Most casual racing fans know about the Triple Crown and the pageantry and prestige that surrounds three Saturdays in late spring. Full time fans and bettors know the best action of the year with the strongest fields happen at The Breeder’s Cup. The event returns to Del Mar for the second year in a row in San Diego for the 42nd running.
Races start at 12:05 Central time, and I am including picks for all 12 races on the card, The Breeders’ Cup races are numbers 4-12. The weather looks great and it should be a fast track all day long. I’ll give you my pick to win and at least my top 4 for each race. How you build those Exacts, Trifectas and Multi-Race bets is up to you. Let’s go!
Race 1 – Allowance/Claiming $50,000 – 1 1/16 Miles (Turf)– Purse: $175,000 – Post Time: 12:05 CDT
The under-card kicks off with two turns on the turf for limited winners of three years old and up. We should see some decent pace from the outside with the 9,10, and 12 all looking to get to the front. I think this sets up nice for the closer from Argentina 6 Kansas Cat to cross the line first. If anyone wires the field it will likely be the 12 Twirling Point. Also look for a nice price from the 7 We Can who has had two nice speed times the last couple times out.
Win: 6 Kansas Cat
Top 4 if playing Exotics 6-7-12-11
Race 2 – Allowance/Claiming $50,000 – 6 Furlongs (Dirt) Purse: $175,000 Post Time – 12:40 CDT
A short run on the dirt follows up the opener. The favorite 8 Modus Bestia checked a lot of the right boxes the last time out popping the maiden. Not sure I trust one performance however against a big field here. The 14 Bostonian hasn’t lost, but will have to come from all the way outside and fight at least four other horses who will want to run out front. I like the 1 Ghost of Midnight to get into a stalking position here and be able to close on some of the leaders.
Win: 1 Ghost of Midnight
Top 4 if playing Exotics 1-4-8-14
Race 3 – Goldikova Stakes – Grade III – 1 Mile (Turf) – Purse: $300,000 Post Time: 1:15 CDT
The Goldikova features Fillies and Mares 3 years old and up. This one sets up for the favorites well I think and I am looking forward to an exciting closing 1/4 mile from the 2 Deep Satin and the 3 Special Wan. 2 Deep Satin has only won one of five starts this year and finished 4th, but only a half length off in the Grade I first lady from the outside post, while 3 Special Wan has found the winners circle in a couple of Grade III contests, and has a third in the Grade I Just a Games Stakes in June. The other top pick is the 5 Medoro who rolls back to a mile this time out which is the distance she has had the most success at. The stalking and closing favorites here should be the plays.
Win: 2 Special Wan
Top 4 if playing Exotics 2-5-3-4
Race 4 – PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare Sprint – Grade I – 7 Furlongs (DIRT) – Purse: $1,000,000 – Post Time 2:00
CDT
The ladies will run back to back here with a 7 furlong dirt sprint on tap. Kopion the likely favorite in this race is running with the boys instead which makes the 6 Sweet Azteca the top choice going into the gate. I’m not crazy on the price as I think she’ll go off at 2-1 or better, but this horse has looked phenomenal since coming over to be trained by Richard Baltes. First trip out she set a Los Alamitos track record at 6.5 furlongs. The 4 Tamara has been little run with a bunch of issues, but posted a nice win at Santa Anita on Oct 4th in her first trip out this year. If she can improve on that figure this is certainly a race she can win. Following those two are the Bob Baffert triple threat of 2 Splendora, 8 Hope Road and 9 Richi. 8 Hope Road has the most accolades to her with 5 wins in 11 starts including winning the Grade I Ballerina Stakes last time out. 9 Richi also has a Grade II victory in the US this year. I also could see some pace going early with 7 Haulin Ice right outside the favorite, and 9 Richi needing to get clear also. I think this race is wide open, and would use ALL in any pick 3 format here and try and nail some winners around it. I’m going with the 9 Richi to win with Luis Saez taking the mount, and the thought she’ll have plenty in the tank stepping back to 7 furlongs here.
