those shedding tears around Flemington post-race might beg to differ.”
Jamie Kah’s victory on Godolphin star Cylinder evoked memories from a year earlier when Dean Holland replaced Kah at the last minute on In Secret to win the Newmarket.
Full of class, Holland’s thoughts were solely with Kah during the post race celebrations, after Kah had fallen earlier in the card.
Just a few weeks later, Holland tragically died, following a race fall.
Holland’s mother Belinda, who was at Flemington with her husband Darren and the fallen rider’s children, immediately burst into tears as Kah crossed the line on Cylinder.
“It’s unbelievable,” Mrs Holland said.
“For what happened last year with Jamie and how Dean reacted, it was like Dean was paying her back this year.
“I think he might have helped her and in those colours, it was just amazing.”
READ: ‘We miss him’: Emotional Kah dedicates Newmarket win to Dean Holland
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13) Gill McLachlan takes the top job at Tabcorp
The racing industry needs a healthy and vibrant Tabcorp so the news that former AFL supremo Gill McLachlan would be taking the reins midway through 2024 was met with widespread optimism.
McLachlan wasted no time in making his impression at the helm of the wagering giant, the business undergoing mass transformation in the back half of 2024.
At a shareholders meeting in November, McLachlan revealed his desire to bring a national tote to life in 2025, while it is expected the mass change at the business is far from over.
READ: Former AFL boss appointed $1.5 million-a-year Tabcorp CEO
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12) Another Wil triumphs as racing mourns passing of Col McKenna
Victoria Derby Day was special for a number of reasons but none more so than for the emotion-charged victory by Another Wil in the Group 2 The Damien Oliver.
Just a week earlier, Another Wil’s owner Col McKenna had passed away, bringing about an outpouring of emotions from the many which he had meant so much to with the racing community.
Leading that charge was Jamie Kah who had credited McKenna for so much during her career.
“Today, I just wanted to make Col proud, and thank God we got the win in the end,” Kah said after the win.
“There was a few tight gaps we had to get through, and he honestly didn’t feel like he was travelling that well on the turn.
“When we took the first gap, something picked us up and carried us over the line because he felt like he was probably struggling a little bit. His turn of foot in the last 200m, that was just unreal.
“This is for you, Col, he’d be watching, and hopefully one day I can be doing this in a Group 1 for him.”
READ: ‘I wanted to make Col proud’: Kah delivers emotional win for McKenna
Originally published as A look back at the 25 moments that shaped racing in 2024: Part 1, moments 25-12
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