Voting for 2023 Moment of the Year begins

Last year’s winner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Moment of the Year will have its reprise up for selection again this year.

The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile win by Cody’s Wish in 2023 – his second straight win in the race – is among the 13 “moments” that the NTRA is offering voters this year. Last year, voters selected the Dirt Mile victory by Cody’s Wish as the 2022 “Moment in the Year,” largely due to his unusual attachment to Cody Dorman, a teenager with a rare genetic disorder. Dorman, who died a day after this year’s Breeders’ Cup, was trackside for both wins.

The NTRA began administering the Moment of the Year in 2000, honoring events of the previous year. Under this year’s rules, voting will be offered on the NTRA’s website and via X, the social-media service formerly known as Twitter. Voting opened on Wednesday and will be offered through Jan. 16.

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The other “moments” that will be offered to voters are:

* Frankie Dettori’s decision to postpone his retirement to reside and ride in Southern California;

* The national tour of the “Secretariat: Larger Than Life” exhibit celebrating the anniversary of the horse’s 1973 Triple Crown;

* Jockey Irad Ortiz equaling the Gulfstream record of seven wins on one card, which he did consecutively on Feb. 3;

* Mage’s victory in the May 6 Kentucky Derby;

* National Treasure’s win in the May 20 Preakness Stakes;

* Arcangelo’s victory in the June 10 Belmont Stakes, making his trainer, Jena Antonucci, the first female trainer of a winner of a Triple Crown race;

* Arcangelo’s win in the Travers Stakes;

* Goodnight Olive’s repeat win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint;

* White Abarrio’s victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, providing a measure of his redemption to his trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr. after returning to racing from a 10-year ban;

* Elite Power’s second consecutive victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint;

* Trainer Linda Rice’s 165th victory at a NYRA track in 2023, achieved on the last day of the year, giving her the single-season record for most wins in a year; and

* Trainer Brittany Russell winning the trainer’s title in Maryland, becoming the first female trainer to lead the state’s trainer standings.

The connections of the top vote-getter will be recognized during the Jan. 25 Eclipse Awards dinner in South Florida.

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