With 2025 drawing to a close, it feels appropriate to review the preceding year and recall its most memorable races. Below is an unquestionably biased compilation of 2025’s premier 10 races, selected based on criteria such as thrilling stretch duels, narrow margins of victory, and/or outstanding showings in major contests at elite competitive tiers. We wish you continued enjoyment of exciting races and betting opportunities in the forthcoming year. Best of fortune and a joyful new year!
1. Preakness Stakes: Journalism achieves a stunning triumph
Journalism entered the second leg of the 2025 Triple Crown series following a runner-up performance in the Kentucky Derby. With the Derby victor, Sovereignty, bypassing this event, Journalism emerged as the even-money favorite amidst a field of nine contenders in the landmark 150th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. His journey proved challenging, however, as he encountered heavy congestion upon entering the final straight. Rider Umberto Rispoli had to force his way through a constricted gap, causing significant contact between Goal Oriented and Clever Again, with all three equines narrowly averting a major incident. Gosger capitalized on this, establishing what appeared to be an unassailable lead down the stretch, until a revived Journalism surged forward with immense determination, achieving an unlikely and spectacular win.
2. Personal Ensign Stakes: Thorpedo Anna barely overtakes Dorth Vader
The current Horse of the Year, Thorpedo Anna, appeared on the circuit as the strong 3-4 favorite in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga. However, she was compelled to repel an unforeseen intense assault from Dorth Vader for the entirety of the home straight, ultimately triumphing by the slimmest fraction of a nose as the duo vied until the finish, leaving the remainder of the competitors trailing by 9 ¾ lengths. This Personal Ensign victory marked the concluding win in Thorpedo Anna’s distinguished racing journey.
3. Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford: Mindframe triumphs in a four-way finish
Equestrian enthusiasts witnessed an immediate classic during the Kentucky Derby’s preliminary races, specifically the Churchill Downs Stakes. Several of 2025’s leading older thoroughbreds engaged in a gripping four-way photo finish, with Mindframe emerging victorious. Nysos shared the second-place spot with Banishing, finishing a neck behind Mindframe, marking Nysos’s sole career defeat so far. Just a head further back, Book’em Danno, a strong contender for the sprint division’s Eclipse Award, regrettably finished fourth.
4. Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve: Sovereignty secures the crown
Despite a muddy track on a rainy afternoon at Churchill Downs, the atmosphere remained vibrant, and the competitive spirit was undimmed among the 19 entrants in the planet’s most renowned horse race. Sovereignty, who placed second in the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa, and Journalism, the Santa Anita Derby victor, mounted strong charges from the latter half of the pack around the bend. They briefly clashed in a stretch duel before Sovereignty ultimately secured a conclusive victory before a live audience of 147,406 attendees.
5. Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic: Forever Young overcomes his 2024 adversaries
Sovereignty was withdrawn prior to the event, and his absence was noted, yet this did not diminish the significance of a memorable running of the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. The Classic attracted an exceptional lineup befitting the 2025 season’s culminating contest, highlighted by the top three contenders from the 2024 Longines Classic, also hosted at Del Mar: Sierra Leone, Fierceness, and Forever Young. Ultimately, it was Japan’s Forever Young who managed to surpass Fierceness and subsequently hold off a late challenge from Sierra Leone to achieve a momentous triumph.
6. Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile: Nysos defeats stablemate by a head
The Breeders’ Cup delivered another exhilarating moment late on the Saturday program when the favored Nysos strenuously battled to overtake the pacesetting Citizen Bull, prevailing at the finish line in a nod-for-nod photo finish, thus guaranteeing a one-two placement for conditioner Bob Baffert.
7. Del Mar Handicap Presented by the Japan Racing Association: Gold Phoenix claims a quadruple victory
The seasoned 7-year-old thoroughbred, Gold Phoenix, has consistently refused defeat in the Del Mar Handicap ever since his inaugural participation in 2022. On August 30, he maintained a stalking position within the mid-section of the field before launching his surge in the final straight, ultimately winning a multi-horse contest for victory. This marked his fourth successive success in the prominent turf event of Del Mar’s summer festival.
8. Juddmonte Spinster Stakes: A shift in power during a pivotal race
The 2025 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland attracted a mere five-horse entry, with many anticipating it would be another addition to Thorpedo Anna’s extensive winning streak. This prediction, however, did not materialize, as Thorpedo Anna faltered to fourth place in what became her final professional outing. Conversely, Gin Gin persevered valiantly, fending off the second-place finisher, Nitrogen, by a head following an intense final-stretch struggle. Scylla, who went on to win the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff in her subsequent start, finished a close third, just 1 ¼ lengths behind.
9. Further Ado’s maiden win, Oct. 10 at Keeneland: A 20-length dominant showing
While several of Ted Noffey’s impressive 2-year-old triumphs were contenders for this compilation, this position among the top 10 is awarded to his Spendthrift Farm juvenile stablemate, Further Ado. On October 10, he transformed what seemed to be a routine Keeneland maiden race into an astonishing, dominant performance. Further Ado accelerated with incredible power in the stretch, widening his lead to a remarkable 20 lengths. He then built upon this with a more disciplined 1 ¾-length win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs in November, securing 10 points toward the 2026 Kentucky Derby.
10. Doncho’s world record-setting win, Aug. 7 at Ellis Park: A new turf sprint benchmark
Occasionally, an utterly exceptional display emerges unexpectedly, and such was the case at Ellis Park in western Kentucky amidst the height of summer. There, the 4-year-old turf sprinter, Doncho, truly hit the accelerator, leaving his rivals far behind in an allowance optional claiming event, simultaneously establishing a 5 ½-furlong turf world record time of :59.75.
