2025 Breeders’ Cup: 14 Postscripts on the Championships

The Breeders’ Cup styles itself as the “World Championships,” and the world came to play at Del Mar in 2025, with six international winners representing two continents. 

Here are my postscripts for all 14 races over the two-day festival.

Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) – Fair and fitting Weaver winner

Cy Fair worked out an ideal stalk-and-pounce trip, scoring the first Breeders’ Cup victory for trainer George Weaver as well as for the superb young sire Not This Time. Fittingly, she’s out of a half-sister to Weaver’s Royal Ascot heroine, Crimson Advocate, who captured the 2023 Queen Mary (G2). 

The Aidan O’Brien-trained Brussels was the eye-catching second, prompting questions of how close he might have gone if he hadn’t completely whiffed the start. Stablemate True Love, the 3-1 favorite, never looked comfortable on the cutback to five furlongs. 

Juvenile Fillies (G1) – Super call to run Corredora

After Super Corredora romped in her first two-turn maiden on Oct. 11, trainer John Sadler decided to wheel back on Future Stars Friday. The daughter of Gun Runner might have been expected to face more of a pace battle, but she was just too fast early, and the 8.80-1 shot held off 3-2 favorite Explora. Tommy Jo’s fifth-place effort will likely cause her to shorten up in the future.

It might pay to be cautious about this race’s long-term import for the Kentucky Oaks (G1). On a track conducive to speed, Super Corredora slowed late through a final sixteenth in 7.13 seconds. Note that third-placer Percy’s Bar got pinballed into the rail turning into the stretch, and Iron Orchard lost all chance with a bad stumble at the start. 

Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) – Donnacha joins the club

The scratch of 6-5 morning-line favorite Precise was a blow to Ballydoyle, but the O’Brien family had cause to celebrate after all. Aidan’s son Donnacha sent out his first Breeders’ Cup winner in the 20-1 Balantina, who was an overlay in light of her best European form and preference for a quick surface. The Ten Sovereigns filly accelerated brilliantly under a ground-saving ride from Oisin Murphy.

British shipper Pacific Mission rallied well for second after a slow start from post 12. Ground Support, who fared best of the home team in third, can be upgraded, as she raced in proximity to the unsustainable pace. 

Juvenile (G1) – Ted fuels Derby talk

Odds-on Ted Noffey crowned his unbeaten season in a time significantly faster than Super Corredora (1:42.25 versus 1:43.71), and confirmed his status as the early Kentucky Derby (G1) favorite. Mr. A. P. did well to snatch second from pacesetter Brant, who might end up having the limitations of close relative Pappacap. 

Winning trainer Todd Pletcher was wearing a tie that had belonged to his mentor and fellow Hall of Famer, the late D. Wayne Lukas, adding a poignant note to the post-race festivities. Pletcher’s fifth Juvenile win increased his overall Breeders’ Cup tally to 16, and Ted Noffey gave sire Into Mischief a record ninth Breeders’ Cup trophy. 

Juvenile Turf (G1) – Gstaad gives O’Brien all-time record

Despite breaking slowly from the far outside post 14, 6-5 favorite Gstaad inhaled the field to become Aidan O’Brien’s 21st Breeders’ Cup winner. That broke the former record of 20 held jointly by the master of Ballydoyle and Lukas. Eight of his 21 victories have come in the Juvenile Turf, which O’Brien has now won four years in a row.

Stark Contrast deserves credit for finishing a close second, beaten only three-quarters of a length. Waiting behind horses on the far turn, he had to alter course to the inside as Gstaad was already in full flight. 

Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) – A many-splendored trip

The vet scratches of Tamara and Sweet Azteca altered the complexion of the race, and arguably contributed to the defeat of the 11-10 favorite Hope Road. Instead of tracking the hot pace, Hope Road ended up setting it herself and succumbing to more patiently ridden foes. Her stablemate from the Bob Baffert barn, Splendora, was the chief beneficiary as she rolled to her first Grade 1 win, and Vahva was along for second. 

