After a campaign highlighted by wins in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and DraftKings Travers Stakes, Sovereignty was honored as 2025’s Horse of the Year Jan. 22 at the 55^th annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards ceremonies at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla.

Sovereignty gave owner-breeder Godolphin a second Horse of the Year award in 3 years, following in the footsteps of Cody’s Wish’s accolades in 2023. The homebred son of Into Mischief was also voted the champion 3-year-old male, and his trainer, Bill Mott received his fifth career Eclipse Award. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s Godolphin continued its dominance in both the outstanding owner and outstanding breeder divisions, winning its ninth Eclipse as owner and sixth as breeder, and fourth in a row for each.

Sovereignty amassed 201 of 220 first-place votes for Horse of the Year. Forever Young was second with 17. Journalism was also included among the finalists.

“It was an unbelievable night. An unbelievable year,” said Godolphin’s bloodstock manager Michael Banahan. “To be recognized at the Eclipse Awards by your peers is special. It comes down to having a great stable of horses. Sovereignty was the team captain but we got a big assist from our European horses as well. It was a super year.”

Sovereignty was first on 220 of the 221 votes for 3-year-old male with one abstention.

Mott accepted the Horse of the Year trophy on behalf of Godolphin and passed along his gratitude for being part of the Godolphin team.

“I can’t express how proud I am to hold this award. It is so telling of the entire Godolphin team. What Sheikh Mohammed has done for racing here and around the world, and to be part of winning his first Kentucky Derby and another Horse of the Year is just unimaginable and unexplainable.”

Godolphin also took home trophies for FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF winner Notable Speech as the outstanding turf male.

“To get the collective owner-breeder awards is unbelievable. It means our stable is in great health,” Banahan said. “We have lots of great horses that have won top stakes across all the categories and that is the most important thing to us. They are all homebreds so our employees have them from the start until their racing careers begin.”

Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Eclipse Sportswire)

Last year’s Horse of the Year, Thorpedo Anna, could not match the standard of excellence she achieved in 2024 but with four wins in six starts and two Grade 1 stakes scores for trainer Ken McPeek, the now-retired daughter of Fast Anna added the Eclipse Award for outstanding older dirt male to her résumé.

“She had a constant desire to run and coupled with her competitiveness it made her a thrill to watch and be a part of ... Our daughters grow up and leave home and you hope they succeed. We’re pretty happy how Thorpedo Anna turned out,” said Judy Hicks, the filly’s breeder and co-owner along with Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings, Magdalena Racing, and Mark Edwards.

The evening’s international flavor received added spice when Forever Young was chosen over Sierra Leone as the top older dirt male off his lone American start, a half-length victory in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“I am truly honored to receive this award and want to express my gratitude to everyone in the United States,” said Yoshito Yahagi, who trained the son of Real Steel for owner Susumu Fujita.

The Japanese superstar’s triumph in the Classic was also named the sport’s Moment of the Year.

The New Jersey breeding industry received a boost when the Garden State-bred Book’em Danno received the trophy as the champion male sprinter.

“How about that Jersey bred!” said owner Jay Briscione. “For a champion, you need a lot of luck and desire and a great horse, and we had all 3.”

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Owned by Atlantic Six Racing and trained by Derek Ryan, the son of Bucchero won four of five starts in 2025, topped by a season-ending win in the Forego Stakes.

Spendthrift Farm’s Ted Noffey was rewarded for a perfect juvenile season, dominating the voting for the champion 2-year-old male. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the son of Into Mischief named after a tweet that swapped the first letters of Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey’s name was 4-for-4 with three Grade 1 stakes wins, capped by a score in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA. He received 218 of the 220 first-place votes cast.

After setting career-high marks in wins and earnings, Flavien Prat received a second consecutive Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey. The native of France ended 2025 with over $40 million in North American earnings, less than $40,000 behind Irad Ortiz Jr.

“It’s rewarding,” Prat said of his second Eclipse. “I’m very satisfied. I had the chance to be riding good horses all season long. I thought it was a good season for sure.”

