Sovereignty tops class of 2025 as potential champions emerge

Another outstanding season for Godolphin in North America received deserved recognition at the Eclipse Awards on Thursday, with Horse of the Year Sovereignty headlining five royal blue accolades.

Sovereignty emulated Godolphin’s previous Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish following a superb campaign that yielded a clean sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, Jim Dandy Stakes and Travers Stakes. No horse had previously won all four races, and the Into Mischief homebred was also crowned Champion Three-Year-Old Male.

Notable Speech took the Champion Male Turf Horse award thanks to exhilarating wins in the Woodbine Mile and Breeders’ Cup Mile. He continues a remarkable record of Charlie Appleby-trained sons of Dubawi in the division, with Yibir, Rebel’s Romance and Modern Games all winning the same award since 2021.

Royal blue runners amassed a new single-season record of more than US$22.3m in prize money in 2025, helping Godolphin to win the Outstanding Owner award for a ninth time. Eight G1 wins during the season included a memorable first weekend in May as Good Cheer and Sovereignty completed the Kentucky Oaks/Kentucky Derby double, a feat last achieved by an owner/breeder in 1952.

All but one of Godolphin’s 22 Graded Stakes wins in the United States and Canada throughout 2025 were achieved by homebred horses, a feat that saw Godolphin receive the Outstanding Breeder award for a sixth time.

On the track, Opera Ballo continued his rise with a first G1 victory as he dominated the Jebel Hatta on Friday. A second top-level success for his sire Ghaiyyath, the Charlie Appleby-trained colt is now unbeaten in two appearances at Meydan and looks a leading contender for the Dubai Turf.

Knightsbridge could also have Dubai World Cup Night on his radar after an impressive win in the G3 Fred W Hooper Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The half-brother to Speaker’s Corner, who scored in the same race in 2022, is nominated for the Godolphin Mile, with the Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day and Met Mile among possible targets later in the season.

Joe Osborne, an integral part of Godolphin for more than three decades, was presented with the Contribution to the Industry Award at the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association's National Breeding and Racing Awards on Saturday.

Most recently Managing Director for Godolphin Ireland, Osborne left the organisation in November following 32 years’ service. In addition to leading operations in Ireland, he was instrumental in establishing Godolphin in Australia, Japan and France, as well as setting up the Godolphin Flying Start programme.