Win: 9 Richi
Top 4 if playing Exotics 9-6-4-2
Race 5 – Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint – Grade I – 5 Furlongs (TURF) – Purse: $1,000,000 – Post Time: – 2:41 CDT
A zippy 5 furlongs is coming up here with $500,000 to the winner less than 55 seconds from the starting gate. My original top pick here was the 3 Arizona Blaze to take the field gate to wire , but he is scratched so back to the drawing board we go. 9 year old 4 Khaadem saw a resurgence in his last trip out, but hasn’t shown much outside the US in Grade I races the last few years. Still he has the speed to potentially pull an upset here. The 5 Bring The Band Home faltered in the stretch his last trip, but showed the best speed in the field three times out ago at Saratoga posting a 54.28. There are certainly plenty of other options here with big time winners 1 Motorious, 2 Reef Runner and 8 Ag Bullet the most likely to be the favorites at post time. I think the most intriguing other horse for me now falls to the 10 Shisospicy who has won the last four times out on American soil with only a 6 furlong collapse in the Commonwealth Grade I cup in England showing as a blemish. I think the 5 Bring The Band Home and 10 Shisospicy will be at the front entering the first turn and whoever has the most kick at the end will hold off the challengers coming from stalking position.
Win: 10 Shisospicy
Top 4 if playing Exotics 10-2-5-1
Race 6 – Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint – Grade I – 6 Furlongs (Dirt) – Purse: $2,000,000 – Post Time 3:21 CDT
Sprint’s are hard enough to cap any day of the week, but Race 5 and 6 here with all these champions going at it in a short race really depends more than anything on a good trip and clear space to close it out whether in the lead or coming from a rear position. This was by far my biggest dart throw of the day. 10 Bentornato comes in as the favorite winning his only race of the year last time out 9/13 at Churchill with a dominating 5 length win. He was second in this race last year to the 12 Straight No Chaser. The 12 has struggled the last two times out including a rough showing in UAE. 11 Millikin who was the favorite in this race last year has been beaten the last three times out by Book’ Em Danno, but up until the last run at Saratoga posted speed ratings good enough to win this race. 1 Kopion is in here running with the boys and she wouldn’t be here if she couldn’t pull this one out. If she gets a fast pace from the outside in the 13 Mad House, the 10, 11 and 12 horses might go with setting her up for a big time closing run. She’s rolling back in distance here as well. Also look for the 2 Banishing to make a nice stalking trip. This horse has made some nice runs alongside the likes of Mystik Dan, Mindframe and Antiquarian this summer at longer distances and could have enough speed here to make a run if he gets clear from the inside late. He’s 5 for 6 in sprints finding the winner’s circle and the only loss he missed out by a neck to Mindframe coming all the way from rear pack on Derby day.
Win: 2 Banishing
Top 4 if playing Exotics 2-1-10-11
Race 7 – The Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff – Grade I – 1 1/8 Miles (Dirt) – Purse $2,000,000 Post Time 4:01 CDT
We’ve got the ladies going again at a mile and an eighth on the dirt here. Leading out of the gate should be the favorite 8 Seismic Beauty, followed closely just inside by the 7 Gin Gin. The 7 Gin Gin got a Grade I win last time out beating a few horses in this field like the 1 Nitrogen and the 4 Scylla. If she can repeat that trip from the front it’s possible she can stay up front until the end, but I think the pace will be much faster than in the Spinster and we will see her fade much like two trips back where she lost to Thorpedo Anna. 8 Seismic Beauty beat one of my best picks from the last race Kopion last time out handedly. She has had a stablemate in the last few races which haven’t pushed her out of the gate so we will see how she responds to a little more adversity up front at the start. The 12 Dorth Vader took Thorpedo Anna to the wire last time in her retirement victory. Her speed rating hasn’t been as high as some of the others in this field and she could have some difficulty getting into a stalking position from all the way on the outside here so I am fading her here anticipating a tough trip. The 13 Regaled could be interesting going to the back here with a lot of pace up front if she takes another step forward and the closing speed has been excellent. The 1 Nitrogen and 4 Scylla will likely be the other shorter prices here, but with both of them preferring to run near the front they could find some difficulty clearing traffic and trying to keep up with the 7 Gin Gin and 8 Seismic Beauty out of the gate. Finally I think the 6 Alice Verite could be worth a look and will likely be undervalued. She showed decent at the Victoria in Tokyo two trips back and has shown decent times.