But all three had been beaten by Kopion, who would have loomed large here if she hadn’t tried the Sprint (G1). If her connections – Spendthrift Farm and trainer Richard Mandella –  had known that their Tamara would be ruled out of this race, Kopion might well have stayed in her division. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, and it appeared like a logical gambit. 

Turf Sprint (G1) – Mitole’s still too hot to handle

Mitole, the 2019 Sprint champion, joined the ranks of Breeders’ Cup winners to sire a winner, thanks to the well-named Shisospicy. The first sophomore filly to beat older horses in this race, she blasted straight to the lead in a 2 1/2-length demolition job. Ag Bullet made it an all-distaff exacta, but didn’t get as close as when she was a near-miss third last year.

British-based nine-year-old Khaadem delivered his trademark late run for third, as the best of the international competitors. There was a tragic aftermath, though, involving Irish filly She’s Quality, who was pulled up early. Although initial reports from Breeders’ Cup were encouraging, trainer Jack Davison revealed Sunday that she sustained a pelvic fracture and sadly could not be saved. 

Sprint (G1) – Calling all D’Angelos

Right after Shisospicy made Jose D’Angelo a Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer, stablemate Bentornato completed a rapid-fire double by wiring the Sprint. He was also giving jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. his third win at the 2025 championships, following Cy Fair and Shisospicy. Ortiz ultimately took home his sixth Shoemaker Award as the leading rider at the Breeders’ Cup, and his career tally of 23 is edging closer to Hall of Famer Mike Smith’s record of 27.

Bentornato’s effort was especially remarkable since he was making just his second start off a protracted layoff, suggesting that there’s more to come. A half-length runner-up to Straight No Chaser here a year ago as a sophomore, the four-year-old version of Bentornato proved unassailable. The 1.70-1 favorite shrugged off the attending Straight No Chaser, who wound up seventh, and kicked clear of Imagination. The late-running Dr. Venkman nearly got up for second, over a trip that’s short of ideal. 

Distaff (G1) – Scylla devours them on the front end

Twelve years to the day after her dam, Close Hatches, played second fiddle to Beholder in this race, Scylla leveraged her early speed in a 5 1/2-length romp. But her task was made easier by the early mishap to 6-5 favorite Seismic Beauty, who grabbed a quarter at the start and ended up being eased. Sophomore filly Nitrogen chased Scylla home as best of the rest. 

Scylla had spent much of the past year sprinting, without a breakthrough, including a fourth in the 2024 Filly & Mare Sprint. The Juddmonte homebred warranted stretching back out, and she became the eighth winner at the championships for her sire, Tapit. Scylla also furnished some consolation as a record sixth Distaff victress (and 16th Breeders’ Cup winner) for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who had to withdraw Classic (G1) favorite Sovereignty. 

Turf (G1) – Mullins unearths a Diamond

Is there nothing that Willie Mullins can’t do? The Irish jumps maestro added the Turf (G1) to his resume with the surprising Ethical Diamond, whose only graded experience had come during his winter campaigns as a hurdler! The indifferent jumper didn’t land a blow in his biggest class tests in that discipline, but he’d developed into an elite handicapper back on the Flat over the summer. Still, few envisioned the Ebor H. winner sling-shotting off the Del Mar turn to blow by a world-class field in a course-record 2:25.45.

Ethical Diamond was given a perfect hold-up ride by the next great Irish jockey, Dylan Browne McMonagle, who just secured his first championship title at home. Beaten favorite Minnie Hauk (sixth) might have benefited from more patient tactics herself, although jockey Christophe Soumillon said afterward that she was too keen. And her tough beat in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) may well have left its mark. But they appeared interested in following Goliath (11th) and thereby advanced too soon into a demanding race flow. Godolphin legend Rebel’s Romance tracked that pace and still finished second, making his effort for a historic third Turf trophy all the more admirable. 

