In a year when no 3-year-old male clearly stood above the others, Always Dreaming stakes his claim to the Eclipse Award by virtue of winning the one race everyone else would have loved to have won, the Kentucky Derby.

It was Always Dreaming who proved best on the first Saturday in May, culminating a four-race win streak to start the year that had him ready to be at his absolute best when it counted most. He won four times in seven starts on the year, and his two Grade 1 wins – in the Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby – tie him for the divisional lead in that department.

The partnership of Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm has campaigned just one horse, but since he’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year finalist Gun Runner, the merger can only be considered a rousing success.

Gun Runner won five of six starts in 2017, earning $6,950,700. He alone made the Winchell-Three Chimneys partnership North America’s third-highest-earning owner when Dubai World Cup card starts are taken into account.

Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms has developed into a global superpower over the course of four decades, and he continued to compete at the very highest level in 2017 with Horse of the Year finalist Arrogate.

After a breakout campaign in 2016, Arrogate gathered no moss, winning the inaugural Pegasus World Cup, then traveling abroad to win the Dubai World Cup in the first few months of the year.

Arrogate finished his career as North America’s all-time leading earner with $17,422,600, and will enter stud at Juddmonte’s Lexington, Ky., farm in 2018.

Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum has a presence in nearly every corner of the global Thoroughbred industry, and his Godolphin Racing operation again was among North America’s best in 2017.

The ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed tallied 54 North American wins in 2017, and Godolphin’s combined earnings of $7,090,867 ranked him second in the North American owner standings.

Godolphin tied with Juddmonte Farms for the most overall graded stakes wins of 2017 (nine) and tied for second for Grade 1 wins (three).

Kenny Troutt’s WinStar Farm continues to be an industry leader on the racetrack and in the breeding shed, as evidenced by its third time as a finalist for the Eclipse Award as outstanding breeder.

The Versailles, Ky., farm was North America’s leading breeder by graded stakes wins in 2017 (nine) and tied with Clearsky Farms and Besilu Stables for the most Grade 1 wins (four). WinStar finished second among breeders by North American wins (207) and earnings ($9,101,819).

The past five years have produced breakthrough after breakthrough for the Cleary family’s Clearsky Farms, all from a broodmare band much smaller than most of its contemporaries’.

In 2013, the Lexington, Ky., farm was represented by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day. The following year, Clearsky consigned eventual Grade 2 winner Mohaymen as a yearling for a sale-topping $2.2 million at the Keeneland September auction and followed that up in 2015 with Kentucky Derby runner-up Firing Line.

Benjamin Leon of Besilu Stables set out to make an impact when he spent a combined $30,575,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale and November breeding stock sale to bolster his young program.

Leon saw immediate success with Royal Delta, whom he bought for $8.5 million and campaigned to an Eclipse Award for champion older female the following year. However, one could argue that the biggest imprint left by the Besilu program came several years later with 2017 Horse of the Year finalist Gun Runner.

Hector Diaz Jr. might have launched his riding career later than most, but his maturity worked to his advantage last year as he established himself as one of the top apprentices in North America. For his accomplishments, he is a finalist for the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice of 2017.

Diaz, a 27-year-old from Puerto Rico, won 74 races from 697 starts during his initial season of riding, with those mounts earning more than $2.6 million. He placed second in apprentice earnings last year in North America, trailing only Southern California-based phenom Evin Roman.

Katie Clawson rode just eight months last year, but made her mark on racing. She was the second-leading apprentice in North America with 82 wins, and her $1,859,444 in mount earnings ranked third among her peers. For the memorable season, Clawson is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice of 2017.

Clawson is a 20-year-old native of Arizona who grew up in Indiana. She wintered last year at Oaklawn Park, where she ranked as the meet’s leading apprentice, and then made a splash at Indiana Grand.

Evin Roman started 2017 as an unknown apprentice testing the waters in Southern California. By year’s end, he had won five riding titles on one of the toughest circuits in North America.

For his accomplishments, Roman is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice of 2017.

Roman also led all apprentices in wins, with 161, and mount earnings, with $5 million, through Dec. 29. The 19-year-old won his first race in January in his native Puerto Rico, then made his way to Santa Anita, where he picked up his first Southern California victory Feb. 18.