What were your favorite races of 2025? This week on HorseCenter, Brian Zipse and Matt Shifman take a look back at the racing season by recapping their favorite moments of the year.
From the Pegasus World Cup and Kentucky Derby trail through the Breeders’ Cup, American racetracks saw very good horses competing from coast to coast. With the racing season winding down, let’s get right to the picks and see if any of Matt and Brian’s choices make your list.
Matt: Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby in his third start of 2025 as the almost 8-1 third choice in the betting. He rallied from as far back as 17th to get to the front at the stretch call, taking the lead from Journalism on his way to a 1 1/2-length victory. The Derby was the first of three Grade 1 wins, followed by the Belmont Stakes and the Travers. With five wins from six starts this year and earnings of $5.6 million, the son of Into Mischief is likely to be named horse of the year.
Brian: I’ll be honest, the thought of a good Preakness Stakes without the Kentucky Derby winner in the field was less than likely. That all changed in the final quarter mile of this year’s middle jewel of the Triple Crown. No horse was a factor more often in the nation’s big races than was Journalism. The son of Curlin is as honest as they come. He is brave, too.
You don’t see horses win any race the way he did that afternoon at Pimlico, and he did it in one of America’s most important events. Busting his way through a diminishing crack of an opening was a display of physical and mental toughness, and his task was seemingly hopeless. Somehow, though, he did it. Running down Gosger in the late stages of this year’s Preakness was a remarkable feat and a sight to behold.
Matt: Carl Spackler made his 2025 debut a winning one in the Maker’s Mark Mile (G1) at Keeneland in April. Last year he was one of the best turf horses in America for Chad Brown after he won the Turf Mile (G1) in Kentucky and the Fourstardave (G1) at Saratoga. Carl Spackler then was sold to an Australian horseman with hopes of running him in the Cox Plate (G1), which is one of the biggest races down under. But the son of Lope de Vega was unable to win in three of Europe’s toughest Group 1 races. Ultimately, Carl Spackler returned to America to stand as a stallion in 2026 at Lane’s End Farm.
Brian: Summer at Saratoga is always a highlight, and for the second year in a row Thorpedo Anna was a star for me. It’s no secret that the daughter of Fast Anna has been my favorite horse of the past couple years, so it is always special to see her in person. Her 2024 horse of the year campaign was magical, and her three races at the Spa were a huge part of that.
She ran once at Saratoga in 2025, but it was unforgettable. Trainer Kenny McPeek allowed fans to see her up close and personal once again that week, adding to the build-up of the Personal Ensign (G1). As for the race itself, she had to battle all the way around chasing a strong pace from her outside post. Dorth Vader ran the race of her life, but Thorpedo Anna held her off in a thriller.
Matt: Deterministic became one of the best American turf horses of 2025 when he won three graded stakes. The talented son of Liam’s Map was an integral part of an emotional year for the Clement family. Christophe, who won 2,576 races in his career, passed away on May 25 and Deterministic was one of his final winners in the Fort Marcy (G2) at Aqueduct in May. His son Miguel took over as head trainer, and Deterministic became his first Grade 1 winner in the Manhattan at Saratoga on June 8. He went on to add the Fourstardave (G1) in August.
Brian: I am a sucker for rags-to-riches stories. Book’em Danno is a New Jersey-bred gelding from an unheralded sire. He runs for connections who are far removed from the Godolphins of the world. Visiting him and his people the day before the race only made my appreciation grow for the horse who runs so hard every single time.
I’ve followed Book’em Danno since the beginning at Monmouth Park, and to see him finish off the three-race sweep of graded sprints at Saratoga on Travers day was a joy. The win in the Forego (G1) was decisive and one that I hope leads to an Eclipse Award.
Matt: What a treat it was to get to see Rebel’s Romance win the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) at Aqueduct in September as he prepared for his attempt to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf again. On that day in New York, the great 7-year-old gelding was making his fifth start in America. The Godolphin runner looked like a winner every step of the way for trainer Charlie Appleby as he won for the 20th time in his career.
In the Breeders’ Cup Rebel’s Romance had traffic problems in the stretch and fell short of a third record-setting win in the Turf to the 27-1 long-shot winner. His total purse money of more than $15.2 million puts him seventh on the all-time earnings list for horses who have run in North America.
Brian: One of the highlights of this year’s racing was to see most of the best 3-year-olds of 2024 return to race in 2025. Forever Young, Sierra Leone and Fierceness made the Breeders’ Cup Classic one to remember, but before that there was Mystik Dan and the Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill Downs.
In the year when legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas passed away, it was only fitting to see a Kentucky Derby winner take home the top prize in the coach’s namesake race. In what turned out to be his final career race, Mystik Dan ran the best race of his 4-year-old season. The handsome son of Goldencents showed bravery and determination by going through a small hole and then running down Disarm from the inside. It was a beautiful way for him to end his racing career.
Matt: The favorite for the following year’s Kentucky Derby emerges from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Ted Noffey went into the Juvenile as a deserving 4-5 favorite with a maiden victory at Saratoga followed by a pair of Grade 1 victories in the Hopeful and the Breeders’ Futurity.
It was a small field at Del Mar where Ted Noffey had to face the best 2-year-old from the west in Brant from the barn of Bob Baffert. Brant set the pace, but when the time came Ted Noffey was up to the task and took the lead in the stretch to win by a length.
Historically the Breeders’ Cup winner has not often won the Kentucky Derby. Trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by Spendthrift Farm, the son of Into Mischief has the look of an early Derby favorite who might be able to handle the big challenge of the Derby trail.
Brian: Much as with the Preakness, it was disappointing not to have Sovereignty in the starting gate for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Then they ran the race. As mentioned, this year was an improvement over many recent racing seasons in large part because of the older horses who returned to run.
The 2025 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Classic had a little bit of everything, with a rabbit, the return of the Japan star and the top three finishers of last year. The younger Journalism ran a big race, but the older trio of Forever Young, Sierra Leone and Fierceness were too much. For added drama, last year’s winner made a strong late charge, but this one was for Japan. Forever Young earned his revenge in a wonderful race.
