To celebrate a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association (NYRA) circuit, the NYRA press office checked in with a selection of racing personalities to share their reflections on the memorable year
Thorpedo Anna, the reigning Horse of the Year, drew a crowd at Saratoga this summer. And not only on the track for her start in the G1 Personal Ensign on Travers day, but also for her morning workouts on the Oklahoma training track and scheduled visits by her trainer Kenny McPeek with an adoring public at the barn.
NYRA’s track photographer Adam Coglianese, son of the late track photographer Bob Coglianese, enjoyed an up close and personal view of Thorpedo Anna’s dramatic nose win over Dorth Vader in the Personal Ensign.
His win photo captured the two mares side-by-side and nose-to-nose in a furious stretch battle as John Velazquez, with gritted teeth, implored Dorth Vader for more only to be denied by the brilliant Thorpedo Anna, ears pinned, under her regular rider Brian Hernandez.
Coglianese, who has spent three decades as NYRA’s track photographer, also listed the great Hall of Famer Cigar as one of his favorites to shoot. The Bill Mott trainee was a dual Horse of the Year and equalled Citation’s modern-day North American record of 16 consecutive victories with his win in the Citation Challenge at Arlington in 1996.
Among his victories during that streak were the 1995 Woodward, the 1995 Jockey Club Gold Cup, the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Classic, and the 1996 Woodward, all G1s at Belmont Park; as well as the 1994 G1 NYRA Mile at Aqueduct.
Coglianese employs a team that includes photographer Chelsea O’Rourke. Together, they capture more than 18 terabytes of photos each year, but for Coglianese, the one picture that stood out to him in 2025 was Thorpedo Anna’s dramatic Personal Ensign win.
The NYRA press office sat down with Coglianese to discuss his photo and some of the more memorable moments in his lengthy tenure in New York.
How difficult is it to capture a photo such as this with two horses racing so close together?
Adam Coglianese: The cameras are focused and set prior to the race. On days like that I have multiple cameras to cover every path on the racetrack. There's no guarantee the horse will end up in the right spot in the right stride and a lot of the time – if the horse is in the right spot but the wrong stride, I won't use it.
In this particular case, it was a big day, and I had six cameras covering each lane of the stretch. Everybody loved Thorpedo Anna, she's a popular horse, and it's a powerful picture with two horses straining for the wire in a Grade 1.
How long have you been watching racing here in New York?
I’ve been coming to the races since 1989. I used to come on the weekends in high school when I was learning to take pictures with my father.
I've been the track photographer full-time here for the past 33 years. I've spent my whole life coming to the races, including every summer at Saratoga. I remember coming here to Aqueduct with friends in high school and you'd have to park on the grass because there was no parking and the lines to bet went from the window to the apron.”
What are your favorite racedays in New York?
On Belmont Stakes day there is more energy in the air than any other stakes day, hands down. I always loved the fall days, especially the old ‘Super Saturdays’ at the Belmont Park fall meet, and I'm looking forward to having those big days again at the new Belmont Park.
Why was Cigar a personal favorite of yours?
I loved Cigar because it was the beginning days of me being here full-time. He was at his peak for three years and we saw him regularly.
He won the Breeders' Cup at Belmont, and I got the picture on the wire. We all shot a specific angle with a 300mm lens and caught the horse with all four feet off the ground – on film, not digital. He was a good-looking horse and a fun one to shoot. When he won the Woodward on Super Saturday [in 1995], Jack Nicholson was here in the winner’s circle. He was a great horse and drew a crowd.
Honorable mention to Rachel Alexandra, who beat the boys and won the Woodward [in 2009] and was an extremely popular horse. It was deafening that day. That's what horse racing is about. The fans rallied around her and got involved. They couldn't wait to see her and be a part of it. It was the same as a Triple Crown possibility – people wanted to be there and got into it and rooted for that horse.
In 2015, American Pharoah won the Triple Crown. It was my first Triple Crown winner, and I was lucky enough to shoot another one three years later with Justify. But with American Pharoah, everyone was waiting for another Triple Crown after 37 years.
Why do you think Thorpedo Anna captured the public’s attention over the past few years?
Kenny was generous in sharing her with the fans. Her morning workouts at Saratoga were popular and so many people came out to watch her train.
Everybody in the industry likes it when a good horse comes back to race year after year. To see a horse like that – a Horse of the Year – come back and fight like she did in the Personal Ensign was huge.
It's a big plus for the industry but unfortunately horses do have to retire at some point. It was great that Churchill Downs paraded the horse prior to leaving the racetrack. Now, we look forward to the next big horse.
• Visit the Coglianese website to see more of team’s photos and visit the NYRA Aqueduct website
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