Win: 8 Seismic Beauty
Top 4 if playing Exotics 8-13-6-12
Race 8 – The Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf – Grade I – 1 1/2 Miles (TURF) – Purse: $5,000,000 Post Time: 4:41 CDT
The long 1.5 Mile turf battle is up next with a couple of big favorites. First up is two time winner of this race the 1 Rebel’s Romance, who will be at the top of the morning line odds with the 8 Minnie Hauk. The 1 Rebel’s Romance will likely look to get involved early and pick a point somewhere along the backstretch to try and take control of this race. I could see the 7 Silawi looking to try and maybe get out in front, but there probably won’t be a lot of other quick moves out of the gate which should work well to the plan to have 1 Rebel’s Romance in the clear. The 2 Goliath has beaten 1 Rebel’s Romance at this distance, but doesn’t seem to be in the same form right now based on some winning speed ratings in 2025. The 8 Minnie Hauk a filly trained by Breeder’s Cup falcon Aiden O’Brien kept getting better over the summer against continually improving competition. Three Grade I wins in a row was finally broken in a close one in the Arc De Triomphe where she probably broke for the lead a little early and just got run down at the end. The 10 El Cordobes ran down Nations Pride and held off the 5 Rebel Red posting a solid speed rating two trips back at Saratoga, but was beaten by stable mate 1 Rebel’s Romance handedly at Aquduct last time out. This one is all about the favorite’s for me.
Win: 8 Minnie Hauk
Top 4 if playing Exotics 8-1-10-7
Race 9 – The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic – Grade I -1 1/4 Miles (Dirt) Purse $7,000,000 – Post Time 5:25 CDT
This is the biggest race of the day, but let’s be honest these are all amazing fields with great horses. These are the best of the best and the many of the horses you’ve become familiar with over the last two years. With the 6 Sovereignty getting scratched we should see a trio of favorites emerge in 1 Fierceness, 5 Forever Young and 7 Sierra Leone. The 1 and 7 have done battle five different times with Sierra Leone coming out on top the last two times and Fierceness winning the Jim Dandy and Travers in 2024. (Both beat by Mystik Dan in the 24 Derby) 1 Fierceness will look to work from a stalking position behind 5 Forever Young and 4 Contrary Thinking, while 7 Sierra Leone will come likely from last with a big charge the final 3 furlongs. Also hanging near the rear will be the 2 Baeza who finally cracked his stakes maiden last time out winning the Grade I Penn Derby against a weaker field. The 3 Nevada Beach is a Bob Baffert wild card who hasn’t quite shown enough speed to win against this field yet, but has the possibility with a step forward. The 4 Contrary Thinking is a “rabbit” in this one only entered by Chad Brown to push early pace for stable mate 7 Sierra Leone. 5 Forever Young returns stateside after a decent showing at the Dubai WCG and winning the Nippon. Third place finishes in this race last year and the Derby in 2024 means this horse can’t be counted out. 8 Mindframe beat 7 Sierra Leone two trips back in the Stephen Foster, but got bumped and tossed Irad Ortiz in his prep race at the end of August. Not sure where he is at stretching out here, but also a horse that can win this race at a good price. The field he beat on Derby Day topping Banishing and Nysos was really impressive and his only other losses other than tossing Irad were both to Dornach where he got run down at the finish. 9 Journalism has been consistent all year in his three year old season, but hasn’t taken the big step forward, and I don’t think it happens against this field. 10 Antiquarian has gotten much better since the 2024 Belmont Stakes including the win over 7 Sierra Leone and Phileas Fogg at Saratoga last time out. So who wins this thing? Well I have a bad history of betting on 7 Sierra Leone when he gets 2nd or 3rd and not on him when he wins like in this race last year. If you want to fade me don’t take the 7 Sierra Leone as that is who I am going with. I just feel the 4 and 5 are going to take off and the 1,8 and 10 will try and keep it tight. That leaves the 7 and 2 in prime position to reel everybody in at the end, and while 2 Baeza is primed to beat this group finally I think he comes up just short of holding off 7 Sierra Leone at the end.
