2024 Eclipse Awards: Raging Sea

Few fillies and mares in 2024 were better than late-runner Raging Sea, a four-time graded stakes winner whose only losses from six starts were slow-pace Grade 1s that negated her closing kick.

Raging Sea was not perfect, but close to it. With four graded stakes victories, she is a worthy Eclipse Award finalist as outstanding older dirt female.

Chad Brown trains Raging Sea, who entered 2024 with unfulfilled promise. As a 2-year-old in 2022, she finished third in a pair of Grade 1 races, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Her 2023 campaign was limited to four starts and a single Grade 3 victory.

The best was still ahead. Raging Sea is by Curlin, whose progeny often develop later, and she entered her 4-year-old season in 2024 having started only seven times. Raging Sea had room to improve.

Owned and bred by Alpha Delta Stables, Raging Sea made her comeback in April at Keeneland, second choice in the Grade 3 Baird Doubledogdare Stakes. She ran like an odds-on favorite. Under regular rider Flavien Prat, Raging Sea raced midpack behind soft fractions and drew off with a career-high 95 Beyer Speed Figure.

:: Full list of 2024 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

The comeback stamped Raging Sea as a star on the rise, and Brown entered her in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps in June at Saratoga. It was a tough spot. Her rivals included multiple Grade 1 winner Idiomatic and front-running Grade 1 winner Randomized, Raging Sea’s stablemate.

Raging Sea never had a chance. A late-runner in a slow-pace race, breaking from an outside post, she was up against it facing top company. She trailed the six-runner field and basically ran in place. She passed two rivals to finish fourth. It was not her top effort.

Another slow-pace race was next, this time the Grade 2 Shuvee at Saratoga that did not include division leaders. Despite finishing off the board in her previous start, Raging Sea was second choice in the Shuvee. She raced within striking range and drew away for her first victory in a Grade 2. Could she bang out a Grade 1?

Brown gave Raging Sea another crack at the division elite in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign in August at Saratoga. This time the pace was severe, which played to Raging Sea’s strength.

Randomized and Idiomatic screamed away through taxing fractions. Raging Sea, under Prat, settled more than 10 lengths behind while the front-runners dueled. The race set up perfectly for Raging Sea. She took aim on Idiomatic and was up by a head with a 97 Beyer, a new best. The distant third-place finisher was subsequent PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Soul of an Angel.

Raging Sea regressed next out but won Grade 2 Beldame anyway, by a head at 1-10 odds. On to the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. The field was decimated by scratches, injuries, and retirement, and Thorpedo Anna was the controlling speed. Raging Sea was forced into a pace-pressing role and chased the winner throughout. Raging Sea finished second by 2 1/2 lengths.

The Breeders’ Cup runner-up finish capped an outstanding 4-year-old campaign by Raging Sea, who won four races and $1,073,850 from six starts. Overall, she has won seven races and $1,538,478 from 13 starts. Plans call for Raging Sea to campaign at age 5 in 2025.

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