Many of the most important stakes races conducted in North America last year went through jockey Flavien Prat, who led all riders in graded wins as part of his push for a second straight Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey.

He also became one of two riders to ever surpass $40 million in mount earnings in a year, alongside Irad Ortiz Jr.

The new heights were reached in part by Prat winning 46 graded stakes races in 2025. He led his peers in Grade 1 wins with 13; Grade 2 wins with 15; and Grade 3 wins with 18.

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. set a single-season record for mount earnings in 2025 as part of a long list of accomplishments the rider amassed in pursuit of his sixth Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding jockey.

Ortiz also led all his peers in wins with 351 from 1,621 mounts. In addition, he ranked second in graded stakes victories with 36 – winning a minimum of one such race every month in 2025. Ortiz also won three sprint championship races during the Breeders’ Cup and took down riding titles at Saratoga, Churchill Downs, and Keeneland.

Gezora delivered one of the best comebacks of the autumn when she won the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar in November.

Four weeks earlier, Gezora, a 3-year-old filly in 2025, finished 13th of 17 as a longshot in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, Europe’s top race for 3-year-olds and up. She was beaten 10 1/2 lengths by Daryz, failing to make an impression.

Put to the test in a challenging 4-year-old campaign, Kopion still managed to flourish for trainer Richard Mandella. A fifth-place finish against male rivals in the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint does not define the talented filly, who only reached that lofty spot after lighting up the track earlier in the year.

One month before the Breeders’ Cup, trainer Bob Baffert knew that Splendora could handle the bright lights.

By convincing her connections that she was ready, Baffert was offering a bold vote of confidence for a 4-year-old filly who had never won in graded stakes company. But with a Hall of Fame trainer in her corner, it was only so surprising when she hustled forward from fifth under jockey Flavien Prat and surged past stablemate Hope Road to win the Grade 1 PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint by 4 3/4 lengths.

WinStar Farm, one of the most prolific breeding and stallion operations in Kentucky, was led on the track in 2025 by a multi-generation homebred who showed off the strength of the program’s bloodlines and stallion roster. The outfit, which owns three prior Eclipse Awards – as outstanding owner in 2010 and outstanding breeder in 2016 and 2020 – is again a finalist for outstanding breeder for these accomplishments.

Pietro Moran racked up enough wins and earnings in 2025 to get the nod as an Eclipse Award finalist for North America’s outstanding apprentice jockey, but one victory stood out – the $1 million King’s Plate.

Moran guided Mansetti to a front-running win in Canada’s premier race for 3-year-olds, which is held at Woodbine. That’s where Moran finished second in the overall standings last year, and the success lifted the rider to a 2025 record of 140 wins from 863 starts for mount earnings of $6,083,835. Moran’s numbers were tops among all North American-based apprentices in 2025.

Yedsit Hazlewood continued Maryland’s rich tradition of showcasing young riding talent, as the Laurel Park title winner has been voted an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey of 2025.

Hazlewood ranked as North America’s second-leading apprentice in both wins and mount earnings last year. He compiled a record of 131 wins from 570 starts, earning $4,263,751.

Don Alberto Corp., which already had a good deal of success at its base in Chile, purchased its U.S. farm in 2013. In less than a dozen years, the international outfit, headed by principals Liliana Solari and her son Carlos Heller, has done what a number of solely U.S.-based operations have sought to do for generations. The farm bred its first American classic winner in 2023 and in 2025 struck with its second, Eclipse Award finalist Journalism.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s international Godolphin operation is yet again a finalist for both the Eclipse Award for outstanding owner and outstanding breeder, looking to sweep for the fifth consecutive year after breakthrough accomplishments.