TWO-YEAR-OLD MALE

1ST – TED NOFFEY, 2ND – GSTAAD, 3RD – BRANT

Ted Noffey was the clear winner of this category. He won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in what appeared to be a subpar performance from him, and finished the year undefeated from four starts. Voters and fans don’t always agree with me when I select a European horse with one U.S. start in one of these categories, but the rules for consideration included “at least one start in North America,” and that’s all. I’m not going to punish a horse for racing successfully in another country if the have also raced successfully in the United States. With that in mind, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, Gstaad, gets my “reserve champion” vote, and Brant, with his two-for-three record, is my third choice.

TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY

1ST – SUPER CORREDORA, 2ND – CY FAIR, 3RD – BALANTINA (IRE)

This category wasn’t quite as easy as the two-year-old males, as there were eight two-year-old fillies with one grade or group 1 win, but none with more than that, so the Breeders’ Cup results became the tie-breaker. Super Corredora won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile fillies in her only start in a graded stakes race in 2025. Cy Fair’s form was actually more impressive, but as I’ve admitted before, I have a bias toward horses racing a route of ground on dirt over sprinters and/or turf horses, and Cy Fair is both of those things. She’s terrific at those things, though! And in her win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, she beat boys and girls, displaying her talent brilliantly. Balantina (Ire) also won at Breeders’ Cup, pulling off a minor upset in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

THREE-YEAR-OLD MALE

1ST -SOVEREIGNTY, 2ND – JOURNALISM, 3RD – PATCH ADAMS

No defense of my top selection required here: Sovereignty didn’t win all of his races in 2025, but he won the ones that mattered the most. While he and Journalism tied with three grade one wins (the most of any three-year-old in this category), Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby and then trounced his competition in the “mid-summer Derby,” the Travers Stakes. Journalism proved his grit time and again, and just picked the wrong year to be a phenomenal three-year-old. For the third spot, I was torn between Baeza and Patch Adams. I was thrilled that Baeza finally got his day in the sun in the Pennsylvania Derby, but Patch Adams won two grade one races before his season was cut short in August.

THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY

1ST – NITROGEN, 2ND – GEZORA (FR), 3RD – LA CARA

I struggled with my Top 3 selections here. I’m always deferential to grade one wins, but not this time. Both Gezora (Fr) and La Cara won two grade one races to Nitrogen’s one, but Nitrogen’s body of work on the year was just better. She started nine times in 2025 with six wins and three seconds, and one of those second-place finishes was to five-year-old mare Sylla in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She finished the year with wins in one G1, two G2s, and two G3s. Gezora (Fr) did win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, so I was torn between my bias toward Breeders’ Cup wins and my bias toward wins on the dirt around two turns, and ultimately, I just had to make a decision. La Cara did win two G1s, but she was often inconsistent in her other races.

OLDER DIRT MALE

1ST – FOREVER YOUNG (JPN), 2ND – MINDFRAME, 3RD – NYSOS

Looking at all of the contenders in this category, only two of the horses had more than one G1 win on the year: Forever Young and Mindframe. Both of these horses also had a lone G2 win, but the globe-trotting Forever Young came on top in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, so it was not a tough decision. Nysos was the third most prolific horse in graded stakes races with wins in one G1, two G2s, and a G3.

OLDER DIRT FEMALE

1ST -THORPEDO ANNA, 2ND – CAVALIERI, 3RD – SCYLLA

Eleven fillies and mares in this division won at least one G1 race, but only Thorpedo Anna won two. So even though her season ended in October with a thud and fourth place finish as a prohibitive favorite, she still bested her rivals for the year. The second spot was tougher to decide, as both Cavalieri and Scylla won one G1 in 2025, and Scylla’s came in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff when it really counted. However, Cavalieri was three-for-three on the year, with wins in a G1, G2, and G3, while Scylla won only in the Distaff.

MALE SPRINTER

1ST – ABSTAIN, 2ND – ABSTAIN, 3RD – ABSTAIN

Voters were asked to abstain from voting in any category in which they may have a conflict of interest (whether financial or promotional). Because of the work I do with Starlight and StarLadies Racing, I abstained from voting in this division, and their horse Goal Oriented is one of seven horses in this group with at least one grade one win. Of course, with both Mindframe and Patch Adams scoring two G1 wins on the season, it’s unlikely that Goal Oriented will win this category, but his success was impactful enough that I felt obliged to abstain from voting.

FEMALE SPRINTER

1ST – SHISOSPICY, 2ND – SPLENDORA, 3RD – KOPION

Once again, this group’s accomplishments are comparable enough that I must defer to Breeders’ Cup results. However, this time, my bias towards two-turn dirt accomplishments was overshadowed by Shisospicy’s sheer talent and tenacity on the turf. Her win (against the boys) in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint capped an exceptional season that saw her win five times from seven starts, including two wins after her sub-par cross-Atlantic showing at the Royal Ascot meeting in June. Splendora won an okay edition of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, but showed up every time. Looking at the others, Ag Bullet and Kopion were the only two fillies or mares to win a G1 and a G2, so it came down to these two for the third spot. I landed on Kopion because I felt like she faced tougher competition all year, and her Beyer speed figures were superior to Ag Bullet’s.

