Treve triumphed over her physical problems to enter Arc lore (Frank Sorge/Horsephotos.com)

Comeback Player of the Year

TREVE's well-documented back problems made her questionable to defend her title in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. But somehow trainer Criquette Head-Maarek and her support staff got the superstar back to her brilliant best, and Treve once again reigned supreme on the Paris turf. Not merely the first repeat winner since Alleged (1977-78), who was himself the first since his male-line progenitor *Ribot (1955-56), Treve ranks as only the second distaffer to win two Arcs, emulating the legendary Corrida (1936-37).

Australia is a worthy son of Galileo and Ouija Board (Courtesy of Coolmore via Facebook)

AUSTRALIA is that rare creature, the offspring of champion parents who actually performed up to their level on the racecourse. In fact, this son of Galileo and Ouija Board is one of a kind: an Epsom Derby winner who was sired by a Derby winner from a proper Oaks winner. (I say proper, because the only other possible claimant to this title, Nijinsky II's son Lammtarra, was produced by Snow Bride, who was awarded the Oaks upon the disqualification of the much-the-best Aliysa.) Australia also emulated both Galileo and Ouija Board by completing a classic double in the Irish equivalent, and on a less happy note, by suffering a brutal beat in the Irish Champion. Unlike his parents, Australia competed in a mile classic and placed an excellent third in Newmarket's Guineas. Although Aidan O'Brien charmingly talks up the virtues of his favorites, Australia really did have the rare quality of being world-class from a mile up to 1 1/2 miles.

Kingman's turn of foot was nearly unassailable (Courtesy of Ascot via Facebook)

KINGMAN showed gears that his rivals could only dream of, in conditions ranging from sunny and quick to gray and bottomless. His sweep of the Irish Two Thousand Guineas, St James's Palace, Sussex and Prix Jacques le Marois marks him as an exceptional miler. Honorable mention goes to ABLE FRIEND, who reached blistering speed in a few bounds in the Hong Kong Classic Mile, Jockey Club Mile and Hong Kong Mile.

Feast or Famine Award

THE FUGUE ran only three times in 2014, turning in two of the worst races of her career. But no one will remember those, for they bookended perhaps her greatest performance -- a course-record smashing win to upstage Treve in the Prince of Wales's at Royal Ascot.

Noble Mission (left) outdueled Al Kazeem to join full brother Frankel on the Champion honor roll (Courtesy of Ascot via Facebook)

NOBLE MISSION scored a few other notable front-running wins in 2014, but he will be long remembered for prevailing after a hammer-and-tong duel with AL KAZEEM in the Champion Stakes. Forever in the shadow of his full brother Frankel, who retired unbeaten after the 2012 Champion, Noble Mission was sometimes accused of being faint-hearted or slightly ungenuine. But that unfair indictment was cast out once and for all, thanks to Noble Mission's heroic slog in the Ascot bog. Al Kazeem likewise deserves honor for his part in the titanic struggle, especially considering that he had stood at stud in the first part of the year before returning to training. He proved that he retains his old class as well as his admirable attitude.

Leading Light (far right) fought past Estimate (center) and Missunited (left) to achieve the St Leger/Ascot Gold Cup double (Courtesy of Ascot via Facebook)

LEADING LIGHT became something of a throwback -- a St Leger winner who followed up as an older horse with a victory in the Ascot Gold Cup. By battling his way to the line at Ascot, the O'Brien colt joined the list of such archaic legends as Touchstone, The Flying Dutchman, West Australian, Gladiateur, Isinglass, La Fleche, Persimmon, Bayardo and Gainsborough. This feat is rarely seen in the modern era. After Solario turned the St Leger/Ascot Gold Cup double in 1925-26, a full 70 years passed until Classic Cliche (1995-96) matched him, and he was the last before Leading Light. Ascot was also the scene of an historic triumph for TAGHROODA, who became the first sophomore filly to defeat older males in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes since Pawneese in 1976. And she did it handsomely, as much the best. Like Pawneese, Taghrooda had also landed the Oaks at Epsom. The somewhat prophetically named ADELAIDE scored a landmark win as the first international invader to plunder the Cox Plate. The O'Brien sophomore had to do it the hard way, after drawing unfavorably wide around Moonee Valley's tight circuit. Ace pilot Ryan Moore rode him confidently as the best in the race, anchoring at the rear and launching an impossibly wide rally on the far turn, but the tactic worked as he forged ahead in a blanket finish.

Designs on Rome outstayed Able Friend in the battle of star stablemates (Hong Kong Jockey Club)

DESIGNS ON ROME takes an age to wind up, and you'd better be scrubbing along a long way out, but the Hong Kong Horse of the Year knows how to assert when it counts. His first serious rivalry was with stablemate Able Friend in the four-year-old series last winter. A staying-on second to that mile specialist in the Hong Kong Classic Mile, the John Moore charge flaunted his superior stamina to best Able Friend in the Hong Kong Classic Cup and Hong Kong Derby. Designs on Rome has since developed an archrivalry with Military Attack, surging in the final strides to nip him in both the QE II Cup and Hong Kong Cup.

