photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

Irad Ortiz Jr. completed his apprenticeship on Feb. 1, 2012, finishing off a freshman year of riding during which he won 98 races and had mount earnings of $3,318,303.

photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

How many 2012 Eclipse Award finalists didn’t win a stakes? Don’t look, there’s only one.

Steeplechaser Divine Fortune put together one of the best, if most confounding, campaigns in recent memory – without winning a single stakes.

photo by: Shigeki Kikkawa

There were seven Grade 1 events on the main track in 2012 for 2-year-old fillies. Only one filly was able to win more than one of them.

photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

From his base at Airdrie Stud in Kentucky, Brereton C. Jones made a strong mark on graded racing in North America last year, thanks in large part to his homebreds.

photo by: Shigeki Kikkawa

In 2012, Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs operation compounded its record as the decade’s dominant breeder by earnings.

photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

After close finishes in two turf stakes in her native England, and a respectable fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies for trainer John Gosden, it was clear Questing had some ability as a 2-year-old in 2011.

photo by: Barbara D. Livingston

Jockey John Velazquez won the Belmont Stakes in June, entered the National Racing Hall of Fame in August, and won the Breeders’ Cup Mile with Horse of the Year contender Wise Dan in November.

photo by: Tom Keyser

After three straight wins as a juvenile, capped by the Grade 3 Tempted Stakes, expectations were high when Believe You Can made her 3-year-old seasonal debut for trainer Larry Jones in the Silverbulletday Stakes.