Godolphin Earns Fifth Eclipse Owner, Breeder Titles

Godolphin Again Sweeps Eclipse Owner, Breeder Titles Godolphin continues to break new ground as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's international racing and breeding operation celebrates for 2025 its fifth consecutive year as winner of both the outstanding breeder and outstanding owner Eclipse Awards. Based in the United States at its Darley at Jonabell Farm near Lexington, Godolphin is the first entity to win the Eclipse outstanding owner award for six consecutive years and the first to win both owner and breeder honors in the same year for five consecutive years. Under the names Godolphin and Darley, Sheikh Mohammed has earned a record 15 Eclipse trophies in these two categories. Godolphin also was outstanding owner for 2012, 2009, and under the name Darley Stable in 2006, when it shared the title with Lael Stables. Godolphin/Darley additionally won both categories in 2012. "The awards are quite different. There are an awful lot of hurdles to get over as a breeder, so that makes it very meaningful," said Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock. "You can be a top-end owner without having to take on the long-term risk of developing a broodmare band, doing the matings, hoping that your foals come out healthy and well, raising them for a couple of years, and then hoping that they develop the way you'd like them to develop. Talk to any breeder and it's probably one of the most difficult things to do, to get a horse at the high-end level." In the 2025 season a total of 22 black-type winners were bred by Godolphin, including 12 graded stakes winners that visited the winner's circle sporting the racing stable's distinctive blue silks. These graded stakes winners included Sovereignty, who reached another milestone for Godolphin by becoming its first Kentucky Derby (G1) winner. Also among them was homebred Good Cheer, who delivered to Godolphin its second victory in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Godolphin became the first owner/breeder since Calumet Farm in 1952 to win the Derby and Oaks in the same year. Sovereignty still had more to prove. The homebred son of Into Mischief out of the Bernardini mare Crowned won five of six starts last year, which included the Belmont (G1) and Travers (G1) stakes. His only loss was a second in the Florida Derby (G1). "We thoroughly enjoyed the Travers, it was such a dominant performance by him that day," Banahan said. "You could sit back and really enjoy that last furlong of the race. The Derby and the Travers are the two races that would be very high on our list any year to hopefully win." Sovereignty delivered a milestone for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, too, by becoming his first winner in the Midsummer Derby. Going forward, expect Godolphin to continue being laser-focused on producing horses capable of winning on the biggest stages worldwide. "It doesn't make any difference what sport you're in. If you're a competitor and you want to challenge yourself to be the best in the business or the best in the sport, there's new challenges every single year," Banahan said. "We've got new crops coming through, and I don't think it ever gets old. "The collective of the owner and the breeder awards, they're the most meaningful ones out there because it's not resting on one superstar horse. It shows across the board that our stable is healthy," he continued. "We're getting the right horses with the right trainers and competing in the right races to be successful. That's something that our whole organization, all our staff, can take a lot of pride in because everyone is involved."