Breeders' Cup horses: Who Will Be 2026 Horse of the Year?

Key takeaways

• Reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (253 points) and defending Classic winner Forever Young (252) are separated by one point in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll heading into the Breeders' Cup.
• Both run in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday, along with three more of the poll's top seven: Knightsbridge, Magnitude and Golden Tempo.
• Sixteen of the 42 Classic winners from 1984 to 2025 were named Horse of the Year, but only five of the last 11.
• If the Classic goes to a longshot, Nitrogen, Englishman, Notable Speech or Diamond Necklace could steal the title with a big Breeders' Cup win.

The 2026 Horse of the Year race in horse racing comes down to Saturday at Keeneland. Reigning champion Sovereignty (5-2) and defending Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Forever Young (2-1) sit one point apart in the NTRA poll, and both run in the $7 million Classic at 6:16 PM ET on October 31st.

Three more of the poll's top seven are in the same eight-horse field. Here's how the vote works, where every contender stands, and what a Classic win would mean for each one.

Naturally, you can bet which horses will win their Breeders’ Cup races at FanDuel Racing. Also, discover 2026 Breeders’ Cup odds and bet the Breeders’ Cup with exclusive bonuses and promos.

How Horse of the Year is decided

Horse of the Year is the top Eclipse Award, voted on by members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. Voters rank their top three in each category, which decides the three finalists, but only first-place votes decide the champion.

A horse needs just one start in the United States or Canada during the year to be eligible. That covers Forever Young: the Japan-based star won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park on September 18th. The 56th Eclipse Awards, honoring 2026, are set for January 19th, 2027, at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

For reference, the 2025 vote wasn't close. Sovereignty received 201 first-place votes, Forever Young 17 and champion 2-year-old Ted Noffey two. Forever Young still collected an Eclipse as champion older dirt male, becoming only the second Japan-based horse to win one, after Loves Only You in 2021.

Where the Horse of the Year race stands

The final regular-season NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll (Week 40, released October 26th) has the two Classic favorites in a dead heat. Sovereignty and Forever Young each received 12 first-place votes, and the week before, they were tied at 253 points.

Source: NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, Week 40, via BloodHorse. Points for ranks 6-10 were not published. Odds are Breeders' Cup morning lines.

Horse Racing Nation's Brian Zipse summed up the picture for the five Classic runners in the top seven: "If any of the five wins on Saturday, the horse of the year title will be theirs. If they all lose, chaos ensues."

Does the Breeders' Cup Classic winner become Horse of the Year?

Often, but not as often as you might think. Sixteen of the 42 Classic winners from 1984 through 2025 went on to be named Horse of the Year, and five of the last 11 did it.

The Classic matters most when the leaders run in it, and this year four of the poll's top five do. Plenty of champions have won the title without the Classic: Wise Dan took it in 2012 and 2013 with wins in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF, Bricks and Mortar won it in 2019 off the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, and Zenyatta was Horse of the Year in 2010 after finishing second in the Classic. Last year Sovereignty won it without running in the Breeders' Cup at all, after a fever forced him out of the Classic.

The Classic contenders and what a win would mean

Sovereignty (#2, 5-2): the reigning champion

Sovereignty has the most to protect. His 2026 campaign started slowly, with a second in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and a third behind Magnitude in the Stephen Foster (G1), but his 4 ¾-length win in the Whitney (G1) over Nitrogen put him back on top of the poll. A foot abscess then cost him the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), so he comes into the Classic off a 12-week layoff in what is expected to be his final start.

If he wins: a second straight Horse of the Year, joining repeat winners such as Cigar, Curlin and Wise Dan, and a first Classic win for owner-breeder Godolphin.

Forever Young (#5, 2-1): the defending champion

Forever Young has the strongest 2026 résumé on paper. He won the Saudi Cup (G1) in February, was beaten a length by Magnitude in the Dubai World Cup (G1), and then won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) by 3 ¼ lengths in his first U.S. prep. He is 12-for-16 with more than $32 million in earnings and has never finished worse than third.

If he wins: he becomes only the second two-time Classic winner, after Tiznow, and the first Japan-based Horse of the Year. Zipse called a second Classic "the only chance for Japan's reigning horse of the year to also become America's horse of the year."

