While a lot about California horse racing changed last year, one big thing stayed the same: California thoroughbreds continued their comeback. Horses trained at Santa Anita and Del Mar deserve to win at least two divisional Eclipse Awards and place in the top three in at least five of the 10 divisio ns for 2025. This is after they won three championships and finished top-three in five divisions in 2024. Which was after they bottomed out and won no awards and were top-three in only one division in 2023. The annual honors will be announced Jan. 22 at a dinner to be televised from Palm Beach, Fla. Voting by racing journalists and executives ended Thursday. Here are the first-, second- and third-place choices on my ballot in 17 equine and human categories, including the Horse of the Year title. Older male on dirt 1. Forever Young, 2. Nysos, 3. Fierceness Japan’s 4-year-old Forever Young won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in his third bid for a major victory in the United States. Nysos, trained here by Bob Baffert, was best of a bunch of good U.S.-based 4-year-olds after completing an almost-perfect season with thrilling wins in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar and last Sunday’s Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes at Santa Anita. Older female on dirt 1. Thorpedo Anna, 2. Scylla, 3. Seismic Beauty Now-retired Thorpedo Anna’s Grade I and two Grade II wins at age 4 were impressive even if this wasn’t the 2024 Horse of the Year title defense many expected. Baffert’s 4-year-old Seismic Beauty earned favorite status in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff before being eased in the race won by 5-year-old Scylla. Male on turf 1. Notable Speech, 2. Rebel’s Romance, 3. Formidable Man British 4-year-old Notable Speech came through in his second try at the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Four-year-old Formidable Man nearly pulled an upset at 18-1 for Santa Anita trainer Michael McCarthy. Female on turf 1. She Feels Pretty, 2. Shisospicy, 3. Gezora Four-year-old She Feels Pretty was best of the Americans when she ran second to 3-year-old French invader Gezora in the Breeders’ Cup Filly Mare Turf. The East Coast-based filly won the 2024 American Oaks at Santa Anita. Male sprinter 1. Bentornato, 2. Book’em Danno, 3. Goal Oriented Bentornato dominated his only two starts at 4, winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint as easily as expected. Baffert’s Goal Oriented capped his 3-year-old season by shortening up to 7 furlongs to win the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita last Sunday. Female sprinter 1. Kopion, 2. Shisospicy, 3. Splendora The first California-based winner on this ballot, Kopion won impressively for trainer Richard Mandella and jockeys Antonio Fresu and Kazushi Kimura at Santa Anita and Churchill Downs early in her 4-year-old season and was the rare female sprinter to crack the National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll’s top 10. 3-year-old male 1. Sovereignty, 2. Journalism, 3. Baeza Wins in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Travers Stakes clinched this division before Sovereignty had to miss the Breeders’ Cup Classic with a fever. As for the Californians, McCarthy’s Journalism beat every 3-year-old except Sovereignty, and John Shirreffs’ Baeza beat everyone but those two. They should meet again. 3-year-old female 1. Nitrogen, 2. Shisospicy, 3. Good Cheer Nitrogen had multiple good wins on dirt and turf and was the best 3-year-old in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, second to Scylla. 2-year-old male 1. Ted Noffey, 2. Mr. A. P., 3. Napoleon Solo With the possible exception of Sovereignty, no horse dominated a division like Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Ted Noffey, who went 4 for 4 and is favored to win the May 2, 2026 Kentucky Derby. Mr. A. P., second in the Juvenile at 20-1, won’t be ready to race again until March, Santa Anita trainer Vladimir Cerin has said. 2-year-old female 1. Super Corredora, 2. Cy Fair, 3. Tommy Jo The second Californian getting my vote, Super Corredora led all the way at 8-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies for trainer John Sadler and rider Hector Berrios. She’s pointing for the Feb. 1 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita. Steeplechase horse 1. Swore, 2. Cool Jet, 3. Zanahiyr Six-year-old Swore and 9-year-old Cool Jet were the most consistent – if you toss out the one event each didn’t finish, which you sometimes have to do in jumps racing. Horse of the Year 1. Sovereignty, 2. Forever Young, 3. Ted Noffey Too bad he missed the Breeders’ Cup, but wait ’til this year. Godolphin announced last weekend that Sovereignty will race in 2026. Between Thorpedo Anna and Sovereignty, this would be the first time consecutive horses of the year have attempted full schedules the following season since Wise Dan (2012 and 2013 champion) and California Chrome (2014). Jockey 1. Flavien Prat, 2. Irad Ortiz Jr., 3. John Velazquez Prat deserves a second Eclipse in a row. He came up just short of Ortiz in the earnings race but led in stakes wins, 75-65, and graded stakes wins, 46-36, including Nysos’ and Splendora’s Breeders’ Cup victories and Sierra Leone’s Whitney. Apprentice jockey 1. Pietro Moran, 2. Christopher Elliott, 3. Yedsit Hazlewood Moran, 20, who was born in Ireland and grew up in Canada, won the King’s Plate at Woodbine in August with 18-1 Mansetti. The other jockeys included his father David. Trainer 1. Bill Mott, 2. Brad Cox, 3. Bob Baffert While others had bigger overall numbers, Mott had a year everyone envies with Sovereignty and Scylla. The Eclipse would be his fifth, dating to the Cigar era in 1995-96. Owner 1. Godolphin, 2. Spendthrift Farm, 3. Juddmonte Dubai-based Godolphin’s sixth consecutive year – and eighth overall – as Eclipse-winning owner is distinguished by Sovereignty’s Kentucky Derby win. Breeder 1. Godolphin, 2. Don Alberto Corporation, 3. Spendthrift Farm Make it five in a row for Godolphin as outstanding breeder. California racing shrank in 2025 and there’s fear of declining quality. But Eclipse Award-caliber seasons for Super Corredora and Kopion – and big years for Journalism, Nysos and others – show that California barns continue to produce champions. Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti. Related Articles Horse racing notes: Explora returns as Santa Anita resumes after rain Santa Anita racing rained out Wednesday and Thursday Santa Anita consensus picks for Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 Mirco Demuro rides Gas Me Up to Santa Anita win, denying Flavien Prat and Sumter Santa Anita consensus picks for Monday, Dec. 29, 2025 ...read more read less