Canadian apprentice rider PIETRO MORAN is a finalist for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey for the 2025 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, to be awarded to the North American champions on January 22 in Miami.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced the finalists for the Eclipse Awards on January 4. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during a telecast on FanDuelTV beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Of the 240 eligible voters represented by the NTRA, consisting of racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 221 (92%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.
Moran, who is the front runner to win the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Apprentice for 2025, finished second in the rider standings to Rafael Hernandez with an impressive 139 winners, nine short of Hernandez.
The son of jockey David Moran is looking to follow in the tack of other Canadian apprentice riders who have won an Eclipse Award: Mickey Walls, Neil Poznansky, Emma-Jayne Wilson and Omar Moreno. In 2023, Sofia Vives was nominated for an Eclipse.
Moran’s competition is Christopher Elliott, who had won close to 100 races by the time he moved from apprentice to journeyman in July 2025. Elliott is the son of jockey Stewart Elliott. Ydsit Hazelwood had an impressive 23% win rate, taking 136 victories from 588 starts and purses of $4.4 million.
Kentucky-bred KOPION, who was bred by Toronto’s Ivan and Colleen Dalos’s Tall Oaks Farm, is a finalist for Female Sprinter of the year.
The list of Eclipse Award finalists is below:
Two-Year-Old Male: Brant, Gstaad (GB), Ted Noffey
Two-Year-Old Filly: Cy Fair, Explora, Super Corredora
Three-Year-Old Male: Baeza, Journalism, Sovereignty
Three-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer, Nitrogen, Shisospicy
Older Dirt Male: Forever Young (JPN), Nysos, Sierra Leone
Older Dirt Female: Scylla, Splendora, Thorpedo Anna
Male Sprinter: Bentornato, Book’em Danno, Nysos
Female Sprinter: Kopion, Shisospicy, Splendora
Male Turf Horse: Deterministic, Notable Speech (GB), Rebel’s Romance (IRE)
Female Turf Horse: Gezora (FR), She Feels Pretty, Shisospicy
Steeplechase Horse: Cool Jet (IRE), Swore, Zanahiyr (IRE)
Owner: Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables, Inc., Spendthrift Farm LLC
Breeder: Don Alberto Corporation, Godolphin LLC, WinStar Farm, LLC
Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bill Mott
Jockey: Irad Oritz Jr., Flavien Prat, John Velazquez
Apprentice Jockey: Christopher Elliott, Yedsit Hazlewood, Pietro Moran
Finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced during the live show on January 22. In addition to honouring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Dan Piazza will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2025 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honoured for outstanding coverage in six categories.
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