St Mark’s Basilica has won the Cartier award as European Horse of the Year for 2021, one of two Cartier Award winners and three awards for Ireland-based trainer Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore operation for which he trains. Coolmore and O’Brien’s second Cartier winner this year is Snowfall, named champion 3-year-old filly when the Cartier Awards were announced Wednesday in England. Cartier winners are decided through a three-pronged system, horses ranked through a combination of points earned in group stakes races, ratings from a panel of handicappers and racing journalists, and a reader vote tabulated from two English publications, Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph. St Mark’s Basilica, also the Cartier 3-year-old winner, emerged as a leading European performer in races between one mile and 1 5/16 miles during 2021, capturing two French Classics – the Poule d’Essai des Poulains over one mile and the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) over 1 5/16 miles – before beating older horses (with help from a considerable weight advantage) in the 1 1/4-mile Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park. St Mark’s Basilica met with a late-summer injury when he threw a shoe into his leg, sustaining a cut that became infected. After missing an intended start in the Juddmonte International, St Mark’s Basilica made it to the Irish Champion Stakes, which he won by a narrow margin over Tarnawa and Poetic Flare despite dramatically drifting right in the race’s late stages, impeding Tarnawa but avoiding disqualification. St Mark’s Basilica, by Siyouni out of Cabaret, by Galileo, was retired to stud a couple weeks after the Irish Champion. Other finalists for Horse of the Year were top miler Baaeed, multiple Group 1 winner Mishriff, and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe upset winner Torquator Tasso. Baaeed and two Godolphin colts, Adayar and Hurricane Lane, were the other finalists in the 3-year-old category. Palace Pier, a 4-year-old miler victorious in three Group 1s – the Lockinge, the Queen Anne, and the Jacques le Marois – was named the Cartier older horse. Trained by John and Thady Gosden for the heirs of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Palace Pier is by Kingman out of Beach Frolic, by Nayef, and was retired to stud after finishing second behind Baaeed in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in October. :: Bet the races with confidence on DRF Bets. You're one click away from the only top-rated betting platform fully integrated with exclusive data, analysis, and expert picks. Snowfall failed in the fall to fully live up to her summer potential but still took down the Cartier Award for 3-year-old filly. Snowfall won the Oaks at Epsom by a record 16 lengths and added victories in the Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks before meeting with her first 2021 defeat in the Prix Vermeille, where Teona beat her. Snowfall, a Japan-bred by Deep Impact out of Best in The World, by Galileo, was sixth in the Arc and third in the British Champions Fillies and Mares to conclude her campaign. Native Trail, a Godolphin colt trained by Charlie Appleby, was named top 2-year-old of 2021, an easy choice after he concluded a perfect four-start season winning the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at The Curragh and the Group 1 Dewhurst at Newmarket. Native Trail is by Oasis Dream out of Needleleaf, by Observatory. Inspiral, also 4 for 4 and a two-time Group 1 winner, is the Cartier 2-year-old filly. A second winner for the Gosdens, she is by Frankel out of Starscope, by Selkirk. Starman (by Dutch Art) was named champion sprinter in a muddled division, while Trueshan (by Planteur) was an easy choice as the Cartier staying horse.