2025 Breeders’ Cup: Sires battle for all-time record

Curlin is currently tied with Into Mischief, More Than Ready, and Dubawi as the sire of eight Breeders' Cup winners (Photo by Coglianese Photos)
At the conclusion of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup, leading North American sire Into Mischief, European patriarch Dubawi, and dual-hemisphere celebrity More Than Ready joined Hall of Famer Curlin in a four-way tie for the most wins by their progeny at the championships.
Each stallion has celebrated eight Breeders’ Cup wins. Another North American influence, Tapit, is right on their heels with seven.
The logjam at the top of the record book might well be broken during the 2025 Breeders’ Cup. Into Mischief, Dubawi, Curlin, and Tapit all have multiple chances to increase their totals.
Here’s the list of their successful progeny along with this year’s contenders:
Leading Breeders’ Cup Sires Ahead of the 2025 Championships
| Sire (No. of Wins) | BC-winning Progeny (Race) | 2025 Entrants | Breeders' Cup Race | 
|---|
| Into Mischief (8) | Goldencents (2013-14 Dirt Mile) | Tommy Jo | Juvenile Fillies | 
| Covfefe (2019 Filly & Mare Sprint) | Ted Noffey | Juvenile | |
| Gamine (2020 Filly & Mare Sprint) | Bring Theband Home | Turf Sprint | |
| Authentic (2020 Classic) | Imagination | Sprint | |
| Life Is Good (2021 Dirt Mile) | American Stage | Sprint | |
| Wonder Wheel (2022 Juvenile Fillies) | Contrary Thinking | Classic | |
| Citizen Bull (2024 Juvenile) | Citizen Bull | Dirt Mile | |
| Curlin (8) | Good Magic (2017 Juvenile) | Ultimate Love | Juvenile Fillies Turf | 
| Vino Rosso (2019 Classic) | Zeitlos | Filly & Mare Sprint | |
| Malathaat (2022 Distaff) | Journalism | Classic | |
| Cody's Wish (2022-23 Dirt Mile) | |||
| Elite Power (2022-23 Sprint) | |||
| Idiomatic (2023 Distaff) | |||
| Dubawi (8) | Wuheida (2017 Filly & Mare Turf) | Rebel's Romance | Turf | 
| Modern Games (2021 Juvenile Turf & 2022 Mile) | Silawi | Turf | |
| Space Blues (2021 Mile) | Notable Speech | Mile | |
| Yibir (2021 Turf) | |||
| Rebel's Romance (2022 & 2024 Turf) | |||
| Master of the Seas (2023 Mile) | |||
| More Than Ready (8) | More Than Real (2010 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | None | |
| Pluck (2010 Juvenile Turf) | |||
| Regally Ready (2011 Turf Sprint) | |||
| Rushing Fall (2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | |||
| Roy H (2017-18 Sprint) | |||
| Uni (2019 Mile) | |||
| More Than Looks (2024 Mile) | |||
| Tapit (7) | Stardom Bound (2008 Juvenile Fillies) | Scylla | Distaff | 
| Tapitsfly (2009 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | Will Take It | Dirt Mile | |
| Hansen (2011 Juvenile) | |||
| Tapizar (2012 Dirt Mile) | |||
| Untapable (2014 Distaff) | |||
| Essential Quality (2020 Juvenile) | |||
| Flightline (2022 Classic) | 
Of those elite five stallions in Breeders’ Cup history, Curlin is the only one to win an event at the championships – the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). But other major sires do belong to the Breeders’ Cup-winning father-and-child club, and several could add to their stats at Del Mar.
Chief among them is Hall of Famer Ghostzapper, the hero of the 2004 Classic in record time, who currently boasts four Breeders’ Cup wins as a sire. The late Uncle Mo, the 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) champion, is responsible for three wins. Both sires are represented on Saturday.
