Cover image courtesy of Kentucky Derby
Sovereignty (Into Mischief) capped off yet another massive evening at the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's far-flung Godolphin operation, capping the festivities at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, by being named America's Horse of the Year for 2025 by a wide margin.
Sovereignty is the King of 2025
It marks the second time in three years that a horse bred and raced by Godolphin stole the show, following on from Cody's Wish (Curlin), who took down top honours in 2023. Godolphin was also named outstanding owner and breeder Thursday evening, and largely for his work managing the big colt, Bill Mott earned his fiith Eclipse as outstanding trainer. He also called the shots on the career of Cody's Wish.
“First of all, I can't express how proud I am to be the one to hold this award,” said Mott, accepting the night's most-coveted trophy. “I mean, it is so telling of the entire Godolphin team, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. What he's done for racing in this country and all around the world is amazing. To be able to be part of winning his first Kentucky Derby and another Horse of the Year is just unimaginable, unexplainable. I'm so proud to be standing here with the Godolphin team: Michael (Banahan), Dan (Pride), the whole entire group.”
Though the racing public at large was denied the opportunity to see what Sovereignty could do against his elders when unfortunately withdrawn from the GI Breeders' Cup Classic early that week, there was no denying his brilliance over a six-race campaign that saw him win the first and third legs of the Triple Crown either side of a much-discussed and much-maligned decision to give the GI Preakness Stakes a miss.
If the objective was to have a relatively fresh horse for the second half of the season, it was certainly mission accomplished, as he was imperious in completing the Saratoga sophomore stakes double over the summer and by all accounts, would have been a very tough customer and favoured in the Classic against the likes of Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), Mindframe (Constitution) and Fierceness (City of Light) in the main event on championship Saturday.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be, some 201 members of the three voting blocs–the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) and Daily Racing Form (DRF)–were willing to cast a Horse of the Year vote in his favour.
Sovereignty's name also appeared on the first line each of the 219 ballots (with one abstention) for champion 3-year-old male, making him the evening's lone unanimous winner.
It's all about Ted Noffey
But for single votes cast for the impressive GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Gstaad (GB) (Starspangledbanner) and Spendthrift Farm's Further Ado (Gun Runner), the latter ownership's Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) would have also been a unanimous choice for champion 2-year-old male off a 4-for-4 season that was capped by success in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Oct. 31. The fillies' counterpart also supplied the champion 2-year-old filly in the form of Super Corredora (Gun Runner), who comfortably beat GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint victress Cy Fair (Not This Time) by a count of 146-49.
Turf awards to Notable Speech and She Feels Pretty
For the fourth time in the space of just five years, a Charlie Appleby-conditioned son of Dalham Hall Stud's magnificent Dubawi (Ire) provided Godolphin with the Eclipse statuette for champion turf male. Notable Speech (GB) endured a bit of a frustrating run in Europe in the first part of 2025, but that all changed in his last two starts of the preparation, including a fast-finishing victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile to improve on a somewhat unlucky third in the same event 12 months prior. It was coincidentally a fourth win in five years in that race for Godolphin-bred and -raced sons of Dubawi. Rebel's Romance (Ire), the reigning Eclipse turf champion, was a distant second in this year's balloting.
Up-and-coming trainer Cherie DeVaux was represented by the first champion of her burgeoning career when Lael Stables' She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) took home the hardware in the turf female category, with Grade I victories north and south of the border. She received 151 of the 220 first-place votes, outdistancing the 3-year-old filly who defeated her in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, Gezora (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}), who tallied 36 votes.
Nitrogen is the dominat filly
Outside of Sovereignty and Ted Noffey, the next most-dominant divisional winner was D J Stables' Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) who attracted all but 37 of the votes to earn champion 3-year-old filly honours. Equally adept on the turf and on the dirt, the homebred defeated GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint heroine Shisospicy (Mitole), who picked up 24 votes to finish a clear second.
The latter was also third behind She's So Pretty in the turf female category, but was not denied her own moment in the spotlight when her connections accepted the Eclipse Award for champion female sprinter. Her wire-to-wire tour-de-force in the Turf Sprint earned her top honours over Splendora (Audible), the convincing winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.
Older horse awards create debate
The older dirt male divisions, both short and long, were the subject of many a heated discussion across social media since the Eclipse finalists were announced on Jan. 4. In the older dirt male division, the voters ultimately decided that Forever Young's historic victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic was the most convincing piece of form in a division which never truly yielded a leader over the course of the season. In the end, the voting was surprisingly decisive, as the G1 Saudi Cup winner received 117 votes to the 50 for the reigning champion 3-year-old colt and defending Classic winner Sierra Leone.
The male sprint division tossed up the evening's closest contest, but by a count of 115 to 82, Eclipse voters rewarded Atlantic Six Racing's Book'em Danno (Bucchero) for his consistent body of work from March through to the end of August, a stretch which included an unprecedented sequence of victories at Saratoga, among them the GI Forego Stakes. His absence from the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint proved no detriment, as he outpointed Bentornato (Valiant Minister), who posted a pair of towering Beyer Speed Figures in his two starts–including in the Sprint–but was penalized for the abbreviated campaign.
Similar to its male counterpart, the 2025 dirt female division was characterized by unpredictability and the lack of a dominating presence. Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) was not the same animal that was anointed Horse of the Year and champion of her generation during these ceremonies 12 months ago, but a pair of elite-level successes which took her career total to seven earned her a third statue, this one for champion older dirt female. Scylla (Tapit) finally put it all together in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but was soundly defeated into second in divisional balloting.
In the battle for champion steeplechase horse, Riverdee Stables' Cool Jet (Ire) (Jet Away {GB}) was also rewarded for his consistency, romping from on or near the pace in the Commonwealth Cup in May, the Mariann de Tejada Memorial in October and the Noel Lainge in early November.
On the heels of yet hugely successful year in the saddle, Flavien Prat picked up his second straight Eclipse Award as outstanding journeyman jockey, while Pietro Moran landed the Eclipse for outstanding apprentice in a season highlighted by a victory in the King's Plate.
A total of 240 ballots were distributed to members of the three aforementioned voting blocs, of which 220 (91.7%) were returned. In voting that concluded Jan. 1, 2026, Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system. This voting established the top three finalists in each division, whose names were released on Jan. 4, 2026. The Eclipse Awards are determined by first-place votes only.
