01/22/26 09:21:00
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01/22 21:18 CST Sovereignty wins Horse of the Year at Eclipse Awards, Bill Mott
named top trainer
Sovereignty wins Horse of the Year at Eclipse Awards, Bill Mott named top
trainer
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) --- Sovereignty won Horse of the Year at the Eclipse
Awards on Thursday night, as well as 3-year-old male honors, and Bill Mott, who
guided the colt to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont, was named
trainer of the year.
Sovereignty skipped the Preakness and won the Belmont during Triple Crown
season. He was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup Classic because of a fever.
The 55th annual ceremony at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach also crowned Ted
Noffey as 2-year-old male horse, capping a season in which he went 4-for-4,
including a win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
The colt trainer by Todd Pletcher is the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby
in May.
Ted Noffey won his career debut at Saratoga in August. He followed up with an 8
1/2-length victory in the Hopeful Stakes at the upstate New York track. Then
came a 2 3/4-length win in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. He closed 2025
with a one-length win in the BC Juvenile at Del Mar.
In other categories, Flavien Prat won jockey of the year and Pietro Moran was
named apprentice jockey. Godolphin LLC, the racing and breeding operation of
Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, won as owner. Godolphin was
named breeder of the year.
Other male winners were Japan-bred Forever Young as older dirt male; Book'em
Danno as male sprinter; and Britain-bred Notable Speech as male turf horse.
Among female horses, Super Corredora won as 2-year-old filly; Nitrogen was
chosen 3-year-old filly; Thorpedo Anna was named older dirt female; Shisospicy
won female sprinter; and She Feels Pretty won female turf horse honors.
Cool Jet took steeplechase horse honors.
Named for the 18th-century horse and sire Eclipse, the awards are voted on by
members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and
National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
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