The final round of preparation races for the 2025 Breeders’ Cup are behind us and the fields for the 14 World Championship flights have come into focus. For fans and punters, there’s nothing better than this two-day thoroughbred racing extravaganza.
This year’s event will take place on October 31 and November 1 in Del Mar. As always, it is topped by the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classica 1 ¼ mile race that goes a long way in determining the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year. It is no exaggeration to say that this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic field could be among the strongest in the race’s history. The depth and quality of the older male and 3 year old male divisions is fantastic, so let’s take a first look at the future field by level (horses listed alphabetically).
1) Press at the highest level
Ferocity, Sierra LeoneSovereignty
Sovereignty is on a four-race winning streak in the classic for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and should be plenty rested with 10 weeks between his 10-length win in the DraftKings Travers Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The bay Into Mischief colt has been so good and consistent in six starts this year and he has maintained his impeccable form thanks to a Triple Crown in which he dominated the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve by a length and a half and the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets by three lengths. Sovereignty will tackle older men for the first time, but it’s hard to imagine he won’t be the favorite with a perfect 3-for-3 record at the 1 ¼-mile distance of the Classic. Sierra Leone And Ferocitythe top two finishers in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar also look like first-place contenders. Savage recently defeated Preakness Stakes winner Journalism by 3 ¼ lengths in the $1 million, 1 ¼-mile Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar. Sierra Leone continues to do what Sierra Leone does and come strong off the pace to finish in the top three in all four starts of 2025. He ran the race of his life in Del Mar last fall and thinks he can find a new fast pace to set up his rally.
2) These guys are really good too, level
Baeza, Forever Young, Journalism, Mindframe
There are plenty of years this century when any of these four could compete for favoritism in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which makes this year’s race so appealing. A strong argument could easily be made for including this Mind frame in the first layer. He won his first three starts of the year, including back-to-back Grade 1 victories in the Churchill Downs Stakes presented by Ford and Stephen Foster Stakes, before jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was dismissed early in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes at Saratoga on August 31 during Mindframe’s first attempt at 1 ¼ miles. He beat Book’em Danno in a sprint in the Churchill Downs Stakes and beat Sierra Leone by a length in the Stephen Foster, but he never got a real chance at 1 ¼ miles in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, so distance remains a question. The last race Mindframe completed with a jockey in the saddle was Stephen Foster’s on June 28, so he is essentially attempting 1 ¼ miles for the first time after a 4 ½ month layoff. Winner of the Preakness Stakes Journalism and winner of the Pennsylvania Derby Baeza spent a lot of time this season staring at Sovereignty’s rear end – Journalism was second to him in the Derby and Belmont Stakes, while Baeza was third in those two races and second to Sovereignty in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes presented by Mohegan Sun. I’ve been a big believer in journalism all year, but Baeza enters the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the back of a two-and-a-half-length win in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, while Journalism was no match for Fierceness in the Pacific Classic. Baeza seems like the better bet. Japanese Forever young finished third behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic and an unlucky third in the 2024 Kentucky Derby. He won the $20 million Saudi Cup in February and returned from a roughly six-month layoff with an easy victory in the Oct. 1 Nippon TV Hai against a group of overmatched rivals. Forever Young has won nine of 12 career starts, never finished outside the top three and has proven capable of going to the US and making it big. This is an exceptional second level.
3) Live Longshots level
Antiquarian, gated, Nevada Beach
Antique dealer defeated Sierra Leone by 1.5 lengths in the 1 ¼ mile Jockey Club Gold Cup on August 31 and has two wins and two seconds in four starts this year. It’s the kind of consistency you like to see in a Breeders’ Cup Classic competitor and the speed figures for the Jockey Club Gold Cup (113 Equibase, 108 Beyer) indicate he could be a real threat with nine weeks’ rest. Nevada Beach completed his final three-eighths of a mile in :36.74 after pushing the pace in a breakaway victory against older men in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes on September 27 at Santa Anita Park. He’s a rising three-year star for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert with plenty of room for improvement in what will be only his fifth career start, but that lack of experience goes both ways… especially against a group of horses of this quality that have no shortage of speed in the race. Locked followed up with a second-place finish in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes with an 8 ½-length runaway in the Santa Anita Handicap presented by Yaamava’ Resort & Casino. He fell a bit out of shape when beaten well in his next two starts, but enters the Breeders’ Cup Classic after a three-quarter victory in the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes on September 27 at Belmont at the Big A. This trio deserves consideration for exacta and trifecta tickets. Antiquarian stands out as the best of the bunch.
4) It would be a level of surprise
Highland Falls, Hit Show
How good is the field for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic? The winner of the $12 million Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline on April 5 Press Showwill most likely be odds of 25-1 or higher. In addition to the Dubai World Cup, Hit Show has five wins in the United States, but he will struggle to compete with this group unless he takes a big lead after a distant fourth in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic Stakes on September 27. Highland waterfalls has placed in a pair of Grade 1s in two starts this year, but was in better form a year ago when he finished ninth at odds of 17.90-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
#early #field #Breeders #Cup #Classic