MALE TURF HORSE

1ST – REBEL’S ROMANCE (IRE), 2ND – DETERMINISTIC, 3RD – NOTABLE SPEECH (GB)

For the second year in a row, Rebel’s Romance (Ire) gets my top vote. After his win at Royal Ascot in June 2025, jockey William Buick called him his “best friend.” He’s a fan-favorite, and I’m one of his fans. In 2025, he won grade/group races in Qatar, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, then finished the year with a second-place finish to the improbable (but storybook victor) Ethical Diamond. After the race, Buick confirmed that Rebel’s Romance was still his best friend, and I’m still his #1 fan. While Deterministic didn’t make it to the Breeders’ Cup, he did win two G1s and a G2 from four starts on the year. Notable Speech was two-for-two in G1 races in North America in 2025.

FEMALE TURF HORSE

1ST – GEZORA (FR), 2ND – SHE FEELS PRETTY, 3RD – SHISOSPICY

Not only am I a fan of Rebel’s Romance, but I’m also a fan of She Feels Pretty, so I really wanted her to be my top pick here. However, Gezora (Fr) was ever so slightly more accomplished in 2025, and when it came down to the final few jumps of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, it was Gezora who came away with the trophy. With her wins at the G1, G2, and G3 levels, Shisospicy was an easy choice for the third spot.

HORSE OF THE YEAR

1ST – SOVEREIGNTY, 2ND – FOREVER YOUNG (JPN), 3RD – REBEL’S ROMANCE (IRE)

While Forever Young’s 2025 achievements were enough to earn him my Older Dirt Male vote, I’m not convinced he would’ve beaten Sovereignty in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Alas, we’ll never know. But Sovereignty did enough to earn my vote for Horse of the Year, despite missing the Classic with a spiked temperature, and Forever Young has forever earned my admiration with his 2025 season. The ageless Rebel’s Romance earned a top-three placing here.

STEEPLECHASE HORSE

1ST – COOL JET (IRE), 2ND – PROVEN INNOCENT, 3RD – ABAAN

I often abstain from this category because I don’t watch Steeplechase racing enough to hold a firm opinion if it’s a close call between horses. However, the Steeplechase people take issue with us when we abstain, and so I feel compelled to try to decipher the great from the good. None of this year’s contenders won more than one grade one race, but Cool Jet (Ire) added two G3 wins to his 2025 tally. Of the others, Proven Innocent and Abaan were the most consistent, each winning at the G1 level, but Proven Innocent finished the year with a first, second, third, and fourth from four starts, while Abaan had only two starts on the year.

OWNER

1ST – GODOLPHIN, LLC, 2ND – KLARAVICH STABLES, INC., 3RD – JUDDMONTE

This could be a copy and paste from my 2024 votes—but it’s not. These selections are based on 2025 accomplishments, and Godolphin devastated the competition with $22,395,556 in earnings compared to the second-place owner’s (in terms of earnings) $6,786,768. Of course, Godolphin had some big earners this year in Sovereignty, Notable Speech, Good Cheer, and Rebel’s Romance, but those four combined still only accounted for $9,158,469 of the aforementioned $22 million. Klaravich Stables and Juddmonte were second and third, respectively, in terms of 2025 earnings.

BREEDER

1ST – GODOLPHIN, 2ND – WINSTAR FARM, LLC, 3RD – DON ALBERTO CORPORATION

Again, Godolphin was the clear leader here with $27,284,221 in earnings to WinStar Farm’s $11,400,379. But for the third spot, I did not go solely on earnings, because while Brereton Jones amassed $11 million to Don Alberto Corp’s $10 million, Don Alberto Corporation collected seven graded stakes wins, including 4 G1s, while Brereton Jones won four graded stakes and just one G1.

JOCKEY

1ST – ORTIZ, JR., IRAD, 2ND – PRAT, FLAVIEN, 3RD – ORTIZ, JOSE

The top two jockeys (by earnings) were separated by less than $2,000 (Irad Ortiz, Jr.: $40,497,847 vs. Flavian Prat: $40,496,178), so this was not as straightforward as it may look. It’s also worth noting that Ortiz rode 375 more horses than Prat, with Ortiz winning at a 21.5% clip on the year, while Prat won at a lofty 24.6%. For me, the tiebreaker came down to Breeders’ Cup results, where again, these two were close! But Irad Ortiz, Jr. won three BC races, and Prat won two. However you figure it, they were miles ahead of the competition, despite Jose Ortiz’s mounts earning nearly $34 million.

APPRENTICE JOCKEY

1ST – PEITRO MORAN, 2ND – YEDSIT HAZELWOOD, 3RD – CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

I ranked these three based on earnings because it generally stands to reason that the jockeys who have earned the most money have raced on the most competitive circuits. Moran blew the competition away, earning more than $6 million. Hazelwood’s mounts earned just over $4 million, and while Elliott lost his bug in July, his horses had earned $3.8 million up to that point.

TRAINER

1ST – BILL MOTT, 2ND – BRAD COX, 3RD – STEVE ASMUSSEN

Obviously, I did not choose Champion Trainer based on money earned or the number of races won. I chose Billy Mott as my number one because of the outstanding job he did managing Sovereignty. You can’t make a slow horse fast, but you can certainly screw up a good one, and Mott made all the right moves with Sovereignty. Some people were upset that he skipped the Preakness Stakes, but if he had won all three legs of the Triple Crown in a year when the Belmont Stakes was contested 1 ¼ miles at Saratoga Racecourse, those same people would’ve said he wasn’t actually a Triple Crown winner. I admire and respect the job he did with Sovereignty because of the many tough decisions he had to make, and whether or not to run in the Preakness Stakes was just one of them. Cox and Asmussen are both phenomenal trainers, too. But this was Bill Mott’s year.