Some of the most talented jockeys in the US, plus a top rider from Japan, have horses in the 42i.e of the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The top three finishers from last year’s Longines Classic, also held in Del Mar, will be re-raced, with Sierra Leone, Fierceness and Japan’s Forever Young all assigned the same jockeys.
Add in four top 3-year-olds of 2025, led by Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and DraftKings Travers Stakes winner Sovereignty, and two more solid older horses in Mindframe and Antiquarian, and you have the makings of a sensational classic.
The jockeys’ decisions will be of utmost importance as these top-class Thoroughbreds maneuver around Del Mar’s dirt track at the so-called “classic” distance of 1 ¼ miles (the same as the Kentucky Derby). Fortunately, the combined portfolio of the Breeders’ Cup Classic jockeys includes extensive experience in this race and similarly prestigious stakes races. Let’s meet this year’s riders.
Junior Alvarado
Age: 39
Originally from: Venezuela
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 3
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Second in 2022 (Olympiad)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Sovereignty
Always a highly respected jockey among his peers, Junior Alvarado has reached a career peak over the past four years. He earned his first World Championship victory aboard Cody’s Wish in 2022 when that colt won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and also finished second at the Olympiad behind superstar Flightline in the Longines Classic. A year later, Alvarado and Cody’s Wish scored another Dirt Mile victory and Cody’s Wish was honored as 2023 Horse of the Year. Now Alvarado has five prestigious stakes victories and is counting on three-year-old sensation Sovereignty in 2025, including victories in the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Travers Stakes. Those three races were run at 1 ¼ miles, just like the Classic.
Hector Berrios
Age: 38
Originally from: Chile
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 0
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: N/A
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Baeza
After a brief stint in the US in the early 2010s, Hector Berrios became one of the mainstays in the Southern California jockey colony after returning from his home country (where he started riding at the age of 17) in 2022. Nine of his 10 World Championship appearances have come since and he almost won the 2022 Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff with second place in the Longshot Blue Stripe. Berrios rode Baeza three times in early 2025, ceding the mount to Flavien Prat for the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and was back on board for the colt’s final two races, including his breakthrough stakes performance in the September 20 Pennsylvania Derby.
Florent Geroux
Age: 39
Originally from: France
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 8
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2017 (Gun Runner)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Opposite thinking
Florent Geroux has won some of the sport’s biggest races over the years, including the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar aboard Hall of Famer Gun Runner. However, in this year’s Classic he is assigned a horse with a different purpose in Opposite Thinking. This gelding is co-owned by Peter Brant, who is also co-owner of defending Classic winner Sierra Leone. Contrary Thinking is brought in in the Classic to try and set a fast pace to help Sierra Leone, a deep closer – so he’s not ‘in it to win’, but to give his stablemate an assist. If all goes to plan, Geroux and Contrary Thinking will lead the Classic for a mile or so before fading.
Irad Ortiz Jr.
Age: 33
Originally from: Puerto Rico
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 20
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2019 (Vino Rosso) and 2023 (White Abarrio)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Mind frame
As he caps off another typically stellar year, Irad Ortiz Jr. competing for his third Longines Classic win in seven years aboard Mindframe. He and the colt both narrowly escaped injury in their opening race, the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes on August 31, when Mindframe took the worst of it in a chain reaction of bumps and Ortiz was dismissed shortly after the field left the starting gate. Before that, Ortiz rode Mindframe to an impressive win over Sierra Leone in the Stephen Foster Stakes in June. Mindframe could be somewhat overlooked in the post-time win pool, despite having a five-time Eclipse Award winner in the saddle.
