Sovereignty ruled the 3-year-old division in 2025.

A Godolphin homebred son of Into Mischief trained by Bill Mott, Sovereignty won five graded stakes in 2025, including the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, and the DraftKings Travers Stakes – all Grade 1 races run at 1 1/4 miles. Those wins, coupled with victories in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 2 Jim Dandy, not only make him the favorite to be voted champion 3-year-old male but make him a top contender for Horse of the Year.

From the time the Breeders’ Cup was first run in 1984 through 2024, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner has earned her divisional title 37 times. Super Corredora, who went from a maiden to the 2025 NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner in less than a month, is now a candidate to join that list as an Eclipse finalist.

Before she launched her 3-year-old campaign in 2025, Good Cheer already was famous. After all, she won all four starts in 2024 and was an Eclipse Award finalist for champion 2-year-old filly. The award went to Good Cheer’s 4-for-4 stablemate Immersive.

Roles reversed in 2025. Good Cheer rose to the head of the class for trainer Brad Cox and owner-breeder Godolphin. Following a 2025 campaign highlighted by a decisive victory in the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, Good Cheer is an Eclipse finalist again, this time for champion 3-year-old filly.

Ted Noffey wasn’t the only Grade 1-winning 2-year-old of 2025 named after a high-profile individual in the industry.

Brant, named by owner Amr Zedan for Peter Brant, a publisher, art collector, and owner of high-class racehorses, went 2 for 3 with a victory in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. His two wins, plus a game third in the Grade 1 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance behind Ted Noffey, were enough to make Brant a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 2-year-old male division.

Ned Toffey had a simple request when he learned that his boss Erik Gustavson decided to name a horse in his honor.

“I just hope he can run faster than me,” Toffey said at Saratoga the day before Ted Noffey made his debut.

Wish granted.

A promising maiden filly at the start of the season, Nitrogen rose to the head of her class in 2025 by building an exceptional multi-surface résumé worthy of Eclipse Award consideration as the nation’s outstanding 3-year-old filly.

The sprint filly Cy Fair struck her targets all summer and fall, with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint securing her spot as an Eclipse Award finalist.

The Oak Leaf Stakes, a prominent event for 2-year-old fillies at Santa Anita, has been won by Eclipse Award divisional champion fillies It’s in the Air (1978), Landaluce (1982), Pleasant Stage (1991), Phone Chatter (1993), Chilukki (1999), Halfbridled (2003), Sweet Catomine (2004), Stardom Bound (2008), and Songbird (2015). But its winners also have gone on to good things beyond their 2-year-old campaigns.

For Baeza, success as a 3-year-old runs in the family.

Baeza, a half-brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and 2024 Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, carried on the family tradition of Grade 1 success as a 3-year-old when he captured the Pennsylvania Derby. That win, combined with third-place finishes in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, in addition to three additional graded stakes placings, earned Baeza a nod as a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 3-year-old male division.

Gstaad, a town in southern Switzerland, is described as a popular destination amongst high society and the international jet set.

In 2025, Gstaad, the 2-year-old colt bred in England, was a popular horse amongst bettors and raced productively, if not always successfully, on the international stage.