It has become something of a rarity for a Thoroughbred to win a Grade 1 stakes at 2 and then come back and do it again the following year. Sweet Reason was sufficiently talented and durable to do so, and the daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense earned a spot among the Eclipse Award finalists in the 3-year-old filly division.

Sweet Reason burst onto the scene with two lengthy victories at Saratoga for Treadway Racing Stable, including a scintillating score in the Grade 1 Spinaway with a Beyer Speed Figure of 98 that was the fastest race by a juvenile filly in 2013.

“It’s not how you start but how you finish” is a phrase that applied to Stopchargingmaria, who earned a spot among the Eclipse Award finalists in the 3-year-old filly division with a strong second half in 2014.

After closing out her juvenile campaign with wins in the Tempted and Demoiselle stakes at Aqueduct, expectations were high when Stopchargingmaria returned at Gulfstream Park for her 2014 debut in the Davona Dale Stakes. But a wide trip from the far-outside post resulted in a fifth-place finish.

Nationwide in 2014, Stephanie’s Kitten commanded attention in the filly-and-mare turf division, running in six consecutive Grade 1 races in Kentucky, New York, and California.

Along the way, she lost more than she won, but her overall campaign was one of the finest of the year, earning a nomination for the Eclipse Award in the female turf category. When it meant the most, in the major stakes of the autumn, voters were left with a favorable impression of Stephanie’s Kitten.

It took time for Shared Belief to be able to put his best foot forward in 2014, but once he did, he quickly got back to the level of racing that propelled him to an Eclipse Award as the champion male 2-year-old of 2013. He is seeking to become the first male 2-year-old champ to repeat at 3 since Lookin At Lucky in 2009-10.

Taylor Rice might be from a family long steeped in racing, but the 26-year-old waited a while to join the fray and in 2014 carved out her own place in the sport. Rice was one of North America’s leading “rookie riders” last year and for her accomplishments is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey of 2014.

Owners and breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey are in familiar territory as Eclipse Award finalists.

Based in Nicholasville, Ky., the Ramseys are four-time Eclipse winners – three times as outstanding owner and once as outstanding breeder. They earned honors in both categories in 2013, following a breakthrough season for their homebred stallion Kitten’s Joy. Their previous owner awards came in 2004 and 2011.

Half of Private Zone’s races in 2014 resulted in Grade 1 victories, which is outstanding by any measure. It was a relatively light campaign for the Ontario-bred gelding – just four starts – but he capitalized by winning the Grade 1 Vosburgh and Grade 1 Cigar Mile for the Good Friends Stable headed by Hilton Gordon and former jockey Rene Douglas.

In what has become a yearly tradition, Todd Pletcher topped all North American trainers in three key categories in 2014: earnings, stakes wins, and graded stakes victories.

In a reflection of his statistical dominance, no rival trainer came close to him in those areas. His stable earnings of almost $23 million were more than $8 million ahead of second-place Chad Brown; his 62 stakes wins were 21 ahead of Jerry Hollendorfer’s second-best 41; and his 40 graded stakes victories were well in excess of Bob Baffert’s 23.

What’s not to like about a precocious 2-year-old who wins a classic at age 3 and then goes on at 4 to dominate older runners and rise to the top of the American rankings? That is Palace Malice in a package.

Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds has long been known as a leader among blue-collar racing operations, but the Dyer, Ind., residents broke through on the biggest stage in 2014 with Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Work All Week.

The win capped another successful year for Midwest Thoroughbreds, which led all North American owners in wins for a fifth consecutive year, with 214 through Dec. 16. The stable also was second by earnings behind Ken and Sarah Ramsey with $5.6 million.