See the below list for the complete Eclipse Award winners with vote totals.

The evening started with a video tribute to the legendary Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who passed away on June 28 at the age of 89. Throughout the ceremonies, mention was made of how many Eclipse Award winners Lukas trained in that category.

Starter Bob Duncan and track announcer Trevor Denman received Special Eclipse Awards and the late turf journalist and historian Edward Bowen was honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit.

In voting that concluded on 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 tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.

Voter participation rate: 220/240 = 92%

(Name, First-Place Votes)

Horse of the Year

Sovereignty, 201; Forever Young, 17; Ted Noffey, 2.

Two-Year-Old Male

Ted Noffey, 218; Further Ado, 1; Gstaad, 1.

Two-Year-Old Filly

Super Corredora, 146; Cy Fair, 49; Explora, 10; Tommy Jo, 4; Mythical, 3; Bella Ballerina, 2; Percy’s Bar, 2; Zany, 2; Balantina, 1; voter abstention, 1.

Three-Year-Old Male

Sovereignty, 219; voter abstention, 1

Three-Year-Old Filly

Nitrogen, 183; Shisospicy, 24; Gezora, 5; Fionn, 2; La Cara, 2; Clicquot, 1; Good Cheer, 1; Kilwin, 1; Lush Lips, 1.

Older Dirt Male

Forever Young, 117; Sierra Leone, 50; Nysos, 24; Mindframe, 9; Fierceness, 6; Book’em Danno, 1; Touchuponastar, 1; voter abstentions, 2.

Older Dirt Female

Thorpedo Anna, 171; Scylla, 33; Splendora, 9; Cavalieri, 2; Hope Road, 1; Kopion, 1; Seismic Beauty, 1; voter abstentions, 2.

Male Sprinter

Book’em Danno, 115; Bentornato, 82; Nysos, 14; Patch Adams, 5; Mindframe, 1; Troubleshooting, 1; voter abstentions, 2.

Female Sprinter

Shisospicy, 113; Splendora, 68; Kopion, 34; Ag Bullet, 1; Hope Road, 1; Positano Sunset, 1; voter abstentions, 2.

Male Turf Horse

Notable Speech, 115; Rebel’s Romance, 59; Ethical Diamond, 23; Deterministic, 17; Zulu Kingdom, 2; Carl Spackler, 1; Formidable Man, 1; Troubleshooting, 1; World Beater, 1.

Female Turf Horse

She Feels Pretty, 151; Gezora, 36; Shisopicy, 22, Lush Lips, 4; Nitrogen, 4; Ag Bullet, 2; Excellent Truth, 1.

Steeplechase Horse

Cool Jet, 119; Zanahiyr, 51; Swore, 14; Proven Innocent, 8; Abaan, 6; Fil Dor, 1; Historic Heart, 1; voter abstentions, 20.

Owner

Godolphin, 206; Spendthrift Farm, 7; Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, 2; Bruno Schickedanz, 2; Susumu Fujita, 1; Klaravich Stables, 1; voter abstention, 1.

Breeder

Godolphin, 212; WinStar Farm, 2; Aaron and Marie Jones, 1; Calumet Farm, 1; Don Alberto Corporation, 1; Northern Racing, 1; Tanma Corporation, 1; voter abstention, 1.

Trainer

Bill Mott, 85; Brad Cox, 50; Chad Brown, 40; Todd Pletcher, 21; Bob Baffert, 13; Steve Asmussen, 3; Jamie Ness, 2; Mark Casse, 1; Christophe Clement, 1; Michael Maker, 1; Brendan Walsh, 1; Henry Walters, 1; voter abstention, 1.

Jockey

Flavien Prat, 152; Irad Ortiz Jr., 52; John Velazquez, 6; Junior Alvarado, 5; Jose Ortiz, 3; Kendrick Carmouche, 1; Tyler Gaffalione, 1.

Apprentice Jocke

Pietro Moran, 128; Yedsit Hazlewood, 55; Christopher Elliott, 26; voter abstentions, 11.