Making his 13th start of the year and 100th of his career, the 11-year-old gelding Surprsinglyperfect (Perfect Soul {Ire}) has been named the National HBPA's 2025 National Claiming Horse of the Year, the horsemen's organization said in a press release on Friday.
Based at trainer & co-owner Justin Evans's main bases of Turf Paradise in Phoenix and Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington, Surprsinglyperfect finished 2025 with seven wins out of those 13 starts, along with three seconds and a third for career-high season earnings of $94,230.
The Kentucky-bred son of Perfect Soul has a lifetime record of 28-17-15 in those 100 races for earnings of $417,351. Three races back Surprsinglyperfect won an open $20,000 claiming race at Emerald Downs.
Surprsinglyperfect and his connections will be honored Wednesday, Mar. 4 at the annual National HBPA Conference at Oaklawn Park.
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