From opening day to the final tally, these are the leaders who set the pace in 2025.

© Coady Media

By Emily Paulk, StallioneSearch

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK–JANUARY 14, 2026– By the time the final numbers were tallied and the year-end charts came into focus, the 2025 season showed a clear pattern. Across nearly every category - sires, horses, breeders, owners, trainers, and jockeys - the same names surfaced repeatedly, not by coincidence, but through sustained performance. Success overlapped across categories, with horses, breeders, and connections appearing on multiple year-end lists.

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The Horses That Set the Pace

At the center of the season stood Favorite Cartel, who finished 2025 as the AQHA Leading Sire by earnings with $8,875,919. Standing at Burns Ranch, the son of Favorite Trick TB led both the overall sire list and the sire of two-year-olds standings, siring 23 stakes winners in 2025. His juveniles alone earned more than $5 million.

Favorite Cartel’s leading earner was Toby Sis, whose $856,157 season made her the leading 2-year-old filly by earnings. The filly, owned by Valeriano Racing Stables, LLC and bred by Edward C. Allred, delivered results that elevated not only her division, but also the sire and breeding standings she helped secure.

King Of The Tide. © Coady Media

The leading money earner across the charts was King Of The Tide. The gelding by Eye Am King finished as the leading horse by money earned in 2025 with $1,595,087, while also topping the 2-year-old gelding division. Owned by Tod and Gene Bradley in partnership with Ware Brown and bred by MJ Farms, King Of The Tide’s breakout year included the All American Futurity-G1 victory.

While Favorite Cartel ultimately claimed the leading sire title, the overall sire race was anything but one-sided. Apollitical Jess finished 2025 essentially neck-and-neck with Favorite Cartel, with progeny earnings exceeding $8 million for the year. The multiple Champion Sire also crossed a historic milestone in 2025, pushing his all-time progeny earnings beyond the $80 million mark. Together, Favorite Cartel and Apollitical Jess separated themselves from the rest of the sire ranks as the only sires with over $8 million.

Among the youngest stallions, Dulce Sin Tacha delivered one of the most statistically significant freshman seasons in the past two decades. Finishing as the AQHA Leading First-Year Sire with $2,193,584 in progeny earnings, he became one of only five stallions in the last 20 years to surpass $2 million with a first crop to race, joining Flying Cowboy 123, One Famous Eagle, First Moonflash, and Good Reason SA. His results placed him immediately among elite company and established his long-term trajectory early.

Two-time Champion and Leading First Crop Sire Dulce Sin Tacha. © Mark Herron, TRACK

One year removed from his freshman crop, Chilitos led the AQHA second-year sire standings with nearly $2.6 million in earnings and finished the year with almost $3 million in total progeny earnings. Double-registered, Chilitos also topped the APHA second-year sire list with $373,579, underscoring his versatility across registries. His year was fueled by leading Quarter Horse and Paint performers, positioning him as a sire with broad and sustained influence.

Few stallions in recent history have maintained momentum across multiple crops like Flying Cowboy 123. The young sire first shattered the first-year sire earnings record with $4.3 million, surpassing the mark set by One Famous Eagle. In 2024, he followed that performance by breaking the second-year sire record with more than $5.3 million. In 2025, he completed the run by leading all third-year sires with over $7.2 million in earnings. Flying Cowboy 123 finished the year ranked third overall among all sires, trailing only Favorite Cartel and Apollitical Jess, and remains among the leading sires with every crop to race.

The season also reinforced the lasting influence of established broodmare lines. Corona Cartel once again led the broodmare sire standings, as daughters produced runners earning $8,501,411. His impact was visible across multiple age divisions, including through top earners that bridged juvenile success with aged competition.

Among individual producers, Ms Riptide topped the dams of money earners list in 2025, with progeny earnings totaling $1,663,746, led almost entirely by King Of The Tide. The 2007 mare also finished as the leading freshman dam. Treasured Dreams ranked second among dams by earnings, driven by one of the season’s most accomplished runners, while Fast Dash N Deb, C Twister Seis, and London Laura rounded out the top five.

Leading the individual leader boards by money earned was King Of The Tide, who appeared across the overall earnings and leading two-year-olds rankings, followed by FDD Dreams, who led the three-year-old division.

Among the three-year-olds, FDD Dreams showed a similar crossover, leading the overall 3-year-old earnings list while also appearing prominently on stakes-winner charts and owner and breeder earnings summaries. His results reflected the strength of the 2022 foal crop, which produced leaders in multiple divisions.

In the aged ranks by earnings, Flashtoglory led her division by earnings, while Shakers No Secret was atop the aged geldings. Unrelentless topped the aged stallion division, underscoring the continued relevance of seasoned runners alongside emerging stars.

The People Behind the Numbers

MJ Farms finished 2025 as the AQHA Leading Breeder by earnings, with homebreds accumulating $6,694,377. Their impact extended across age groups and divisions, producing multiple stakes winners and key contributors in both juvenile and aged categories. While Steve D. Burns, DVM led breeders by races won, MJ Farms also topped the standings by stakes victories, highlighted by King Of The Tide’s headline performance.

Ownership success followed two distinct paths in 2025. Edward C. Allred led all owners by races won, while Owner La Feliz Montana Ranch, LLC topped the owners by earnings list with $2,256,479, driven by a smaller but highly efficient stable that was led by FDD Dreams and Political Twist.

The trainer standings echoed that same pattern. Jason L. Olmstead led all trainers by wins, while James Gonzales, III finished atop the earnings list with runners collecting nearly $3.8 million. Xavier Rodriguez, who finished third in earnings, rounded out the top tier with over $3.3 million.

In the saddle, Juan Pulido led all jockeys with an impressive total of 120 victories, achieving a win rate of 29 percent. Francisco Calderon and Luis Martinez were closely competing, both having earned over $3 million, with both nearing $4 million in earnings. Specifically, Francisco Calderon's mounts earned $3,990,340, while Luis Martinez's mounts earned $3,887,106. This highlights the exceptional talent present among jockeys in the standings.

A Season Defined by Intersection

Champion 3-Year-Old Gelding FDD Dreams. © William Zuazo

One of the most complete campaigns of the season belonged to FDD Dreams, whose 2025 resume placed him firmly among the defining horses of the year and a leading contender to be crowned the 2025 AQHA World Champion.

The New Mexico-bred gelding closed the season with career earnings of $2,151,835, compiling 10 wins from 17 starts while delivering Grade 1 victories in the Ruidoso Derby, All American Derby, and Champion of Champions. In doing so, he became the only horse in more than 35 years to win both the All American Derby (G1) and Champion of Champions (G1) in the same season, a feat that underscored his dominance across multiple divisions.

His consistency at the sport’s highest level carried across earnings, stakes, and championship categories, reinforcing his place atop the 2025 rankings. A homebred for Owner La Feliz Montana Ranch, LLC, FDD Dreams is by FDD Dynasty and out of Treasured Dreams, herself a winning mare and finalist in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity (G1), further extending a family line that played a central role in shaping the 2025 season.

These year-end leaders ultimately culminated in the AQHA Champion roster for 2025. As the industry turns toward 2026, StallioneSearch will provide complete coverage of the AQHA Champion Awards Banquet, including exclusive interviews from the ceremony and continued analysis of the horses and people who defined the year just completed.

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