From black-tie honors at The Breakers to dramatic finishes at Gulfstream Park, Thoroughbred racing’s largest stars took heart stage.
The Breakers in South Florida. Picture by GBeroza.
South Florida was the place to be throughout the 2026 Pegasus Stakes–Eclipse Awards weekend for followers of Thoroughbred racing.
The 2025 Eclipse Awards ceremony happened on Thursday evening, January 22, 2026, at The Breakers Palm Seaside Resort. The black-tie occasion celebrated one of the best racehorses and racing connections of the 2025 season. The weekend continued on Saturday afternoon, January 24, with the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Dust) and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Turf), together with a number of extra prestigious graded stakes that created a full day of top-level competitors.
First flip throughout the Pegasus World Cup. Picture by Jeff Zamaiko, Jr.
Following the races, festivities carried late into the evening at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Seaside, the place the on-site Carousel Membership supplied a high-energy nightclub environment for house owners, connections, and followers alike.
Eclipse Awards Highlights
The annual Eclipse Awards drew an iconic group of trade leaders and racing fans to honor the earlier yr’s achievements in Thoroughbred racing. A complete of 24 award classes have been offered, with three finalists named in 23 classes. Essentially the most prestigious honor — Horse of the Yr — doesn’t announce finalists and is revealed for the primary time throughout the ceremony itself.
Whereas all nominees and awards are important, HorseDoc® highlighted a number of standout winners, led by Sovereignty, who was named 2025 Eclipse Horse of the Yr.
Sovereignty’s connections. Picture by GBeroza.
Notable Eclipse Award Winners
2-Yr-Outdated Filly: Tremendous Corredora — winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
2-Yr-Outdated Male: Ted Noffey — undefeated in 4 begins, together with three Grade 1 wins and the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
3-Yr-Outdated Filly: Nitrogen — six wins, three seconds, and two thirds from 11 stakes races, excelling throughout a number of surfaces
3-Yr-Outdated Male: Sovereignty — winner of 5 graded stakes in 2025, together with the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes
Older Dust Feminine: Thorpedo Anna — eight stakes wins in 2024 en path to Eclipse Awards for Excellent 3-Yr-Outdated Filly and Horse of the Yr; added two Grade 1 and two Grade 2 wins in 2025 earlier than retiring to breeding
Older Dust Male: Ceaselessly Younger — Japan’s 2025 Horse of the Yr; third within the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Basic behind Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone; winner of the Saudi Derby, UAE Derby, Saudi Cup, and the $7 million 2025 Breeders’ Cup Basic
Jockey: Flavien Prat — winner of a lot of an important U.S. graded stakes; together with Irad Ortiz Jr., turned the primary jockeys to surpass $40 million in profession earnings; repeat Eclipse Award winner
Coach: Invoice Mott — 13 graded wins in 2025, together with the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes with Sovereignty, in addition to the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Basic with six-year-old Scylla
Horse of the Yr: Sovereignty
HorseDoc performed stay, on-site interviews with a number of profitable connections, together with coach Invoice Mott, jockey Junior Alvarado (Sovereignty), jockey Flavien Prat (Jockey of the Yr), and coach Yoshito Yahagi (Ceaselessly Younger). Pictures and interviews captured the vitality of the night, with notable attendees together with Ken Langone and Griffin Johnson.
Further data on all finalists and winners is on the market by the Nationwide Thoroughbred Racing Affiliation.
Pegasus World Cup Weekend
Pegasus Beginning Gate. Picture by Lauren King.
Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup Invitational races delivered a high-octane day of elite, well-funded stakes racing, drawing high horses, jockeys, trainers, breeders, and house owners from throughout North America. The group was packed, the environment electrical, eating places and gaming areas have been full, and the auxiliary leisure matched the dimensions of the occasion.
The Pegasus program featured three Invitational races:
Grade 2 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf ($500,000, 1 1/16 miles)
Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf ($1 million, 1 1/8 miles)
Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Dust) ($3 million, 1 1/8 miles)
The winner of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational earns an automated “Win and You’re In” berth to the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Basic later within the yr.
HorseDoc gathered interviews from distinguished racing figures forward of each weekend occasions, together with trainers Todd Pletcher, Saffie Joseph Jr., Dale Romans, Graham Movement, Ken McPeek, Danny Gargan, and Philip Antonacci. Their insights coated each Eclipse Award predictions and Pegasus race expectations.
Pictures and video clips of movie star attendees — together with Mark Wahlberg, Griffin Johnson, and Ken Langone — have been compiled into two episodes on the Speaking Horses YouTube channel.
Dramatic Pegasus Finishes
Each premier Pegasus Invitational races delivered surprising and historic outcomes.
The $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf was gained by Take a look at Rating, with One Stripe (a South African entry) ending second. Each horses have been educated by Graham Movement.
Take a look at Rating. Picture by ACoglianese.
The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Dust) was gained by Skippylongstocking, with White Abarrio ending second. Each have been educated by Saffie Joseph, Jr.
Skippylongstocking and Whute Abarrio. Picture by Lauren King.
White Abarrio, who gained the Pegasus World Cup in 2025, entered the 2026 race underneath intense scrutiny following a sequence of disputed eligibility and veterinary points. He was famously scratched on the gate from the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dust Mile, a call that continues to generate controversy inside the sport.
Joseph, Jr. was visibly emotional throughout his post-race interview, addressing each horses’ performances and discussing future plans for the 2 seven-year-olds. Potential litigation associated to White Abarrio’s Breeders’ Cup scratching is reportedly into consideration, with restricted transparency surrounding the incident.
Additional dialogue on the difficulty could be discovered by Thoroughbred Every day Information.
Dr. Gregory A. Beroza, DVM, DACVS, DABVP has been a working towards veterinarian and guide for 42 years; and HorseDoc® ‘Speaking Horses’® media host, writer, and guide since 2007. Dr. Beroza is a multimedia host and broadcasts his productions, together with a brand new Podcast, by way of his WuzUpDoc Media web site: www.WuzUpDoc.com. He could be discovered on Twitter, Fb, Youtube and different social media sources.
Because of ‘HorseDoc’ Sponsors: Alex Nichols Company; BMB IT Options, Chestnut Vale Feed, Cosequin Joint Well being Complement, Douglas Elliman Actual Property, Nice American Insurance coverage-Equine Division; Hopscotch Air Taxi; Jaguar; JSR Farriers-Equine Transport; Land Rover; Nutrena; Oheka Fortress Lodge & Property; Ramard Nutraceuticals; Vary Rover; Supporting Methods; Ultravet Medical Gadgets; Dan’s Papers