Night of Thunder (center) shocked Kingman (far side) and Australia in the Two Thousand Guineas (Courtesy of Newmarket via Facebook)

NIGHT OF THUNDER's only win of the season was a 40-1 shocker in the Two Thousand Guineas, where he marred Kingman's otherwise flawless record and outkicked Australia to boot. He had previously been stuffed by Kingman in the Greenham, and he would later be swept aside by the Juddmonte colt again in the St James's Palace. Making the Newmarket result even more galling, Night of Thunder had the effrontery to veer dramatically from the far side, yet still had enough momentum on the diagonal to lurch past Kingman and Australia. THE GREY GATSBY had to overturn the form book to beat Australia in the Irish Champion, but sparked by a well-timed Ryan Moore ride, he did just that to run down the prohibitive favorite. TAPESTRY endured a frustrating year with the exception of just one golden moment, when she managed to upend Taghrooda in the Yorkshire Oaks. Taghrooda turned out to be in season at the time. EPIPHANEIA picked the right time to put it all together in the Japan Cup. While the son of Symboli Kris S and Cesario wasn't a huge shock, few could have predicted him pulling fiercely all around Tokyo and blitzing home by four lengths.

Gentildonna (left) muscled her way out of the pocket to beat "Living Legend" Cirrus des Aigles (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club)

Most Frustrating Horse to Follow

HARP STAR's 2014 highlights include a classic victory in the Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas), in race record-equaling time, and a score over top older male Gold Ship in the Sapporo Kinen. That's a fine season's work if you're the typical three-year-old filly, but Harp Star enticed us into believing that she could achieve so much more. While her loss by a neck in the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) was agonizing, by far the worst was to follow in the Arc. Instead of moving earlier, as worked so well at Sapporo, she reverted to the extreme come-from-the-clouds gambit. Still at the rear swinging for home, and facing an impossible task from that position, she flew down the straight for sixth. The Deep Impact filly should have been a lot closer. Her seasonal finale in the Japan Cup resulted in another belated fifth. Can we hope that tactical adaptability becomes part of her game plan in 2015?

Louis rose from obscurity to be the King of South Africa's Triple Crown (Courtesy of @whoislouisking via Twitter)

Most Heartwarming Story

LOUIS THE KING, ignored at the Suncoast KwaZulu-Natal Yearling Sale, was famously bought sight unseen by trainer Geoff Woodruff -- all because of a chance meeting in the parking lot. That impromptu R60,000 purchase ended up following in the hoofsteps of the great Horse Chestnut, becoming just the second winner of the South African Triple Crown. Foreign interests have reportedly tried to snap him up, but connections understandably don't want to part with the fan favorite. THE CLEANER is often described as a "cult hero" in Australia. Trained out of a paddock off the beaten path in his native Tasmania, the bargain A$10,000 buy races for a group of golf buddies. They came to own him only because his hard-scrabble trainer Mick Burles didn't have the money for him. The blue-collar prospect has wildly exceeded expectations, winning the Dato Tan Chin Nam in his trademark pacesetting style and taking his unlikely connections to the Cox Plate. Half-sibling stablemates SPIRIT OF BOOM and TEMPLE OF BOOM fought out the finish in the Doomben 10,000. Spirit, the younger "Boom Brother" who was soon to retire to stud, just edged the older gelding Temple, in a perfect outcome for their Eureka Stud connections.

The loss of St Nicholas Abbey was the first of too many in 2014 (Courtesy of Coolmore via Facebook)

We lost so many in 2014 that I must apologize in advance if any notables are omitted: ST NICHOLAS ABBEY succumbed to colic, after waging a magnificent battle against laminitis; MARS suffered a fatal heart attack early in the Sheema Classic, a sad end to his star-crossed career; LESSTALK IN PARIS somehow died in the course of a vet exam in preparation for a private sale; INCHILA did not survive the pelvic fracture suffered in the Ribblesdale; WIGMORE HALL sustained irreparable injuries in a handicap on the St Leger undercard, and his "euthanasia" came from the barrel of a gun; ENCKE lost his life after breaking down in a routine workout; ADMIRE RAKTI collapsed after trailing as the favorite in the Melbourne Cup, another cardiac victim; Cup rival ARALDO had to be euthanized after a freak accident on the way to being unsaddled; and TRADING LEATHER broke down fatally in the Japan Cup.

High Chaparral has left a global legacy (Courtesy of Coolmore via Facebook)

HIGH CHAPARRAL, a standout both on the racecourse and at stud, died a few days before Christmas at the relatively young age of 15. This worthy son of Sadler's Wells turned the Epsom/Irish Derby double in 2002 and also ranks as a two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf, famously tying Johar in the historic dead-heat of 2003. The multiple champion went on to sire So You Think, It's a Dundeel, Toronado, Wigmore Hall and Free Eagle. Hopefully the "Eagle" will burnish his legacy in 2015.