Eclipse Awards debates have been a part of the process since the inception of the awards in 1971. Some of the 2025 divisions are open-and-shut cases, but one category sure to generate some heated arguments this year is the older dirt male division.

This debate must begin, in my opinion, with whether the voter considers Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Forever Young for the older dirt male Eclipse Award.

Forever Young proved he was the best older dirt horse to race in the U.S. in 2025 against a loaded field in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, defeating among others 2024 Classic winner Sierra Leone, Pacific Classic Stakes winner Fierceness, and Stephen Foster Stakes winner Mindframe. In all likelihood, the three finalists for older dirt male champion will come from that group of four.

Earlier in the year, Forever Young defeated by a neck in the $20 million Saudi Cup the horse many consider the best racehorse on the planet, Romantic Warrior, in what was probably the race of the year worldwide. Forever Young also ran third in the $12 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline and won a minor stakes in Japan in his prep race for the Breeders’ Cup, but he made just one start in the U.S.

How should voters view a racehorse with only one start in North America for a U.S. award? The Eclipse Awards do not have stringent rules or requirements. For better or for worse, beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to Eclipse Awards voting.

Here is the exact guideline for voters in equine categories: In the Equine categories, individuals are limited to voting only for Thoroughbreds who have raced at least one time in 2025 in the United States or Canada.

Forever Young after winning Saudi Cup. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Many voters prefer contenders who were either based in the U.S. or made the bulk of their starts in North America. For those voters, Forever Young probably is not a factor.

I always have considered International horses who started in the U.S. on my Eclipse Awards ballot, primarily when they delivered a star-level win in a marquee race within a division with no other clear standouts. This has happened most frequently in the turf male and turf female divisions in years when a European grass horses was far superior and none of the U.S.-based runners compiled a robust résumé.

Forever Young presents a conundrum for me. I believe he was the best older dirt male to compete in the U.S. in 2025. He won as many U.S. Grade 1 races this year as both Sierra Leone and Fierceness and one fewer than Mindframe, despite making only one start in North America. At the same time, all three of the other logical finalists are elite racehorses capable of brilliance with worthy stateside records. Let’s take a closer look at that trio.

Sierra Leone, last year’s champion 3-year-old male on the heels of his 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic victory, won one of five races in 2025 … but it was a big one. He rallied from far off the pace to win the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes in August at Saratoga by a length. Sierra Leone did not finish outside the top three in 2025, with Grade 1 runner-up finishes in the Stephen Foster to Mindframe, the Jockey Club Gold Cup to Antiquarian, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic to Forever Young. A deep closer, Sierra Leone has always been pace dependent leading to inconsistent visits to the winner’s circle.

Mindframe started 2025 with three straight victories in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes Presented by Domestic Product, Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford, and Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes. He defeated 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Nysos in the Churchill Downs Stakes as well as standout sprinter Book’em Danno, and he vanquished Sierra Leone in the Stephen Foster. At that point, Mindframe looked like the clear leader in the division, but he did not finish his next start because his rider was unseated when Mindframe was bumped hard early in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He then did not show up at his best when unplaced in the Classic, which was essentially his first start in more than four months. Mindframe got off to a great start in 2025 but sputtered late.

Fierceness raced five times in 2025, setting a track record for 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet in May and winning the Grade 1 Pacific Classic by 3 ¼ lengths over Preakness Stakes victor Journalism in August. He also ran second in the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap and third, beaten by 1 ½ lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. His lone dud came when fifth in the Whitney, but credit Fierceness and his connections for taking on all comers and racing against top competition throughout the year. For a colt with a reputation for inconsistency earlier in his career, he was terrific from start to finish in 2025.

Do the credentials of any of the three trump those of Forever Young? It‘s genuinely a very tough call for voters and should lead to an interesting result at the 55^th Annual Eclipse Awards Jan. 22, 2026, at The Breakers Palm Beach.