Uncle Mo’s son Nyquist, who emulated him by winning the 2015 Juvenile, has sired two Breeders’ Cup winners himself. So has Hall of Famer Gun Runner, the 2017 Classic victor. Both have offspring on Future Stars Friday and Saturday. Speightstown, the 2004 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) champion, has one opportunity to bump his Breeders’ Cup total to three on Friday.
Medaglia d’Oro, twice runner-up in the Classic (2002-03), and Kitten’s Joy, second as the odds-on favorite in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1), have had far greater Breeders’ Cup results as sires. They’ve celebrated four wins apiece by their progeny. Quality Road’s forgettable Classic appearances resulted in a gate scratch (2009) and a last-of-12 finish (2010), but he, too, has registered four Breeders’ Cup wins at stud.
Here's the list of sires responsible for multiple Breeders’ Cup winners, with the prospect of more to come at Del Mar.
Sires of Multiple Breeders’ Cup Winners with 2025 contenders
| Sire (No. of Wins) | BC-winning Progeny (Race) | 2025 Entrants | Breeders' Cup Race | 
|---|
| Ghostzapper (4) | Judy the Beauty (2014 Filly & Mare Sprint) | Banishing | Sprint | 
| Goodnight Olive (2022-23 Filly & Mare Sprint) | Dr. Venkman | Sprint | |
| Moira (2024 Filly & Mare Turf) | |||
| Kitten's Joy (4) | Stephanie's Kitten (2011 JFT & 2015 FM Turf) | Mission of Joy | Filly & Mare Turf | 
| Bobby's Kitten (2014 Turf Sprint) | |||
| Oscar Performance (2016 Juvenile Turf) | |||
| Medaglia d'Oro (4) | Songbird (2015 Juvenile Fillies) | Nitrogen | Distaff | 
| New Money Honey (2016 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | |||
| Bar of Gold (2017 Filly & Mare Sprint) | |||
| Talismanic (2017 Turf) | |||
| Quality Road (4) | Hootenanny (2014 Juvenile Turf) | Hope Road | Filly & Mare Sprint | 
| Caledonia Road (Juvenile Fillies) | Clicquot | Distaff | |
| City of Light (2018 Dirt Mile) | Hill Road | Turf | |
| Corniche (2021 Juvenile) | |||
| Uncle Mo (3) | Nyquist (2015 Juvenile) | Seismic Beauty | Distaff | 
| Golden Pal (2020 Juv Turf Sprint & 2021 Turf Sprint) | |||
| Wootton Bassett (3) | Audarya (2020 Filly & Mare Turf) | Brussels | Juvenile Turf Sprint | 
| Unquestionable (2023 Juvenile Turf) | Military Code | Juvenile Turf Sprint | |
| Henri Matisse (2024 Juvenile Turf) | Bucanero Fuerte | Turf Sprint | |
| Sahlan | Mile | ||
| Frankel (2) | Inspiral (2023 Filly & Mare Turf) | Minnie Hauk | Turf | 
| Lake Victoria (2024 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | Rebel Red | Turf | |
| El Cordobes | Turf | ||
| Bedtime Story | Filly & Mare Turf | ||
| Gun Runner (2) | Echo Zulu (2021 Juvenile Fillies) | Meaning | Juvenile Fillies | 
| Sierra Leone (2024 Classic) | Super Corredora | Juvenile Fillies | |
| Brant | Juvenile | ||
| Vahva | Filly & Mare Sprint | ||
| Gun Song | Distaff | ||
| Dry Powder | Distaff | ||
| Sierra Leone | Classic | ||
| Hard Spun (2) | Spun to Run (2019 Dirt Mile) | Gas Me Up | Mile | 
| Aloha West (2021 Sprint) | |||
| Justify (2) | Hard to Justify (2023 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | Stellify | Filly & Mare Turf | 
| Just F Y I (2023 Juvenile Fillies) | |||
| Lope de Vega (2) | Newspaperofrecord (2018 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | Pacific Mission | Juvenile Fillies Turf | 
| Aunt Pearl (2020 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | Program Trading | Mile | |
| Jonquil | Mile | ||
| Nyquist (2) | Vequist (2020 Juvenile Fillies) | Litmus Test | Juvenile | 
| Immersive (2024 Juvenile Fillies) | Argos | Juvenile Turf | |
| Johannes | Mile | ||
| Nysos | Dirt Mile | ||
| Pioneerof the Nile (2) | American Pharoah (2015 Classic) | Tawny Port | Turf | 
| Classic Empire (2016 Juvenile) | |||
| Speightstown (2) | Tamarkuz (2016 Dirt Mile) | Outfielder | Juvenile Turf | 
| Sharing (2019 Juvenile Fillies Turf) | 
Red-hot young sire Not This Time, who just missed by a neck as the 2016 Juvenile favorite, has numerous runners going to bat for his first Breeders’ Cup win. Most are in on Friday – Schwarzenegger and Cy Fair in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1); Time to Dream, Imaginationthelady, and Infinite Sky in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1); and Blackout Time in the Juvenile. But Not This Time also has Goal Oriented in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Rhetorical in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) on Saturday.
