As bettors finetune their handicapping skills for 2026, let’s take a Top 10 look at the most compelling horse racing stories of 2025.
On and off the track, thoroughbred racing delivered so many highs and lows -- an unusual twist in the Triple Crown, the death of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, and a historic victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
The year provided no shortage of drama, from 6-year-old White Abarrio winning the first Grade 1 of the year – the Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January to Sovereignty’s dominance with stirring victories in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) to Japan’s Forever Young winning the BC Classic on Nov. 1.
So many spectacular races around the world, so many dominant victories, close calls and huge upsets, it’s a tough task to select the most significant stories of the year.
And so much sadness with the loss of some legendary names in the sport. Among them: Lukas and fellow trainer Christophe Clement; Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, who guided Secretariat to the 1973 Triple Crown; owner Patrice Wolfson (1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed); popular public handicapper/horse owner Jeff Siegel; Keeneland icon Ted Bassett; and 1997 Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold.
Champions were retired, including 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, 2024 Derby winner Mystik Dan, 2024 BC Classic winner Sierra Leone and four-time Grade 1 winner Fierceness.
Here’s our list of the Top 10 horse racing stories that defined a memorable year:
There’s little doubt that Sovereignty ruled the racetrack in 2025. His remarkable run started with a sensational rally in the rain to win the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. After Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott opted to pass on the Preakness Stakes (G2) and end any chance for a Triple Crown, Sovereignty rolled to a three-length win in the Belmont Stakes (G1) in June.
His summer season at Saratoga produced victories in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) and the Travers Stakes (G1). He would have been the favorite in a strong field for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 but he was scratched a few days before the race after spiking a fever. The Godolphin-owned son of Into Mischief is a shoo-in for Horse of the Year with five wins and a second (in the Florida Derby) in 2025.
Legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Famer whose passion for perfection forever changed the sport of thoroughbred racing, passed away at the age of 89.
Lukas, known as “The Coach,’’ won 20 Breeders’ Cup races and 15 Triple Crown races, including the Kentucky Derby four times, with the filly Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Grindstone (1996), and Charismatic (1999). He won his seventh Preakness in 2024 with Seize the Grey.
The two-day, 14-race, $34 million Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar featured international stars, surprise results and a little history in the $7 million Classic.
The highlight, as usual, came in the 1¼-mile Classic as Forever Young came through with a victory over a star-studded field (albeit without Sovereignty), giving Japan a breakthrough win in America’s richest race.
Among other top results: Ted Noffey established himself as the early favorite for the 2026 Kentucky Derby with his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on Oct. 31, and famed steeplechase trainer Willie Mullins found himself in the winner’s circle after Ethical Diamond (28-1) pulled off a major upset in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1).
At Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, the expansion and enhancement continued in 2025 with a $75-$85 million operation called the Starting Gate Pavilion and Courtyard Project; a year earlier the track unveiled a $300 million reimagined paddock area. More is in the works for 2026.
That’s nothing compared to Belmont Park, which has been closed the past two years as much of the facility has been demolished and a reimagined new Belmont ($450 million) is set to open in the fall of 2026. The Belmont Stakes was held at Saratoga for the second year in a row.
And then there’s good ol’ Pimlico, or the now-leveled track that hosts the Preakness. The track is being rebuilt ($400 million), the 2026 Preakness will be held at Laurel Park and then return home at a new Pimlico.
The popular 4-year-old colt from Japan had a fantastic world tour in 2025. He won the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) in February, finished third in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) in April, won a race back home in October before holding off Sierra Leone, the defending champ, in a thrilling Breeders’ Cup Classic. In 2024, Forever Young, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, finished third in the Derby in a three-horse photo finish and third again in the Classic.
For 2025, Forever Young earned an incredible $15 million for owner Susumu Fujita.
The 2024 Horse of the Year was not the same in 2025, but her 4-year-old campaign was still compelling. Trainer Kenny McPeek carefully mapped out a schedule that would have brought Thorpedo Anna to a career-ending run in the Breeders’ Cup, but retirement came earlier than expected.
She won her first two races in 2025, the Azeri Stakes (G1) in March and the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) in April. Then came an unlikely seventh in the La Troienne (G1), followed by another pair of wins, in the Fleur de Lis (G2) and a thrilling nose victory over Dorth Vader in an exciting Personal Ensign (G1) at Saratoga.
After a fourth in the Spinster Stakes – just the second time the filly did not finish first or second in 16 career starts – the decision was made to retire this certain Hall of Famer.
After a three-year ban by Churchill Downs, six-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Bob Baffert returned with a chance to set the record for most wins in the Run for the Roses.
