Early look at storylines for 2025 Breeders’ Cup: Milestones, Future Stars Friday

The Breeders’ Cup will announce pre-entries for the 2025 Championships on Oct. 22, and both Future Stars Friday and the spectacular Saturday card will be drawn on Oct. 27. 

As we eagerly await the official fields for the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 extravaganza at Del Mar, the prime contenders and broad outlines are already coming into focus. At this stage, we can map out the early talking points and storylines to watch for the 14 Championship races.

BC milestone watch

But first, let’s note a few milestones regarding the Breeders’ Cup as a whole. 

Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien is currently tied with the late Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas for the all-time record of 20 Breeders’ Cup wins. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and Chad Brown are also in hot pursuit with 19 Breeders’ Cup victories apiece. Next in the rankings come fellow Hall of Famers Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher (a Lukas protégé), each with 15 wins. All will have chances to increase their totals at Del Mar.

Moreover, O’Brien is closing in on breaking his own record for most Group 1 wins in a single season (28), set in 2017. As of this writing (Oct. 14), he has 22, with the prospect of adding more ahead of the Breeders’ Cup.

O’Brien’s Coolmore patrons have amassed 23 Breeders’ Cup trophies, if you count all of their various partnerships. That number includes several horses based with U.S. trainers. 

But rival global empire Godolphin holds the record of 20 wins for a single ownership entity. Also, Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum was involved in five more winners outside of the Godolphin umbrella, giving him a total of 25. The Godolphin-versus-Coolmore angle will be in play over the course of the Championships. 

Jockey Mike Smith has a greater margin as the record-holder in his category, with 27 Breeders’ Cup wins. His nearest pursuer is another ageless Hall of Famer, Johnny Velazquez, whose tally stands at 21. But Irad Ortiz Jr. is on their trail with 20 wins so far. Ortiz has won the Bill Shoemaker Award, given annually to the leading rider at the Breeders’ Cup, a record five times.

A battle is raging for the distinction of the all-time leading sire at the Championships. Into Mischief, Curlin, and Dubawi are currently tied with the late More Than Ready at eight wins apiece, and the three active sires have multiple chances to break the tie. We’ll explore pedigree angles later in Breeders’ Cup week. 

Future Stars Friday

Juvenile Turf Sprint

After Wesley Ward won three in a row (2019-21), the Europeans have countered with three straight wins. Ward hopes to regain the podium with Schwarzenegger, but the international contingent promises to have strength in depth. 

AMO Racing has gone awfully close here the past two years (and three of the last four), and Ipanema Queen (co-owned by Stonestreet) will try to break through. O’Brien, who has yet to make the exacta in this race, has long had Charles Darwin in the mix, although he hasn’t been seen since his “Win and You’re In” at Royal Ascot. According to Daily Racing Form, True Love is now entering calculations for the five-furlong dash.

Juvenile Fillies Turf

True Love was originally thought to be the main Ballydoyle protagonist in this spot. O’Brien has won two of the past three editions with fillies exiting the Cheveley Park (G1) – Meditate (2022) and Lake Victoria (2024) – and True Love fits that pattern. But his streaking Fillies Mile (G1) romper Precise might end up here instead. 

Brown, a six-time winner of this race, enters with an uncharacteristically under-the-radar type in Deep Learning. She’s run sneakily well in the historically key North American preps, the Natalma (G1) and Miss Grillo (G2). Pletcher’s Time to Dream is eligible to rebound from her troubled third in the Jessamine (G2) to Imaginationthelady and Godolphin’s Infinite Sky, who had a world of trouble herself at Keeneland.

Juvenile Fillies

Explora stamped herself as the one to beat with a devastating display in the Oak Leaf (G2) at Santa Anita. If she can give Baffert a third win in this race, she’d join exalted company in Hall of Famer Silverbulletday (1998) and two-time Eclipse Award champion Indian Blessing (2007). 

Pletcher hasn’t made it to the winner’s circle here. To rectify that, Tommy Jo will need to answer the two-turn question more persuasively than she did in her Alcibiades (G1) elevation. Percy’s Bar, the first-past-the-post in the Alcibiades, who was disqualified for bumping Tommy Jo, is on a mission to set the record straight. 

Juvenile

Early Kentucky Derby (G1) favoritism is up for grabs, along with the divisional Eclipse Award. Pletcher goes for his fifth Juvenile trophy with unbeaten Ted Noffey, who figures to be favored off romps in the Hopeful (G1) and Breeders’ Futurity (G1). Like counterpart Tommy Jo in the fillies’ division, Ted Noffey is a Spendthrift colorbearer by the farm’s great patriarch, Into Mischief.

But six-time winner Baffert has no shortage of contenders, led by undefeated Del Mar Futurity (G1) hero Brant and runner-up Desert Gate, who’s since run another good second to the Jeff Mullins-trained Intrepido in the American Pharoah (G1). 

Juvenile Turf

Can O’Brien win this race four years in a row, and for the eighth time overall? His past three winners all raced in France in their prior start, as did current flagbearer Puerto Rico, who fared better than Unquestionable (2023) and Henri Matisse (2024) when capturing the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (G1) on Arc Day. If Puerto Rico stays hot, he’d make it a three-peat for their late sire, Wootton Bassett. 

But Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby is a three-time winner himself, with Wild Desert his likeliest prospect after a rattling second to Argos in the Summer (G1). Pilgrim (G2) winner Bottas is just one of the Breeders’ Cup hopefuls for Miguel Clement, who bids for a poignant career milestone after taking over from his late father, Christophe. The other prominent U.S. contender, Pletcher’s Final Score, is 3-for-3 on turf with front-running scores in the With Anticipation (G3) and Bourbon (G2). 

Continue reading for Breeders’ Cup Saturday...