Story by B. Jason Brooks
The recently-announced finalists for the 2025 Eclipse champions have added accolades to an already-successful year for Claiborne Farm female families. Five finalists from Claiborne families are in the running for being crowned champions at the awards ceremony on Thursday, January 22nd in Palm Beach, Florida. This recognition at the highest level of racing is a testament to the success of the legendary farm’s cultivation of elite bloodlines for more than a century.
As detailed below, the five 2025 Eclipse champion finalists from Claiborne families include red-hot victress Shisospicy, dual-surface heroine Nitrogen, Blame filly and leading Kentucky Oaks contender Explora, elite European and Breeders’ Cup champion Gstaad (GB), and stellar sprinter Cy Fair.
Shisospicy
Topping the list of Eclipse champion finalists with three nominations is Shisospicy. The Mitole filly is in the running for Eclipse Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, Female Sprinter, and Female Turf Horse.
A progressive 2025 campaign that included seven starts at seven different tracks, including a jaunt to Royal Ascot, Shisospicy caught fire in her sophomore year, winning four stakes races that began with the listed Limestone Stakes in April. She followed it up with an impressive 4¼-length victory in her graded debut, the Mamzelle Stakes (G3) in May, then shipped across the pond for an off-the-board effort in the Commonwealth Cup (G1). She returned to her winning ways next time out after returning to the states, winning the Music City Stakes (G2) in September by 3 lengths. She saved her biggest marquee victory for November with a gate-to-wire 2½-length win of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November, the first 3-year-old filly to ever win the race versus males.
With more than $2 million in earnings, Shisospicy is out of Into Mischief mare Mischief Galore and was bred in Kentucky by Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt who campaigned her sire Mitole. Her owner partnership included Morplay Racing and Qatar Racing and she is trained by Jose Francisco D’Angelo. Following her Breeders’ Cup victory, she went through the ring of the Fasig-Tipton November Sale where Morplay Racing took over full ownership of her for a whopping $5.2 million. They plan to campaign her again in 2026.
Hailing from the Risque branch of Claiborne’s foundation mare Venturesome (GB), her family includes Pamela Ziebarth’s homebred My Sweet Addiction, by Tiznow, winner of the 2015 Vanity Stakes (G1), and her dam, Ziebarth’s Healthy Addiction, by Boston Harbor, winner of the 2006 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (G1).
Nitrogen
Another contender for Eclipse Champion 3-Year-Old Filly is D. J. Stable’s homebred Nitrogen, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro who won a resounding five graded stakes races over multiple surfaces in 2025 to assert herself as a leader of her division.
Following grade 1-placed honors in 2024’s Natalma Stakes (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) and winning Canada’s Sovereign Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, Nitrogen launched her 2025 campaign for trainer Mark Casse with turf victories in the listed Ginger Brew Stakes in January and Florida Oaks (G3) in March. She continued adding stakes victories in spring with wins in the Appalachian Stakes (G2) in April and the Edgewood Stakes (G2) in May.
After shipping to Saratoga for the Wonder Again Stakes in June, originally a grade 2 scheduled for the turf, she relished the sealed slop, romping to a 17-length win for the race that was downgraded to a grade 3 due to the change in surfaces. Returning to the turf for the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1) in July, she came up a nose short, settling for runner-up honors.
Nitrogen reached a new level in her career when switching back to the dirt, a move that delivered her first career grade 1 victory in the prestigious Alabama Stakes (G1) in August. Remaining on the dirt, she came up a head short in the Spinster Stakes (G1) in October, followed by another second-best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) in November.
Descending from the Star in the North branch of Claiborne foundation mare Lighted Lamp, Nitrogen’s family includes Pin Oak Stud’s homebred Cool, by Bold Bidder, winner of the 1985 Manhattan Handicap (G1). More recently, Nitrogen’s half-sister Love to Shop, by Violence, won the 2023 Toronto Cup and placed in four graded stakes races for owners Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable.
Nitrogen’s success this year made her dam Tiffany Case (in foal to Not This Time) a prized broodmare at the 2026 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, selling for a top bid of $3.2 million to Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm.
For more on Nitrogen’s Claiborne family, see “Nitrogen’s Alabama Win Highlights Success of Claiborne Female Families at Saratoga” on the Claiborne blog.
Explora
Explora, by Claiborne homebred stallion Blame, is a finalist for Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old Filly. She came out with style, winning her career debut in August with a front-running 4¾-length victory at Del Mar that earned her a “Rising Star” moniker from the Thoroughbred Daily News. She came back on 19 days’ rest for the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) in September, leading from the gate to the final sixteenth before giving way to finish runner-up. She bounced back going two turns for the first time in early October with a dominant 4¼-length win of the Oak Leaf Stakes (G2). Diving back into grade 1-company for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on Halloween, she ran superbly but came up three-quarters of a length short at the wire to take second.
