2012 and 2013 American Horse of the Year
February 20 - Wise Dan
This Horse of the Year is that rare turf horse to win the top honor. For two years, this horse was practically unbeatable.
I was able to meet and speak with Mort Fink, his breeders and owner at the Eclipse Awards in Miami. Mort was well into his 80s and then some but he smiled really big and said, "When you have a horse like Wise Dan in the barn, it gives you a reason to get out of bed every day." Mort passed away a few years later, but it wasn't until Wise Dan had retired from racing.
I'm always so blessed to talk with people about their horses and hear their deepest sincere thoughts, but when you see their faces light up and twinkle pop into their eyes, well, that's about as good as it gets.
Wise Dan was one of the most beloved racehorses of his era, a brilliant gelding who won back to back Horse of the Year titles thanks to his amazing versatility. He was foaled in 2007, a son of the stallion Wiseman's Ferry out of the mare Lisa Danielle. He was bred and owned by Morton Fink, the longtime racing fan who had waited a lifetime to find a horse this good, and he was trained by Charles LoPresti, the patient Kentucky based horseman. John Velazquez rode him through nearly all of his greatest moments.
Wise Dan could do it all. He won at distances from sprints to a mile and an eighth, and he won on dirt, on turf, and on synthetic surfaces. In 2012 he became the first horse ever to win four Eclipse Awards in a single year. He was named Horse of the Year, Champion Older Male, Champion Male Turf Horse, and Champion Male Sprinter. The center jewel of that wonderful season was a powerful win in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita, where he showed off the wonderful late kick that made him so dangerous on the grass.
The encore was every bit as good. Wise Dan repeated as Horse of the Year in 2013, picking up wins in major mile stakes across North America and capping the year with a successful defense of his Breeders' Cup Mile crown at Santa Anita. The performance made him only the third horse ever to win the same Breeders' Cup race in back to back years. Through his championship seasons he built up a string of major race wins at tracks like Keeneland, Woodbine, and Churchill Downs, where the Maker's Mark Mile became almost a personal property.
Colic surgery and other ailments kept him off the track at times in 2014, but he came back for one last good year before being retired in 2015 with earnings of more than $7.5 million. As a gelding he could not begin a stud career, so Wise Dan retired to a happy life on Charles LoPresti's Kentucky farm. He passed away in 2025 after a long retirement, and tributes poured in from all corners of the racing world. Wise Dan is remembered as one of the great fan favorites of the modern era, a versatile champion whose two Horse of the Year trophies put him in some of the rarest company in the sport.
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