Awesome Hawaiian

What were the most popular stories in the TDN in 2025? What resonated most with our readers? Here again is our annual review of the stories you liked the most and the ones that received the most views: 1) Alvarado Faces Penalties for Overuse of Whip in the Derby, by Bill Finley. 258,371 Views. Winning the GI Kentucky Derby aboard Sovereignty (Into Mischief) was the highlight of jockey Junior Alvarado's career. But the story included a bad footnote as Alvarado faced penalties from HISA for overuse of the whip. Under...

The sixth race Wednesday at Churchill Downs was, on the surface, rather unremarkable. It was just a $30,000 maiden claimer for 2-year-olds, normally the type of race where even the winner usually doesn't amount to much. But the race, won by a horse named Awesome Hawaiian (Awesome Bet), turned out to be one of the most remarkable and heartwarming stories of the year. You probably know prominent owner John Stewart and his family and their work to save horses from slaughter. But 99 times out of 100 those horses never...