Classic (G1) – Mission accomplished for Japan

Japan’s globetrotting wonder Forever Young turned the tables on the top two from last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, Sierra Leone and Fierceness, to fulfill trainer Yoshito Yahagi’s master plan. Fresher and stronger this year, Forever Young also capitalized on a different dynamic from a better post 5 than his rail draw a year ago. He secured a more comfortable position tracking Sierra Leone’s rabbit, who didn’t go as crazily fast as the 2024 pacesetter did. Regular rider Ryusei Sakai confidently made the winning move, turning for home, and Forever Young kept finding. Now all roads lead back to a Saudi Cup (G1) title defense. 

Sierra Leone ran a massive race to close from last, missing by a half-length, on a track that wasn’t playing to his style. Third-placer Fierceness wasn’t able to unleash his momentum on the far turn, as he did last year, since he was stuck in traffic. But the slight favorite did well to chase once in the clear and just got outstayed. 

Journalism dropped back to fourth, beaten 3 3/4 lengths, in a margin of defeat larger than he suffered at Sovereignty’s hands in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont (G1). If that’s an imperfect guide to what Sovereignty might have done here, it’s a vindication of Journalism’s former jockey, Umberto Rispoli, who was taken off for the Classic. 

Mile (G1) – Rail-riding masterpiece

Godolphin’s homebred Notable Speech likewise improved from his third in last year’s Mile (G1) to justify favoritism, elevating sire Dubawi to a record-tying ninth Breeders’ Cup score (alongside Into Mischief). Aside from a lighter campaign compared to his 2024 sophomore season, the Charlie Appleby trainee had the advantage of a rail-skimming trip, and he capitalized on his ability to run the turns like a greyhound. He’ll take an awful lot of beating in his title defense at Keeneland in 2026, when his connections will go for a fifth Mile trophy in six years. 

Formidable Man prevailed in the blanket finish for second. Much more than just a horse for the course at Del Mar, he deserves another crack at Gulfstream Park’s Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1). The Lion in Winter, in contention throughout in third, thankfully stays in training at Ballydoyle, and we might see the best of him now that he’s committed to the mile program. Fourth-placer Rhetorical couldn’t sustain his bold bid, but the lightly-raced gelding stands to benefit from the experience. 

Dirt Mile (G1) – Baffert ties O’Brien after epic exacta

Drama beforehand, with the vet scratches of White Abarrio (at about five minutes to post!) and Mystik Dan, was the prelude to the stretch-long suspense of whether 7-10 favorite Nysos would catch front-running stablemate Citizen Bull. Either way, Baffert was guaranteed to rack up Breeders’ Cup win no. 21 and tie O’Brien’s new record. Nysos did get the head-bob over Citizen Bull, who nearly became the first Juvenile champion to win another Breeders’ Cup race. 

Hopefully, the talented but setback-plagued Nysos can stick around for 2026 and have the chance to prove himself over a classic distance. Baffert, hailing him as “probably as close to an American Pharoah type horse that I have had,” raised the tantalizing possibility of the Saudi Cup. That would put him on a collision course with Forever Young.

Filly & Mare Turf (G1) – The next Sistercharlie for Brant?

Francis-Henri Graffard’s banner year rolled on with Gezora in the Filly & Mare Turf (G1). In the International Scouting Report for Brisnet.com, I’d drawn a comparison and contrast with another French import for Peter Brant, champion Sistercharlie. It remains to be seen if Gezora will continue her career stateside.

You have to feel for runner-up She Feels Pretty, who would have won a 1 3/16-mile or 1 1/4-mile edition of this race handily. The added distance made her slightly vulnerable, but she lost no luster in defeat. Third-placer Diamond Rain reiterated her position as the next big transatlantic campaigner in this division for Appleby, while her stablemate, lackluster favorite Cinderella’s Dream (eighth), heads off to her new life as a broodmare.