Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV and other outlets during the 55th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, presented by John Deere, The Jockey Club and the NTRA, on Thursday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2025 Horse of the Year.

Of the 240 eligible voters represented by the NTRA consisting of racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 221 (92%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

The 2025 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, in alphabetical order, are:

Two-Year-Old Male: Brant, Gstaad (GB), Ted Noffey

Two-Year-Old Filly:  Cy Fair, Explora, Super Corredora

Three-Year-Old Male: Baeza, Journalism, Sovereignty

Three-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer, Nitrogen, Shisospicy

Older Dirt Male:    Forever Young (JPN), Nysos, Sierra Leone

Older Dirt Female:  Scylla, Splendora, Thorpedo Anna   

Male Sprinter:      Bentornato, Book’em Danno, Nysos

Female Sprinter:    Kopion, Shisospicy, Splendora

Male Turf Horse:   Deterministic, Notable Speech (GB), Rebel’s Romance (IRE)

Female Turf Horse: Gezora (FR), She Feels Pretty, Shisospicy

Steeplechase Horse: Cool Jet (IRE), Swore, Zanahiyr (IRE)

Owner:            Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables, Inc., Spendthrift Farm LLC

Breeder:           Don Alberto Corporation, Godolphin LLC, WinStar Farm, LLC

Trainer:           Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bill Mott

Jockey:           Irad Oritz Jr., Flavien Prat, John Velazquez

Apprentice Jockey:  Christopher Elliott, Yedsit Hazlewood, Pietro Moran 



Finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced during the live show on January 22. In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Dan Piazza will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2025 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), and Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire, Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

Edited NTRA release

Posted Jan. 4, 2026