Win: 7 Sierra Leone
Full Finishing Order Predictions if playing Exotics 7-2-8-5-1-10-3-9-4
Race 10 – The Fanduel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented By PDJF – Grade I – 1 Mile (Turf) – Purse: $2,000,000 Post Time: 6:05CDT
This year there’s no final get your money back allowance race so it’s a Breeder’s Cup 3-pack to the finish line starting with the Turf Mile. The most interesting thing looking at this field for me is there really doesn’t look to be a pace-setter that will want to get to the front and try and wire the field. Lots of stalkers, and closers here, but nobody taking pace out of play which could be problematic for some of the closers including the favorite 2 Notable Speech. The 2 Notable Speech was an easy winner at the Woodbine mile passing a weaker field from a few horses back in the stretch. If he can get in the same position here he certainly can repeat that. 3 Sahlan is a three year old stepping up in age here who has won his last two starts in France and hasn’t lost with Mickael Barzalona riding. He has really come strong from back of the pack including in the last race winning against Grade I competition. 4 The Lion in The Winter is a Aidan O’Brien horse who was barely beaten by 3 Sahlan two trips back. I could see them trying to be that horse that takes the lead and tries to run away with it, and watching him I think he has good tactical speed and could make that tactic happen. 7 Jonhannes is a solid 5 year old has only had one bad start and it came in his first off a layoff this August. He bounced back with a Grade II win at Santa Anita. He took second here last year and could certainly be in the mix again if in top form. The 8 horse Formidable Man is 6 for 6 at Delmar, but has been better at longer distances and is one of the horses that is really going to struggle with no pace in this race. 9 Argine is a mare going in this one, and watching a couple race closes of her I think she’s good enough to hit the board, but I’m not taking her to win. 11 Rhetorical won the turf warm-up that the 5 Program Trading and 10 Jonquil also were in and while I certainly think he has a nose for the winner’s circle finding it in 5 of 6 times out, I was way more intrigued watching the way the 10 Jonquil closed in that race. 10 Jonquil will get Colin Keane back as his jockey and I doubt he waits as long to go as he did in that warm-up at Keeneland.
Win: 10 Jonquil
Top 4 if playing Exotics 10-2-4-3
Race 11 – The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile – Grade I – 1 Mile (Dirt) – Purse: $1,000,000 Post Time: 6:45 CDT
My least favorite horse of 2025 the 10 White Abbario looks to regain his form he had early in 2025 when he cost me a huge Pick 5 at the Pegasus in January. He also won the Classic in 2023 so his best is certainly good enough to win anywhere, it just hasn’t shown in the second half of 2025. I think he’ll struggle to find it here against a trio of Baffert horses the 2 Goal Oriented, 7 Citizen Bull and possible Odds-on favorite by post time 3 Nysos. I thought 3 Nysos might end up in the classic, but looks strong against this field in the dirt mile. He’s going to be in a stalking position and has the best closing speed in the group. I like the 2 Goal Oriented moving back to the mile as he was pulled in by Journalism and Baeza after getting close to the lead in the turn last two trips out. Against the weaker field and with a shorter distance he could show up with a win here. 2024 Kentucky Derby winner 4 Mystik Dan hasn’t won a Grade I since then and while improved in speed ratings in 2024 hasn’t been able to keep up with the top class in the division. Not running in the Classic gives him a chance here, but I don’t think he’ll get his trip here away from Churchill. 6 Full Serrano won this race last year, but only has run twice this year. He had a good initial showing two trips ago, but last time out took a step back. I’m willing to throw that out and look at the fact that he is 3 for 3 in the mile at Del Mar. Pace could be a problem for him in this race however if he has to chase the 7 Citizen Bull out of the gate. 7 Citizen Bull is great when he does get to that lead, if he doesn’t I don’t think he hits the board.
Win: 3 Nysos
Top 4 if playing Exotics 3-2-6-10
Race 12 – The Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf – Grade I – 1 3/8 Miles (TURF) – Purse: $2,000,000 Post Time: 2:10 CDT
Let’s finish it up. The girls running for distance on the turf! Like the Breeders Cup Turf there’s lots of European entries in here. They’ll make it tough for American favorite 13 She Feels Pretty who draws a tough post on the outside here. I’m also not sold on her turning up in distance here against some horses who are locked in at the 1 & 3/8 distance. 7 Be Your Best will look to get out to the front and see how far she can go here, and she should have the 2 Stellify coming along with her. I don’t think either of those will have the speed to hold on here unless they are allowed to really get way out front. Look for the 9 Cinderella’s Dream and 13 She Feels Pretty to try and get in good stalking position. I liked the way the 4 Village Voice looked closing in the clear in her last trip, and the two horses on her outside will also make some noise. 5 Gezora is great at the finish and really showed it winning the French Oaks and has lots of good showings. 6 Diamond Rain could also show for Charles Appleby who just lost out to 13 She Feels Pretty in her North American debut at Woodbine. Her speed looks like she’ll be there at the finish. The 14 See The Fire can certainly win this race, but I hate this draw at this distance at this price.
Win: 6 Diamond Rain
Top 4 if playing Exotics 6-9-5-13-12