Knightsbridge (#7, 9-2): the speed horse

No horse in the field has been more impressive since the summer. Knightsbridge won the Monmouth Cup (G3) by 10 ¼ lengths with a 122 Beyer Speed Figure, then won the Pacific Classic (G1) by 6 ¼ lengths in his first try at 1 ¼ miles. He is third in the poll with three first-place votes.

If he wins: a Classic and a Pacific Classic in the same year, plus wins over both poll leaders, would give him the best final case of anyone in the field.

Magnitude (#6, 6-1): the horse who beat them both

Magnitude is the one Classic runner who has already beaten both Forever Young and Sovereignty this year. He led every step of the Dubai World Cup (G1) and then won the Stephen Foster (G1). A stumble at the start of the Whitney (G1) left him sixth, and that's the only blemish on his 2026 record.

If he wins: three of the year's biggest dirt races, with head-to-head wins over the top two in the poll, would make him a clear choice.

Golden Tempo (#3, 5-1): the Derby winner

Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby (G1) at 23-1 and the Belmont Stakes (G1), giving trainer Cherie DeVaux history as the first woman to train a Derby winner. An illness cost him training time before his third in the Travers (G1), and Saturday is his first start against older horses.

If he wins: the Derby, Belmont and Classic in one season is the kind of 3-year-old campaign that has carried American Pharoah (2015) and Authentic (2020) to Horse of the Year.

The Puma (#4), Napoleon Solo (#8) and T O Password (#1)

Pennsylvania Derby (G1) winner The Puma (10-1), Preakness (G1) winner Napoleon Solo (15-1) and Japanese longshot T O Password (30-1) are outside the poll's top 10. A win by any of them would most likely send the title to whichever of the poll leaders runs best behind them, or to a champion from another Breeders' Cup race.

The Horse of the Year contenders outside the Classic

If the Classic goes to a longshot, the Breeders' Cup's other headliners come into play. Zipse wrote that Nitrogen's chance "is not out of the question if the Breeders' Cup Classic goes to a long shot."

• Nitrogen (Distaff, 6-5): The fourth-ranked horse in the poll won the Ogden Phipps (G1) and was second to Sovereignty against males in the Whitney (G1). She's the 6-5 favorite in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff.
• Englishman (Sprint, 4-5): The 3-year-old won the Woody Stephens (G1) and H. Allen Jerkens (G1) and is the shortest-priced favorite of the weekend in the Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint.
• Notable Speech (Mile, 7-5): The 2025 champion male turf horse is chasing a repeat in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile after winning the Woodbine Mile (G1). See our FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile odds and picks.
• Diamond Necklace (Turf, 3-1): Aidan O'Brien's filly won three straight Group 1s before a third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1). She needs her Breeders' Cup start to be eligible, and she's the morning-line favorite in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. A win would also count in Aidan O'Brien's race to 22 Breeders' Cup wins with Bob Baffert.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic odds and the Horse of the Year stakes

This is updated as of Wednesday, October 28th. See the full Longines Breeders' Cup Classic entries, post positions and morning-line odds.

At 2-1, Forever Young carries an implied probability of about 33%, and Sovereignty at 5-2 about 29%. Add Knightsbridge, Magnitude and Golden Tempo, and the five poll horses account for about 86% of the field's morning-line win probability once the overround is stripped out. That's why the Classic is likely to decide the title. For more on each horse's path, see our Longines Breeders' Cup Classic storylines.

Example Ticket: The Horse of the Year race

Poll leaders to win: $10 to win on #2 Sovereignty and $10 to win on #5 Forever Young. That's $20 total; it returns $35 if Sovereignty wins or $30 if Forever Young wins, if the odds hold.

The title decider: $1 exacta box, #2 Sovereignty and #5 Forever Young. Two combinations for $2.

Poll top three: $1 trifecta box, #2, #5, #7. Six combinations for $6.

The challengers: $5 to win on #6 Magnitude (returns $35 at 6-1) and $5 to win on #7 Knightsbridge (returns $27.50 at 9-2). $10 total.

Payouts are based on morning-line odds; your actual return depends on the final odds at post time. Odds will move between now and 6:16 PM ET on Saturday (see how to watch the 2026 Breeders' Cup for TV and streaming), so see the latest Breeders' Cup odds for updated prices. We'll update this page with the Horse of the Year picture after the Classic on Saturday night.

For the full card, see the latest Breeders' Cup odds and every race at Keeneland on FanDuel Racing.

Odds are morning lines from the Oct. 26 draw and are subject to change.

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