The Breeders’ Cup horse races return to Del Mar this week with tens of millions of dollars on the line for competitors and even more for bettors.
As horses complete their training and jockeys and trainers talk tactics for the 14 races Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, here’s what you need to know to enjoy the sport’s richest event in North America.
What’s at stake
The competition is formally known as the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, and the results will go a long way toward determining who is named North American Horse of the Year and which horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and breeders win Eclipse Awards as championships of their specialties in votes next January. Saturday’s $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic should decide if top-ranked Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, becomes Horse of the Year or a rival has a case.
That’s not all
This is a participation sport for fans. As the late L.A. handicapper Gordon Jones said, “When you come home from a USC game, they ask, ‘How did the Trojans do?’ When you come home from the racetrack, they ask, ‘How did you do?’” Last year, fans at Del Mar and around the world pumped $179 million in bets, with $2 win bets paying as much as $69.20 and five perfect tickets on the $1-minimum pick 6 paying $82,874. The Breeders’ Cup pick 6 record payoff is more than $2.6 million in 2023.
Southern California News Group readers can find daily selections in the print edition by Bob Mieszerski and online by four handicappers in the Del Mar consensus box. San Diego Union-Tribune readers can get daily selections by Mike Superstein.
This week
The fields of horses, jockey assignments, post positions and morning-line odds will be made official Monday at Del Mar in a 4:15 p.m. ceremony that will be shown on FanDuel TV and streamed on BreedersCup.com, the Breeders’ Cup’s mobile app and its YouTube, Facebook and X social channels. Past-performance charts should then be available for purchase via the Daily Racing Form and Equibase sites.
Del Mar begins its Oct. 30-Nov. 30 Bing Crosby Season on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Racing Friday starts at 11:35 a.m., with the first of five Breeders’ Cup races at 2:45 p.m., and Saturday at 10:05, with the first of nine Breeders’ Cup at noon.
If you’re going
Attendance is capped at 37,500, and tickets must be bought online at BreedersCup.com. Most listed ticket prices are a little higher this year than last year at Del Mar. Ticket prices include infield general admission ($80 Friday, $155 Saturday), trackside GA ($106 Friday, sold out Saturday), reserved seats (starting at $117 Friday, sold out Saturday), box seats ($504, $633) and the Clubhouse Terrace restaurant ($1,749 for two days).
… If you’re not
For TV viewers, FanDuel TV will show every Breeders’ Cup race, while USA and NBC will combine for a dozen — four Friday and three Saturday on USA, and five Saturday on NBC, including the $7 million Classic. Every race will be streamed on Peacock and also available on BreedersCup.com, the Breeders’ Cup’s mobile app and its Facebook, X and YouTube channels. Find exact times at BreedersCup.com and in your newspaper’s sports TV listings.
What’s new
While the Breeders’ Cup’s vast menu of win, place, show, multi-horse and multi-race bets remains the same as last year, the race order is slightly different. The Saturday lineup, which has accommodated NBC’s college-football coverage since 2023, has the Classic going as race 9 (it was race 8 in 2024), and the $2 million Mile, $1 million Dirt Mile and $2 million Filly and Mare Turf coming after that. It still seems strange that the Classic, the main event, doesn’t come last anymore.
Four-legged stars
There’s no superstar or fan-favorite horse like Zenyatta, Goldikova, Beholder, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Flightline and Cody’s Wish – just to name Breeders’ Cup headliners of the past 20 years – but there’s star potential up and down the program. Likely entrants in the 14 races include an unusually high number – seven – of horses known to fans from previous Breeders’ Cup victories, including Sierra Leone going for a repeat win in the Classic, and Rebel’s Romance, going for a record-tying third win in the $5 million Turf.
The Classic’s stacked lineup sees early favorite Sovereignty facing last year’s 1-2-3 finishers, Sierra Leone, Fierceness and Japan’s Forever Young, as well as his 3-year-olds division rival Journalism. In recent years, the Horse of the Year has come out of the Turf, Dirt Mile and $2 million Distaff as well as the Classic, but this time the spotlight is squarely on the Classic.
Two-legged stars
John Velazquez, the all-time Breeders’ Cup earnings king among jockeys with $39.3 million in purses, can pad his slim lead over Mike Smith. Velazquez is the regular rider for early favorites Ted Noffey in the $2 million Juvenile and She Feels Pretty in the Filly and Mare Turf.
Ireland’s Aidan O’Brien and California’s Bob Baffert are poised to take the Breeders’ Cup lead for wins by a trainer. O’Brien, tied with the late D. Wayne Lukas with 20 wins, has early favorites Minnie Hauk in the Turf, Gstaad in the $1 million Juvenile Turf, Precise in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf and True Love in the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint. Baffert, with 19 wins, has early favorites Nysos in the Dirt Mile, Seismic Beauty in the Distaff and Explora in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies.
On home turf
Horses with California-based trainers should do very well. Early favorites from this state include the Baffert horses named above as well as Phil D’Amato’s Motorious in the $1 million Turf Sprint.
Juan Hernandez, perennial leading jockey at Del Mar and Santa Anita, could get his first Breeders’ Cup win. Hernandez is the regular rider for Seismic Beauty, Explora and other contenders.
The safety issue
The Breeders’ Cup must try to start a new safety streak. There were no horse deaths in the races in 2020-23. But in 2024, a 3-year-old colt named Jayarebe collapsed and died while galloping out after finishing seventh in the Turf, and the death was attributed to a cardiac event.
Jay Posner contributed to this story.