Idiomatic awarded the Champion Older Female Eclipse for the second year running

Following another successful season which saw her add a further three Graded victories to her record, Idiomatic was voted Champion Older Female for the second time at the Annual Eclipse Awards.

Taken from the Thoroughbred Daily News, 24th January 2025, by Jill Williams:

Idiomatic kicked off her year on Kentucky Oaks Day in the Gr.1 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs as the 4-5 choice. Pressing the leader until the three-eighths pole, she took over with nonchalance and drew clear in the lane for a facile the and three-quarter-
length victory. It was a fitting return for a champion and her sixth consecutive win, which is why her next start - Gr.1 Ogden Phipps Stakes--was such a surprise when she came out a head short in a scintillating stretch duel. To be fair, Idiomatic had lost significant ground going extremely wide around both of the Spa's turns.

Ready to set things right in July in Monmouth's Gr.3 Molly Pitcher stakes, Idiomatic bobbled out of the gate, set an easy pace, and got suddenly overtaken by a vastly improving Soul of an Angel - the same filly who would close the year with her own Eclipse Award Thursday night as Champion Female Sprinter. Idiomatic fought back and the two finished a head apart but more than nine lengths clear of the third-place finisher. Idiomatic had gutted out the win. Inconceivably, the champion's next race was her third consecutive start decided by a head and it wasn't in her favor. A surging Raging Sea, a finalist alongside Idiomatic in the Champion Older Female division, ran down the champ in the shadow of the wire in Saratoga's Gr.1 Personal Ensign Stakes in August.

The Gr.1 Juddmonte Spinster in front of the home crowd at Keeneland was next, a race Idiomatic dominated in 2023. Despite the two summer losses, trainer Brad Cox insisted before the race that Idiomatic hadn't lost a step and was the same brilliant horse as she'd shown the year prior. She proved him right - emphatically so - in the Spinster, sailing to a powerhouse, six and a half-length score.

A scheduled showdown between Idiomatic and eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna  in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, one of the most anticipated races of the year, had to be scrapped when Idiomatic suffered a minor injury in late October. The dual champion retired with five Grade 1 wins, nine blacktype wins, and earnings just shy of $4 million.

Idiomatic's late dam, a descendant of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best in Show, was a full-sister to 2014 Champion Older Female Close Hatches, herself dam of three Graded winners.