Explora recently launched her 3-year-old campaign by outclassing the field in the Santa Ynez Stakes with a 5¼-length win on January 10th, placing the Bob Baffert trainee at the top of the 2026 Kentucky Oaks leaderboard.
Bred by Steve and Denise Smith’s Mesingw Farm, she is owned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman.
With Claiborne blood on the top and bottom of her pedigree, Explora is from the Merry Maid branch of Richard Hancock’s foundation mare Mermaid. Her granddam is Neil Jones’s Abergwaun Farm homebred Model, by Giant’s Causeway, who placed in a trio of grade 1 races in 2008 and 2009. Also a Abergwaun Farm homebred, Explora’s great-granddam Snowfire (GB), by Machiavellian, was runner up in the 2002 English One Thousand Guineas. Snowfire is half to Abergwaun’s Preseli (IRE), by Caerleon, who won the 1999 Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) in Ireland.
Gstaad (GB)
The Coolmore team’s colt Gstaad (GB), by Starspangledbanner (AUS), is a finalist for Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old Male after a strong international campaign that was capped off by securing a coveted Breeders’ Cup victory in the U.S.
A debut winner in May in Ireland, the tall dark bay or brown juvenile dove into deeper waters second time out for the Coventry Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot, outclassing the field of 19 foes with an easy 3-length victory. Gstaad’s campaign proceeded with three European group 1 races, with close runner-up finishes in the prestigious Prix Morny (G1) in August in France, Vincent O’Brien National Stakes (G1) in September in Ireland, and the Dewhurst Stakes (G1) in October in England.
Gstaad made his way to the states for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), taking command in the upper stretch and drawing clear for an authoritative three-quarter-length victory, which was a record-setting 21st Breeders’ Cup win for Irish trainer Aiden O’Brien.
From the Bobbles branch of Claiborne foundation mare Bobolink (GB), Maywood Stud-bred Gstaad is from a family with elite international success. He is half to Bahrain royal HH Shaikh Khalid Al-Khalifa’s Vandeek (GB), by Havana Grey (GB), winner of the Prix Morny (G1) in France and Middle Park Stakes (G1) in England, both in 2023.
Adding to this royal family’s success, Gstaad’s granddam is half to the dam of Alec Head’s Anabaa, by Danzig, winner of the July Cup Stakes (G1) in England and Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1) in France, both in 1996. Gstaad’s granddam is also half to Godolphin owner HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Balbonella (FR), by Gay Mecene, winner of the 1986 Prix Robert Papin (G1) in France. Balbonella is the dam of Always Loyal, by Zilzal, winner of the 1997 French One Thousand Guineas (G1), and third dam of Japanese businessman Tetsuhide Kunimoto’s Shonan Adela (JPN), by Deep Impact (JPN), winner of the 2014 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) in her native Japan.
Cy Fair
A finalist for Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, George Weaver-trained sprinter Cy Fair, by Not This Time, broke her maiden with an eye-catching debut in July at Saratoga, earning her a “Rising Star” designation from Thoroughbred Daily News. She earned her first black-type in August in the listed Bolton Landing Stakes, coming up a neck short for runner-up honors.
Cy Fair’s breakthrough came when making her way north of the border to take on males in Woodbine’s listed Algonquin Stakes in early October, impressively rallying in the stretch for a convincing 3¼-length victory. She capped off her thriving freshman campaign in style by defeating males again, this time in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1), taking the lead in the stretch for a one-length triumph.
From the Damaged Goods branch of Claiborne foundation mare Peroration (GB), Cy Fair was bred by Marc Keller and is owned by Taylor Made Farm-affilated Medallion Racing, Swinbank Stables, Joey Platts, and Mark Stanton.
Cy Fair is the first foal out of Florida-bred Remarqued, by Claiborne homebred Arch. In foal to Nyquist, she was sold from the Claiborne consignment at the 2025 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $1.2 million.
Remarqued is half to Wathnan Racing’s Crimson Advocate, by Nyquist, who placed in the 2025 Falmouth Stakes (G1) in England. She has two high-profile group stakes wins at Royal Ascot that include the 2023 Queen Mary Stakes (G2) and 2025 Duke of Cambridge Stakes (G2). Cy Fair’s granddam Citizen Advocate, by Proud Citizen, is half to the dam of Zoom and Fish Stable, Charlie Spiring, and Newtown Anner Stud’s 2017 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Caledonia Road, by Quality Road, winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Stakes (G1).
Having five finalists for Eclipse champions is not a surprise given the stellar year that Claiborne bloodlines had in 2025. A total of 40 graded stakes races in the U.S. and Canada were won by horses from Claiborne families, including seven grade 1 races. The early 2026 success of Blame’s Explora, making her a leading contender for the Kentucky Oaks, may be a sign of another big year to come.
B. Jason Brooks is a Thoroughbred racing and pedigree researcher, writer, and social media manager residing in Saratoga Springs, New York.