DEL MAR, Calif. – The results of the Breeders’ Cup may have done more to cloud than clear up the picture as far as Eclipse Awards for 2025 are concerned, and some of the stronger candidates in certain divisions may be those who didn’t participate in the two-day event.
Sovereignty, who was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic early in the week due to a fever, had the 3-year-old male title pretty much secure by virtue of his victories in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers. In the Classic, he would have been looking to cement Horse of the Year honors as well against what was billed as an all-star lineup.
When Forever Young won the Classic, it may have strengthened Sovereignty’s claim for Horse of the Year unless voters give it to Forever Young despite him having made just one start in North America in 2025. Abroad, Forever Young also won the Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup.
Book’em Danno, a three-time graded stakes winner in 2024, and Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year and a four-time graded stakes winner this year, may have had their championship candidacies strengthened by the results of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Distaff, respectively. Neither Book’em Danno nor Thorpedo Anna competed at this year’s Breeders’ Cup.
The Eclipse Awards are voted on by three groups – Daily Racing Form, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Ballots go out in December and are due back in early January, but most of the major players are done racing for the year. The Eclipse Awards ceremony will be held in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 22.
There are still many stakes to be run – including a trio of Grade 1s at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 – but here’s a look at each division as of now:
2-year-old male: Ted Noffey, undefeated three-time Grade 1 winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, should be a unanimous choice in this category. Thirty-two of the previous 41 BC Juvenile winners have been crowned champion and few have had this guy’s résumé.
Napoleon Solo, the Grade 1 Champagne winner who skipped the Juvenile; Brant, the Del Mar Futurity winner who was third in the Juvenile; Intrepido, the Grade 1 American Pharoah winner who ran fifth in the Juvenile; and Gstaad, the Juvenile Turf winner, are candidates to be finalists.
2-year-old female: Super Corredora jumped from a maiden win three weeks earlier to take the BC Juvenile Fillies against most of the division’s biggest race winners. Thirty-seven of the previous 41 Juvenile Fillies winners were crowned champions in this division.
Officially, Tommy Jo is a two-time Grade 1 winner but one of those wins came via disqualification in the Alcibiades and she finished a dull fifth in the Juvenile Fillies.
Explora won the Grade 2 Oak Leaf in between runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante to stablemate Bottle of Rouge and the Juvenile Fillies.
3-year-old male: Sovereignty should get this based on his aforementioned three Grade 1 stakes wins. For good measure, he won the Fountain of Youth and Jim Dandy – both Grade 2 stakes.
Journalism also won three Grade 1s – the Preakness, Haskell, and Santa Anita Derby – but was soundly beaten by Sovereignty the two times they met. Baeza, who finished third in the Derby and Belmont, won the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby.
3-year-old female: Nitrogen was a graded stakes winner on two surfaces and finished a more than respectable second to Scylla in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
On dirt, Nitrogen won the Grade 1 Alabama and Grade 3 Wonder Again, a race originally scheduled for turf. She won four stakes on turf, three of them graded, and missed just a nose in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks. In addition to running second in the Distaff, Nitrogen was beaten a head when second to Gin Gin in the Grade 1 Spinster.
Good Cheer won three graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. La Cara won two Grade 1 stakes – the Ashland and Acorn.
Older dirt male: This is one of the more difficult categories because so many of the prospects have just one Grade 1 win this year. Mindframe has two – the Churchill Downs and Stephen Foster – plus the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile. However, he was a lackluster fifth in the Classic.
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Two years ago, BC Dirt Mile winner Cody’s Wish won this award. Perhaps this year, BC Dirt Mile winner Nysos would make a good candidate after winning the seven-furlong, Grade 3 Triple Bend and Grade 2 San Diego at 1 1/16 miles, in addition to the BC Mile. His lone loss was to Mindframe, by a neck, in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs off a 15-month layoff.
Obviously, Forever Young deserves consideration based on his victory in the Classic. Sierra Leone, last year’s Classic winner and 3-year-old champion, and Fierceness, who shipped west to win the Pacific Classic and who earlier in the year set a track record winning the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs, merit consideration. Locked and White Abarrio won Grade 1 stakes.
Older dirt female: Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, may have gone out on a sour note with her fourth-place finish in the Spinster, but she had two Grade 1 wins and two Grade 2 victories to her credit and is likely the leader for this Eclipse Award.
Scylla was a convincing winner of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but it was her lone win of the year from six starts.
Male sprinter: Despite not running in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Book’em Danno is the favorite in this category. Danno went 4 for 5 with victories in the Grade 1 Forego, Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, and Grade 3 True North. His lone loss came in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs, where he was beaten a neck.
Bentornato won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, but it was only one of two starts he made this year. His other was a listed stakes victory.
Female sprinter: Splendora won her first graded stakes of the year in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. She beat her stakes-winning stablemates Hope Road and Richi.
An outside-the-box candidate is Shisospicy, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, her fourth graded stakes win of the year, all on turf.
Male Turf: England-based runners owkned by Godolphin who shipped here to win Breeders’ Cup races have won this award three of the last four years. Notable Speech, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Mile, could be another.
Like Modern Games in 2023, Notable Speech also won the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in his other North American start. Yibir, Godolphin’s turf champion in 2021, also won the Grade 1 Jockey Club Derby that year.
Deterministic hasn’t run since August, but he was a two-time Grade 1 winner at Saratoga and won the Grade 2 Fort Marcy at Aqueduct.
Formidable Man, second to Notable Speech in the Mile, had three graded stakes victories this year, including the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile.
Female Turf: Gezora shipped in from France to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, her lone start in North America. She Feels Pretty finished second, beaten a half-length in the Filly and Mare Turf, and was a three-time graded stakes winner in North America, including the Grade 1 New York at Saratoga and Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine. She was beaten a head by Excellent Truth in the Grade 1 Diana.
Fionn won three graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks. Be Your Best won three graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Gamely.
Trainer: No clear-cut leader this year. Bill Mott did a masterful job with Sovereignty and did win a Breeders’ Cup race with Scylla. He has had seven individual horses win a combined 11 graded stakes.
Bob Baffert won two Breeders’ Cup races and now has 28 graded stakes wins on the year, including eight Grade 1s, which ties him for second with Chad Brown in Grade 1 wins.
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Todd Pletcher, after a difficult first half of the year, has had a strong four months and is up to 10 Grade 1 stakes victories, including the Breeders’ Cup with probable champion Ted Noffey.
Jockey: Statistically, the race is between reigning Eclipse Award winner Flavien Prat and five-time Eclipse winner Irad Ortiz Jr.
Through Sunday, Prat narrowly leads Ortiz in several categories, including purse money earned ($35,684,029 to $35,051,740); stakes wins, (60 to 56), graded stakes wins (39 to 32) and Grade 1 wins (12 to 9). Prat won two Breeders’ Cup races, Ortiz won three.
The day after Prat won his two BC races, he set a New York Racing Association record, winning seven races on Sunday’s closing-day card at the Belmont at the Big A meet.
Junior Alvarado deserves consideration for his work with Sovereignty and he got himself a Breeders’ Cup win on Scylla. John Velazquez (24 graded stakes, 10 Grade 1s) and Jose Ortiz (24 graded stakes, five Grade 1s) have enjoyed terrific years.
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