2025 Eclipse Awards: Bentornato

Bentornato needed just 1:08.20 to establish himself as a finalist for an Eclipse Award for outstanding male sprinter of 2025.

That was the time it took for him to win the $2 million Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint over six furlongs Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Bentornato sparred with defending champ and 2024 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Straight No Chaser through fractions of 21.48 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.14 for the half-mile before going on to a 2 1/4-length victory.

“I rode him with so much confidence,” jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said. “I just wanted a clean break, we got it, and after that I just let him be him. He has so much natural speed. I knew I was going to have some horse left at the end, and he did the rest.”

The win trumped Bentornato’s runner-up finish in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, where he was beaten a half-length.

“We worked so hard to come back here with him, had to stop on him twice during the year, and he responded so well,” winning trainer Jose D’Angelo said. “He’s a big horse with a big heart and he showed that off today.

“Last year when we ran against Straight No Chaser, our horse was a 3-year-old. Now he’s an older, bigger, stronger horse.”

:: Full list of 2025 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Bentornato made one other start in 2025. As his prep for the Breeders’ Cup, he rolled to a 5 1/4-length win in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes on Sept. 13 at Churchill Downs. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 108, then put up a career-best number of 110 in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Bentornato is a ridgling by the Candy Ride stallion Valiant Minister. His dam, Her Special Way, is a daughter of Put It Back. Bentornato was bred in Florida by Tanma Corp. He was a $170,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders Sales auction of 2-year-olds in training in March 2023.

Bentornato – which means “welcome back” in Italian – has gone on to win a total of six stakes in his career. Overall, he is 7 for 11 for earnings of $2,322,180.

Bentornato races for Leon King Stable Corp., Julia C. Iavarone, and Michael Iavarone. The Iavarones bought a 25 percent interest in Bentornato for $1 million during the Keeneland Championship auction on Oct. 29, 2025.

“I had reached out about a month ago expressing my interest in buying the horse, but at the time he wasn’t for sale,” Michael Iavarone said after the Breeders’ Cup. “Then, when I learned from [D’Angelo] there would be a fractional ownership available, we jumped in. I mean how many times do you get an opportunity to buy into a Breeders’ Cup favorite just three days before the race?”

Bentornato was a favorite who became a winner and now, he could become a champion.

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