On Wednesday, a share in Not This Time just sold to John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa for $3 million, the top price at the Keeneland Championship Sale held at Del Mar. It would be no surprise if the Taylor Made stallion ends Breeders’ Cup week with at least one winner on his ledger.
American Pharoah, who added the 2015 Classic to his Triple Crown-sweeping resume, has not had a Breeders’ Cup winner since Four Wheel Drive in the 2019 Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2). Juvenile entrant Mr. A. P. will try to give his sire a bon voyage present, as American Pharoah is set to stand in Japan in 2026.
Mendelssohn, the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) hero and half-brother to Into Mischief, hopes to furnish a Breeders’ Cup winner. His son Third Beer will try to follow in his hoofsteps in the Juvenile Turf. Into Mischief and Mendelssohn’s half-sister, Hall of Famer Beholder, would join an exclusive club herself if daughter Tamara could take the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).
City of Light, the 2018 Dirt Mile romper, has already furnished a winner in the 2023 Juvenile champion Fierceness. While Fierceness, last year’s Classic runner-up, aims to go one better on Saturday, City of Light has a couple of others who hope to join him on the Breeders’ Cup honor roll.
Here’s the list of other Breeders’ Cup-winning sires with runners at Del Mar, with the stallions arranged in order of their progeny’s races.
Breeders’ Cup-winning Sires with Runners at Del Mar in 2025
| BC-winning Sires | Race Won | 2025 Entrants | Breeders' Cup Race | 
|---|
| Midshipman | 2008 Juvenile | Royal Testament | Juvenile Turf Sprint | 
| Touch of Destiny | Dirt Mile | ||
| Authentic | 2020 Classic | Iron Orchard | Juvenile Fillies | 
| Brave Deb | Juvenile Fillies Turf | ||
| Vino Rosso | 2019 Classic | Bottle of Rouge | Juvenile Fillies | 
| City of Light | 2018 Dirt Mile | La Ville Lumiere | Juvenile Fillies | 
| Fierceness | Classic | ||
| Formidable Man | Mile | ||
| Blame | 2010 Classic | Explora | Juvenile Fillies | 
| American Pharoah | 2015 Classic | Mr. A. P. | Juvenile | 
| Oscar Performance | 2016 Juvenile Turf | Heeere's Johnny | Juvenile Turf | 
| Tumbarumba | Dirt Mile | ||
| Street Sense | 2006 Juvenile | Street Beast | Juvenile | 
| Mendelssohn | 2017 Juvenile Turf | Third Beer | Juvenile Turf | 
| Mitole | 2019 Sprint | Shisospicy | Turf Sprint | 
| Hightail | 2012 Juvenile Sprint | Gin Gin | Distaff | 
| Classic Empire | 2016 Juvenile | Gran Oriente | Mile | 
| Goldencents | 2013-14 Dirt Mile | Mystik Dan | Dirt Mile | 
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