I’ve been voting for the Eclipse Awards since the Nineties, and I always look forward to exercising that privilege. It’s fun to participate in horse racing history as a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB).
Every December, the Daily Racing Form sends voters a booklet containing past performances and statistics about all the contenders. The deadline is in early January, and the judgments of NTWAB, Daily Racing Form, and National Thoroughbred Racing Association members determine the winners of 17 separate categories. They will be announced on Jan. 22 at the 55th annual Eclipse Awards Dinner in Palm Beach, Florida.
Sometimes the pick is a no-brainer, such as Thorpedo Anna for the 2024 Horse of the Year. Other times it’s not so simple, so I go back and forth, juggling different criteria while pondering the data. When a category is a toss-up, it becomes a matter of opinion, which is what horse racing is all about anyway.
The finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced during the awards presentation; all the other finalists were announced on Sunday.
As always, I tried hard to do my due diligence, although you may disagree with some of my picks. Some of my top 3 choices didn’t make the list of finalists, showing that some categories were tough to choose from.
Here are my picks:
Missing the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) because of a fever did nothing to diminish the resume of Sovereignty, because 2025 was his year. Sweeping the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) locked up the big trophy.
Would a healthy Sovereignty have lost to Forever Young in the Classic? We’ll never know. The globetrotting Japanese superstar was brilliant at Del Mar, capping a 3-for-4 year that included victory in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1).
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) hero Ted Noffey was 4-for-4, with three Grade 1 wins, and should be a unanimous choice.
I went outside the box with turf standout Cy Fair, who was 3-for-4 and beat males in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1). The likelier winner is Juvenile Fillies (G1) champ Super Corredora, but she needed three starts to break her maiden.
Sovereignty was the undisputed ruler of this division and will be a unanimous choice.
Nitrogen showed rare talent and versatility by excelling on turf and dirt. She went 6-for-9 with three seconds, winning four times on grass besides taking the 1¼-mile Alabama Stakes on the main track.
Forever Young was a clear choice in a very deep category that featured standout distance horses (Fierceness, Mindframe, Hit Show, Sierra Leone) and star sprinters (Book’em Danno, Bentornato).
Expecting Thorpedo Anna to match what she did as a 3-year-old was unreasonable, but she still had an outstanding season. Going 4-for-6 (two Grade 1 victories) will earn another trophy.
Nysos fell a neck short of being 5-for-5. Back-to-back scores in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and the Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes (G2) locked it up for me.
Shisospicy took four grass stakes, including a rout of males in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).
World traveler Rebel’s Romance had the best body of work. He fell short of a third Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) win, but five international victories in eight starts put him over the top – in my opinion, anyway. Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) hero Notable Speech probably will win the award, but he was only 2-for-6.
She Feels Pretty just missed in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), but her 3-for-5 record in stakes and two Grade 1 wins got my vote.
I settled on Cool Jet in a category without a clear standout. He won three graded stakes and was in the money in five of six tries.
International superpower Godolphin set an earnings record ($22.39 million) for a fifth straight year.
Predictably, it’s Godolphin again. Sheikh Mohammed’s all-conquering operation will also sweep this category for the fifth year in a row.
Flavien Prat got my vote to repeat his 2024 win in a tight race with Irad Ortiz, Jr. Prat won the most graded stakes, Grade 1 stakes, and overall stakes. Ortiz earned the most money and had the most wins.
Pietro Moran had the most wins and earnings. His main rival is Christopher Elliott, son of Stewart Elliott, who rode Hall of Famer Smarty Jones to victories in the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Masterful horsemen Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bob Baffert, and Bill Mott were in a four-way battle all year. Brown was remarkably consistent -- second in graded stakes wins and third in stakes victories (10 were Grade 1) and earnings. Cox led in purse money and stakes wins, but only five were Grade 1. Baffert was first in graded wins, including 10 Grade 1s. Mott guided Sovereignty through a Horse of the Year campaign.
Ed McNamara is an award-winning racing writer who has covered the sport since 1981 for The Bergen (N.J.) Record, Newsday, ESPN, Thorocap, and USRacing. He is the author of Cajun Racing: From the Bush Tracks to the Triple Crown and Racing Around the World, and a contributor to The Most Glorious Crown and The Racetracks of America. He has also written for racing publications in France and Italy.
