The Eclipse Award for North American Horse of the Year is perhaps the most prestigious award in all of horse racing. It honors a horse’s performance in a given year judged against all other horses, no matter their age or gender, their distance or surface preference, or what they may or may not have done in years past. The Horse of the Year honor has been given to nearly all of the all-time great champions of U.S. racing. A number of horses have even won the award in multiple years.