Christopher Elliott had a family reputation to uphold when he launched his riding career, as he is the son of a Kentucky Derby-winning jockey in Stewart Elliott.

Safe to say, he has done the name proud.

It was no surprise to see She Feels Pretty among the nation’s leading turf females in 2025. She has been at the top of her class since her 2-year-old season in 2023.

She Feels Pretty won 3 of 5 starts in 2025 and was second in her two losses, including a half-length defeat in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

For the entirety of her campaign, She Feels Pretty is a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s champion female turf horse.

It was not fake news to say Journalism was alive and well and thriving in the United States in 2025.

Journalism had a robust eight-race, well-traveled, and very successful campaign, winning three Grade 1 stakes – highlighted by a dramatic Preakness victory – and finishing second in both the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. His accomplishments earned him a spot as a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the 3-year-old male division.

Shisospicy was red-hot in 2025. The front-running gray won four stakes and made history by becoming the first 3-year-old filly to win the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Her gate-to-wire win produced the biggest margin in the 18-year history of the race.

The 2 1/2-length win capped an ambitious campaign by Shisospicy, an Eclipse Award finalist as champion 3-year-old filly, female sprinter, and female turf horse.

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.