One of the top newsmakers of 2012, the Sovereign Award-winning jockey appeared on the HBO series “Luck,” got married, rode Game On Dude to victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup, lost that mount after a defeat in the Pacific Classic, and retired in October with 931 career victories, including the 2011 Santa Anita Handicap with Game On Dude.

As the New Year looms ever closer, let’s pause to reflect on the many exciting moments that defined the 2012 Thoroughbred season. Since December is a month for giving, it feels like an appropriate time to hand out our annual unofficial awards.
 

SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR

Wise Dan, Groupie Doll, and Royal Delta were brilliant. Little Mike and Shackleford displayed immense courage. I’ll Have Another gave the sport a needed shot in the arm.

But Frankel was flawless.

Due to continued poor winter weather conditions, Penn National Race Course and its sister track in West Virginia, Charles Town, have called off their live racing programs for Thursday.

Both tracks are open for simulcasting, along with Penn National’s off-track betting locations in Chambersburg, Lancaster, Reading, and York, Pa.

Live racing is expected to resume at both tracks Friday night.

Daily Racing Form’s Dan Illman picks his 10 best races of 2012.

10. Metropolitan Handicap (May 28, Belmont)

Winner: Shackleford by a nose
Shackleford simply refused to lose the Met Mile. After setting the pace, he was confronted in the stretch by the quality Caleb’s Posse and just wouldn’t let that one past. The race was emblematic of Shackleford’s desire and courage.

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Daily Racing Form asked readers to cast their votes on the biggest races and storylines of the year. Here are the winners of the 2012 DRF.com fan poll.
 

Read more: I'll Have Another embodied season of defections, debate

Here now, division by division, a recap of the 2012 racing year:

Paynter, the winner of the 2012 Haskell Stakes who has been sidelined with various ailments for most of the latter half of the year, has been selected to receive the third annual “Vox Populi” award, a prize that is administered by the connections of the late two-time Horse of the Year Secretariat.

I’ll Have Another. His owner, Paul Reddam, said the colt was named for the extra cookies he would request each night, a sugar rush perhaps not unlike the giddy feeling of seeing a horse on the cusp of attempting to sweep the Triple Crown.

I’ll Have Another. The likely request to the bartender of a dispirited patron, head in hand at the end of the bar, attempting to wash his sorrows, perhaps after learning there would be no Triple Crown attempt after all. There was no joy in Elmont. Mighty Casey at least got to strike out. I’ll Have Another never got to the plate.

At a time when horse racing desperately seeks to attract high-profile owners from the entertainment industry, the game lost one of its most dedicated members with the death of actor Jack Klugman at age 90.

Just like in his acting career, Klugman’s ride in the racing industry took him to the highest peaks of his trade. Klugman earned awards on the stage and screen, and his horses ran in the biggest races the sport has to offer, highlighted by homebred Jaklin Klugman’s third-place finish in the 1980 Kentucky Derby.

Forecasts calling for a combination of snow, sleet, and freezing rain caused Turfway Park in northern Kentucky and Penn National Race Course in central Pennsylvania to call off their live racing programs Wednesday.

Laurel Park ran only two races before calling off its live racing card. The featured $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship will be redrawn Thursday for Monday's special New Year's Eve program.