Sovereignty Crowned Horse of the Year at Eclipse Awards

Crowned champion 3-year-old male earlier in the evening, Sovereignty ascended to racing's most prestigious honor Jan. 22 when named Horse of the Year at the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards ceremony at The Breakers Palm Beach in South Florida. Godolphin's homebred bay son of Into Mischief out of the Bernardini mare Crowned, a dual classic winner in 2025, prevailed in Horse of the Year voting over older rivals who commanded the spotlight in the fall. Eclipse Award voters included those from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, consisting of racetrack officials and Equibase field personnel, plus voters from Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. The Horse of the Year outcome reflects the authority with which Sovereignty controlled the North American 3-year-old male division from spring through late summer. The colt becomes the second Horse of the Year for owner/breeder Godolphin in three seasons, following Cody's Wish in 2023. For Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Sovereignty becomes his third stable star to claim Horse of the Year, joining Cody's Wish and the legendary Cigar, who earned back-to-back Horse of the Year titles in 1995 and 1996. In recognition of his training of Sovereignty and other accomplishments throughout the year, Mott added another milestone to his Hall of Fame career when he was honored with his fifth Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer. He is tied with the late Bobby Frankel and active trainer Chad Brown for second with five such awards, trailing only Todd Pletcher with eight. Frankel and Pletcher are also Hall of Famers. "We've had some nice horses, but he's clearly the best 3-year-old I've ever trained, or had my hands on, I would say," Mott said last week. "Of course, there's been some other good horses, but they probably didn't develop until they were (ages) 4 or 5, but he was very good." Godolphin also secured its fifth consecutive dual titles as outstanding owner and outstanding breeder. Sovereignty went 5-for-6 in 2025, with victories in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) being his seasonal highlights. He also captured the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) to launch his year and the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) as a prelude to a 10-length romp in the Travers. His lone defeat came in the Florida Derby (G1), where he finished second under substitute rider Manny Franco while regular jockey Junior Alvarado was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Reunited with Alvarado at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, Sovereignty delivered a defining performance in the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown, wowing a rain-soaked Churchill Downs' crowd of 147,406 by catching favored Journalism and defeating him by 1 1/2 lengths over a sloppy track. His victory gave Godolphin a rare Kentucky Oaks-Kentucky Derby double when paired with Good Cheer's victory in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) for 3-year-old fillies the previous day. His victory gave Godolphin, founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, an elusive first victory in the Run for the Roses. "Well, it was a very special weekend with the Oaks and the Derby, but to finally get a win for Sheikh Mohammed in the Godolphin colors was really a great one to mark off of the list," Godolphin USA director of bloodstock Michael Banahan said. Though it did not affect the official Derby results, Alvarado was fined and suspended for exceeding the permitted number of strikes with his riding crop in the race. Kentucky stewards determined Alvarado struck Sovereignty eight times during the Derby, above the six-strike limit to a horse's hindquarters. Rather than follow tradition in pursuit of a Triple Crown bid, Mott and the Godolphin team elected to bypass the Preakness Stakes (G1) two weeks after the Derby, a decision that rankled Triple Crown purists. Sovereignty's connections felt that skipping the second leg of the Triple Crown would preserve Sovereignty for a longer, more productive 3-year-old campaign. Journalism won the Preakness in his absence. Five weeks after the Derby in the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, a fresh Sovereignty again proved superior to Journalism, the only 3-year-old to race in all three legs of the series in 2025. He defeated him by 3 lengths, with Baeza showing, as he did in the Derby. As in 2024, the 2025 Belmont Stakes was run at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga Race Course, rather than its customary 1 1/2-mile distance at Belmont Park, because Belmont Park is undergoing renovations. Sovereignty's victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes effectively sealed his Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male, even if his résumé stops just short of inclusion among the sport's 13 Triple Crown legends. Seven months after the conclusion of the Triple Crown, Banahan said he has no regrets about skipping the Preakness. Additional accomplishments over the summer would add to Sovereignty's case for Horse of the Year. Remaining based at Mott's Saratoga stable, he returned from the Triple Crown to edge Baeza by a length in the July 26 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) there before delivering a commanding 10-length victory in the Aug. 23 Travers, becoming the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, Jim Dandy, and Travers in the same season. "It's almost like you watch it, and you almost wonder, is this really happening?" Mott said. Sovereignty never faced older horses over the second half of the year, having been scratched from the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar after developing a fever in the days leading up to the race. But his body of work was sufficient to withstand comparisons to older horses such as Forever Young (JPN) and Sierra Leone, the top two finishers from the Breeders' Cup Classic. Sovereignty remains in training, having rejoined Mott at his Payson Park stable in South Florida in early January, meaning the colt has a chance to become the first horse since Wise Dan in 2012-13 to win back-to-back Horse of the Year honors. Initial plans call for Sovereignty to be brought along conservatively, beginning with the end in mind for 2026—that being the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland this fall. Mott characterized it as unlikely that Sovereignty would travel to the Middle East this spring for the March 28 Dubai World Cup (G1), a race created by Sheikh Mohammed.