Friday and Saturday bring the 43rd running of the Breeders’ Cup to Keeneland in Kentucky – with fourteen Grade 1 races and 30 million dollars on the programme. Two horses GalopSport has followed all year defend their titles, Billy Loughnane has a live ride — and Europe’s three highest-rated horses have all stayed at home.
Fourteen Grade 1 races share the 30 million dollars: five juvenile races on Friday under the Future Stars Friday banner and nine “Championship Races” on Saturday. Add the eight undercard races and there is more than 34 million dollars at stake across the two days.
There were 255 pre-entries from 222 horses, a record, and 79 of them came from abroad — the second-highest figure ever behind the 80 in 2024. The breeding countries take in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, South Africa and the United States.
A title defence worth seven million
The weekend’s last race is the biggest. Forever Young (Real Steel) won the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year and is now trying to become only the second horse to repeat.
The Japanese colt is 2/1 from post five with Ryusei Sakai up for Yoshito Yahagi, and we have followed him since his win over Romantic Warrior in the Saudi Cup. The danger looks to be Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the reigning Horse of the Year and a Godolphin homebred, 5/2 from post two for Bill Mott.
Only eight horses were declared, but among them are Golden Tempo, winner of both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes this year, Preakness winner Napoleon Solo and Magnitude, who took the Dubai World Cup. The race is worth seven million dollars in total.
The second title defence comes two hours earlier. Notable Speech (Dubawi) won the Breeders’ Cup Mile last year, and the Godolphin horse has this year taken the Lockinge Stakes, the City of York Stakes and — for the second year running — the Woodbine Mile.
Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech is favourite at 7/5 from post eight with William Buick. The same race brings out True Love (No Nay Never), who on 3 May gave Aidan O’Brien his eighth 1000 Guineas, and who is 8/1.
Loughnane’s first since the title
Our readers know the horse in the Turf Sprint too. Comanche Brave (Wootton Bassett) sprang a surprise in the July Cup with Billy Loughnane up, and the pair are together again at Keeneland — 3/1 from post seven in a field of fourteen, where Wesley Ward’s Bacio is favourite at 5/2.
Donnacha O’Brien trains him. For Loughnane this is his first Breeders’ Cup since he was crowned British champion jockey on 17 October, the youngest in more than a hundred years.
Oisin Murphy, Ryan Moore, Colin Keane, Rossa Ryan, Wayne Lordan and Dylan Browne McMonagle all have rides across the two days as well.
A Turf without Europe’s best
The race Europeans usually watch most closely has, by contrast, been emptied of its biggest names. Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) was taken out on Monday, nine days after winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot by three and three-quarter lengths from Calandagan. John Gosden would not send him out on a transatlantic flight, quarantine and another race inside fourteen days. Instead Gosden is looking loosely at the Japan Cup on 29 November.
Arc winner Daryz (Sea The Stars) is not coming either — he goes to stud in 2027 — and neither Calandagan (Gleneagles), named Longines World’s Best Racehorse, nor Kalpana (Study Of Man), the highest-rated mare in the world, is in the field.
What is left is an open race for five million dollars. Diamond Necklace (St Mark’s Basilica) is favourite at 3/1 ahead of Bay City Roller (New Bay) at 5/1 and the Frankel colt Benvenuto Cellini at 6/1. Racing Post noted after the draw that Ryan Moore has again picked a horse other than Diamond Necklace.
Irish two-year-olds on Friday
Friday’s five juvenile races are traditionally Europe’s best chance, and the Irish yards are strongly represented. Libertango is favourite at 5/2 in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Sun Goddess at 6/5 in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and in the Juvenile Turf Great Barrier Reef and Folsom Blues meet the American How’s Al Today. On dirt Hughes is in as short as 1/1 in the Juvenile.
The first race on Friday goes at 2.55 p.m. local time and the last at 5.35 p.m. Saturday starts at 1.10 p.m., and the Classic is off at 6.16 p.m.
That is 7.55 p.m. and 11.16 p.m. Danish time: the United States does not go back to winter time until 1 November, so the difference is five hours this weekend and not six.