Jose Ortiz
Age: 32
Originally from: Puerto Rico
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 6
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Finished fourth four times, most recently in 2020 (Tacitus)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Journalism
It is common for owners and/or trainers to switch jockeys to horses before a major race, and Jose Ortiz will be the beneficiary of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The top-ranked three-year-old Journalism was ridden by Southern California-based Umberto Rispoli for nine of his 10 career starts, including the last eight in a row, highlighted by victories in the Preakness Stakes and NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes. But the colt’s connections decided to make a change last week, and now Journalism, who comes into the Classic after a second-place finish behind Fierceness in the Pacific Classic Stakes on Aug. 30 at Del Mar, will gain the services of a former Eclipse Award winner. Ortiz did not compete in last year’s Classic at Del Mar, but did earn his sixth career World Championship victory aboard More Than Looks in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF.
Flavien Prat
Age: 33
Originally from: France
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 7
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2022 (Flightline) and in 2024 (Sierra Leone)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Sierra Leone
Flavien Prat is having another top season after being honored for the first time with an Eclipse Award as Outstanding Jockey in 2024. He earned that distinction by setting records for stakes wins and graded stakes victories during the year, and he leads North American jockeys in those categories again for 2025. Prat gave Sierra Leone a well-timed ride at Del Mar last November to capture its second Breeders’ Cup Classic, and he’ll look to do that again on November 1 with the help of ‘rabbit’ stablemate Contrary Thinking.
Luis Saez
Age: 33
Originally from: Panama
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 1
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: 2i.e in 2013 (will take charge)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Antique dealer
The fact that Luis Saez has just one win at the World Championships is the definition of a misleading statistic when you look at his entire body of work. He earned eight second-place finishes and another eight third-place finishes, and nearly won the 2013 Classic with champion Will Take Charge, who finished a nose behind Mucho Macho Man in a thriller. Consistently one of North America’s leading jockeys in wins and monetary earnings, Saez is known for his willingness to use a horse’s natural speed to gain an advantageous early position in a race, and he will most likely put that skill to use at Antiquarian. He takes the lead over the Jockey Club Gold Stakes winner for the first time in the Classic and should have him running from the outpost position when the starting gate springs open.
Ryusei Sakai
Age: 28
Originally from: Japan
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 0
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Third in 2024 (Forever Young)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Forever young
The Breeders’ Cup spotlight wasn’t too bright for Ryusei Sakai in his debut almost a year ago, when he piloted Japan-based superstar horse Forever Young to a third-place finish in the Classic. The young jockey had already excelled on perhaps an even bigger stage, the 2024 Kentucky Derby, when he pushed Forever Young to finish a very close third, just a neck behind the winner. Sakai is one of the leading jockeys in his home country and has a good chance to make another strong impression on American racing fans and bettors as Forever Young returns to the Breeders’ Cup as a winning candidate.
Mike Smith
Age: 60
Originally from: Roswell, NM
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 27
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 1997 (Skip Away), 2009 (Zenyatta), 2011 (Drosselmeyer) and 2016 (Arrogate)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Nevada Beach
No jockey has been more successful at the Breeders’ Cup than “Big Money” Mike Smith. The Hall of Famer has been a consistent presence at the World Championships since the early 1990s, providing some of the sport’s most memorable moments with champions like Skip Away, Zenyatta and Arrogate. Smith has reduced his mountings in recent years but has still scored big wins, his latest coming in the Goodwood Stakes at the Bob Baffert-trained Nevada Beach. He will be back aboard the fast-rising three-year-old in the Classic as he seeks his first Breeders’ Cup win since 2021.
Johannes Velázquez
Age: 53
Originally from: Puerto Rico
Breeders’ Cup Wins: 21
Best result in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2020 (authentic)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Ferocity
At 53 years old, John Velazquez shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. The Hall of Fame jockey doesn’t ride as many horses per day as his younger peers, but still racks up regular wins in the rankings. He just completed the fall competition at Keeneland Race Course – one of the most competitive for jockeys – with seven stakes victories, tying Pat Day’s mark in 1998. Velazquez has spent his last 11 starts aboard Fierceness, and his first ride aboard the talented colt resulted in a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2023. Since then, they have teamed up to win big races like the Travers Stakes. and the Pacific Classic Stakes, the latter serving as Fierceness’ tune-up for another shot at the Classic. Last year he finished second under a generally excellent ride from Velazquez.
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