He began working with horses just three years ago but won 153 races in his first full season of riding in 2011 to earn recognition as an Eclipse Award finalist for champion apprentice jockey.

Frey, a 19-year-old native of Tracy, Calif., who spent most of the season riding at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania, got serious about a career in racing in his late teens and went to work on a ranch in Washington State.

As usual, jockey John Velazquez proved a force in 2011 on the Florida-New York circuit over which he regularly competes. But it was his rides at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. – where he won his first Kentucky Derby aboard Animal Kingdom and later notched two Breeders’ Cup victories, aboard Stephanie’s Kitten in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and on longshot Perfect Shirl in the Emirates Airlines Filly and Mare Turf – that made the year so memorable.

The Ramseys’ homebred stallion and 2004 champion turf horse Kitten’s Joy has helped his owners establish a dynasty at their Ramsey Farm near Nicholasville, Ky.

Frank Stronach’s far-flung breeding operation continued to dominate North American racing in 2011, ending the season well ahead in every category. With the largest number of starters among top breeders – 483 compared with second-ranked Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s 231 – Adena Springs led by total earnings with more than $14 million, by number of stakes winners with 20, and by number of winners with 252.

For jockey Ramon Dominguez, 2010 was a career year as he led North America in money won with more than $16.1 million and earned his first Eclipse Award as outstanding rider.

As rewarding as 2010 was, 2011 proved even more lucrative for the 35-year-old Dominguez. He was the second-leading rider in North America by victories, and he again led in money won, with his mounts earning more than $19.4 million.

After their homebred Kitten’s Joy won the 2004 Eclipse as champion turf male, Ken and Sarah Ramsey gambled he would make a good sire. Their decision to breed many of their mares to him has paid off, and in 2011 they enjoyed their biggest successes with homebreds by the stallion Ken Ramsey has called “the family stallion.”

Cape Blanco was already a multiple Group 1 stakes winner when he made his first trip to the United States in July 2011.

Less than three months later, by Oct. 1, he had won three consecutive Grade 1 stakes to outdo his previous accomplishments and earn a nomination as finalist for champion turf male of 2011.

Trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien, Cape Blanco was bred by Jack Ronan and Des Vere Hunt Farm Co. As a 4-year-old in 2011, he was a global traveler. He raced in four countries, exclusively in Grade 1 or Group 1 races, and had his greatest success in the United States.

The focus was on family, and rightfully so, when Joseph O’Brien, all 18 years of him, guided St Nicholas Abbey to an emphatic victory in the Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5 on behalf of his 42-year-old father, Aidan.

It was the first time a father and son had teamed to win a race in the storied history of the Breeders’ Cup, and it took an outstanding horse to get them there.

Benoit & Associates

Although she was Group 2-placed as a 2-year-old in her native England, Dubawi Heights did not make a smooth transition to racing in the United States as a 3-year-old in 2010, missing most of the season for one reason or another. But she made up for it in 2011 and ended the year as a finalist for an Eclipse Award for top female turf runner.

Expectations were high for Stacelita upon her arrival to the United States, and she more than met them, becoming a finalist for the Eclipse Award for top female turf runner.

Stacelita began her career with six straight wins and was ranked the top 3-year-old filly in France in 2009 after winning three Group 1 races, the Prix de Diane (French Oaks), Prix Saint-Alary, and Prix Vermeille. At age 4, she garnered a fourth Group 1 tally in the Prix Jean Romanet.