While there figures to be some drama in categories such as older dirt male, jockey, and perhaps trainer, Thursday’s Eclipse Awards ceremony in South Florida is expected to be another big night for Godolphin, the global racing and breeding operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruling leader of Dubai. In addition to likely winning its sixth straight Eclipse as leading owner and fifth straight for leading breeder, Godolphin should have two individual champions in Sovereignty (3-year-old-male) and either Notable Speech or Rebel’s Romance (male turf). Sovereignty also is the favorite for Horse of the Year. Bill Mott and Brad Cox, both of whom train multiple runners for Godolphin, are two of three finalists for champion trainer along with Chad Brown, who last year won his fifth Eclipse. While Cox, a two-time Eclipse winner, has better overall numbers for 2025, Mott, a four-time Eclipse winner, campaigned Sovereignty with aplomb and won a Breeders’ Cup race with his only starter, Scylla. The Eclipse Awards, which honor the champions of 2025, will be held Thursday night at Breakers Palm Beach. The ceremony, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, will be hosted by Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak with Caton Bredar serving as the announcer. The ceremony will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV, which also hosts a red-carpet show beginning at 6:30 p.m. Finalists in all 11 equine divisions and six human categories – but not Horse of the Year – were announced Jan. 4. Finalists are determined by leading vote-getters from three voting blocs – Daily Racing Form, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Champions are determined solely by who accrued the most first-place votes. Out of 240 ballots sent out, 221 were returned. Finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced throughout the course of the ceremony. :: Full list of 2025 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories Sovereignty went 5 for 6 in 2025, a campaign highlighted by Grade 1 victories in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers. Sovereignty, who also won the Fountain of Youth and Jim Dandy, was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic due to a fever. The BC Classic was won by Forever Young, the Japanese-bred and -based 4-year-old who made just one start in North America in 2025. Forever Young is a finalist in the older dirt male division along with Sierra Leone, the Grade 1 Whitney winner who was second in the BC Classic, and Nysos, who won the BC Dirt Mile and three other graded stakes. Forever Young’s Classic victory could make him a Horse of the Year finalist as well. Irad Ortiz Jr. and Flavien Prat both had seasons worthy of an Eclipse Award. The two became the first riders to surpass the $40 million mark in purse earnings for a single year, with Ortiz edging Prat by $1,669 – $40,497,847 to $40,496,178. Ortiz, a five-time Eclipse Award winner, led all riders in total wins while Prat, the reigning Eclipse Award winner, led all riders in wins in stakes, graded stakes, and Grade 1 stakes. Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly, is a leading candidate to win the older dirt female Eclipse Award. Splendora, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner, is a finalist in that category as well as female sprinter. Shisospicy, the BC Turf Sprint winner, is a finalist in three categories – female sprinter, 3-year-old filly, and female turf. Nitrogen, a dual stakes winner on two surfaces, is the leading contender for 3-year-old filly honors, a category that also includes the Godolphin-owned Good Cheer, the Kentucky Oaks winner. She Feels Pretty, a two-time Grade 1 winner and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, and Gezora, the BC Filly and Mare Turf winner in her lone North American start, are the other finalists in the female turf category Notable Speech, who won the BC Mile as well as the Woodbine Mile, and Rebel’s Romance, the 2024 male turf champion who in 2025 won the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch and was second in the BC Turf, are two of the three finalists in this category along with two-time Grade 1 winner Deterministic. Book’em Danno, a three-time Grade 1 winner, is a leading contender for male sprint champion, a category that includes BC Sprint winner Bentornato, who made just two starts in 2025, and Nysos. Ted Noffey, an undefeated three-time Grade 1 winner, should be a slam dunk in the 2-year-old male category, while Breeders’ Cup winners Super Corredora (Juvenile Fillies) and Cy Fair (Juvenile Turf Sprint) will vie for 2-year-old filly champion honors. Cool Jet, Swore , and Zanahiry are the finalists for champion steeplechase horse. Christopher Elliott, Yedsit Hazlewood, and Pietro Moran are the finalists for apprentice jockey. 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. Also, Special Eclipse Awards will be presented to Bob Duncan and Trevor Denman (Career Excellence), and the Eclipse Award of Merit will be given posthumously to Ed Bowen. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.