Bentornato named 2025 Florida-bred Horse of the Year after Breeders' Cup Sprint win

Bentornato’s Breeders' Cup Sprint breakthrough carried enough weight to lift him to 2025 Florida-bred Horse of the Year, a nod that links one explosive season to the broader strength of the state-bred pipeline. The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association board of directors selected the Jose F. D’Angelo trainee, and the honor was announced at the FTBOA Awards Gala at Circle Square Cultural Center in Ocala.

The case for Bentornato was built on more than one afternoon at Del Mar. He won the $1.84 million Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 1, 2025, as the 8-5 favorite, finishing 2 1/4 lengths clear of Imagination and becoming the sixth Florida-bred winner of the race. It was also his first Grade 1 victory, and the Breeders' Cup said the performance pushed his career earnings to $2,322,180 and his record to 11 starts, 7 wins, 2 seconds and 2 thirds.

That finish mattered because Bentornato had already shown he belonged in top company. He was runner-up in the 2024 Breeders' Cup Sprint, beaten a half-length by Straight No Chaser, and he returned in 2025 with a sharpened profile that included a five-and-three-quarters-length win in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 13. FTBOA said the Breeders' Cup victory made him the 31st Florida-bred winner of a Breeders' Cup race, while also making him the 21st Florida-bred graded stakes winner and the second Florida-bred Grade 1 winner of 2025.

Bentornato’s rise also reflects the commercial reach of a horse with a clearly marketable résumé. He races for Leon King Stable Corp. and Michael and Julia C. Iavarone, who paid $1 million for a 25% share at the Keeneland Championship Sale at Del Mar. Bred in Florida by Tanma Corp., he is by Valiant Minister out of Her Special Way, by Put It Back. Before becoming a national name, he was already a state-bred standout, winning the Proud Man, Dr. Fager and Affirmed divisions of the Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream Park to earn FTBOA’s 2023 champion 2-year-old male title, then adding the 2024 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing.

The broader Florida picture was just as telling on the breeding side. Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Stud was named FTBOA Breeder of the Year for the seventh time, with homebreds earning nearly $2.89 million from 386 starts and producing 65 wins, 52 seconds and 68 thirds. Live Oak has already produced Florida Horse of the Year winners Miesque's Approval, Sultry Song and World Approval, and Bentornato’s season underscored how a Florida-bred sprinter can still climb from state company to a championship-level stage. For an organization that represents more than 1,300 breeders and owners in Florida, that combination of prestige, performance and sale-ring value is exactly the kind of result that keeps the program relevant far beyond state lines.