On the road to the Derby, Baffert had multiple contenders in Citizen Bull, Rodriguez, Madaket Road, Barnes, Gaming and Getaway Car.
Only Citizen Bull, who won the 2024 BC Juvenile, made the race but finished 16th. Rodriguez was entered but scratched with a foot bruise days before the race.
In 2021, Medina Spirit finished first in the Derby but was later disqualified for testing positive for an overage of a race day medication. And Baffert was banned.
Upon his return to Churchill Downs for Derby week, Baffert said: “I just want to move forward.”
When Journalism beat three of trainer Bob Baffert’s colts in the 2024 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), then again in the San Felipe Stakes (G2), and then again in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), the colt was hot news in the racing world.
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Journalism showed up at Churchill Downs with a huge fan base, went off as the 7-2 favorite, dueled gamely with Sovereignty in the stretch over a sloppy track, but finished second by 1 ½ lengths.
While Sovereignty skipped the Preakness two weeks later, Journalism showed up and won by powering his way between rivals, then running down Gosger in deep stretch in one of the most remarkable performances of the year.
He took on Sovereignty again in the Belmont and again ran second. After a brief break, Journalism came East again and won the Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park
In a star-studded BC Classic (G1), Journalism ran a game fourth behind Forever Young, Sierra Leone and Fierceness.
“I think it's been a wonderful year, him and Sovereignty, back and forth, two of the best 3-year-olds we've seen in quite some time,” McCarthy said.
OK. This was not a key storyline, but with the year at a close, it’s clear that if you bet horses ridden by jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., or trained by Steve Asmussen or owned by Godolphin, your bankroll likely didn’t shrink.
Ortiz will lead all jockeys in the U.S. with victories in 2025. He has 347 as of Dec. 22, including victories in three Breeders’ Cup races – the BC Sprint (G1), the BC Turf Sprint (G1) and the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1).
It will be the ninth consecutive year Ortiz leads the nation’s riders in wins. In addition, he seems a sure bet to win his sixth Eclipse Award as the nation’s top jockey. He’s been based in New York, but recently moved his tack to Kentucky, and spends the winter riding in Florida.
And then there’s Asmussen. The Hall of Fame trainer has around 200 horses at various racetracks and will lead the nation in victories for the seventh year in a row. He has 327 wins in 2025 as of Dec. 22 and has the most starts (2,250) than any other trainer by far. The 60-year-old is North America’s all-time leading trainer in victories with 11,080 as of Dec. 22.
Godolphin, the international breeding and racing operation with major bases in the U.S., Dubai, England, Ireland, France, Australia and Japan, is concluding an amazing year in America. The operation owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum will lead all breeders in earnings for a fifth straight year and likely win its sixth straight Eclipse Award as leading owner.
Goldolphin-owned horses have earned more than $22.1 million as of Dec. 22, $16 million more than second-place Klaravich Stables. Among Godolphin’s big wins were the Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Travers by Sovereignty, the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) with Notable Speech and the Kentucky Oaks (G1) with Good Cheer.
In addition to the passing of Lukas, the thoroughbred industry lost many others, both human and equine.
Among them: trainer Christophe Clement, who died of a rare eye cancer at the age of 59 on May 29; Hall of Famer Ron Turcotte (84), who won the 1973 Triple Crown aboard the great Secretariat; Patrice Wolfson (87), the owner of 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed; Aga Khan (88), a leading owner and breeder in Europe; Dr. Bob Hunt (69), an equine veterinarian and surgeon at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky; Ed Bowen (82), a veteran journalist, racing historian, and former editor-in-chief of The Blood-Horse; Jeff Siegel (74), public handicapper and horse owner; and 1997 Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold (31).
Clement, one of racing’s most respected trainers, won the 2014 Belmont with Tonalist and was considered among the world’s top handlers of turf horses, including champion Gio Ponti, a seven-time Grade 1 winner and winner of three Eclipse Awards, two in 2009 and one in 2010.
Before his death in May, he won graded stakes races with Far Bridge and Deterministic. His son Miguel took over dad’s stable and saddled Deterministic to victories in the Manhattan Stakes (G1) less than two week’s after his father’s death and later the Fourstardave Stakes (G1), both at Saratoga.
Turcotte, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a 1978 racing spill, won more than 3,000 races during his two-decade riding career. He became a prominent spokesman and fundraiser for charities aiding injured jockeys, particularly the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). His 31-length victory aboard Secretariat in the Belmont not only ended a 25-year Triple Crown drought but is one of the most iconic moments in sports.
Richard Rosenblatt is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press Horse Racing Editor. Currently, he serves as the news editor at US Racing, overseeing exclusive content from contributors worldwide.
