The Breeders' Cup has the opportunity to make history this year. The two-day racing event is hosted at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., beginning Friday and concluding with the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday. The Classic, a Grade I race run at 1¼ miles, features two Kentucky Derby winners for the third time in the event's history: Sovereignty, the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner, will face 2026 winner Golden Tempo. This hasn't happened since Unbridled took on Strike the Gold in 1991 at Churchill Downs.
The field of eight also includes 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young and 2026 Preakness winner Napoleon Solo. Golden Tempo will draw a lot of attention as the most recent Kentucky Derby winner, but Forever Young returned in top form to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup in September after a long layoff. Magnitude, who stumbled at the start of the Whitney, has three other impressive wins this year, including the Dubai World Cup over Forever Young.
On Saturday's undercard, the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff is expected to be led by Nitrogen, a 4-year-old mare with six races, three wins, two seconds and a third this year. She raced against males in the Whitney and finished second to Sovereignty, then beat mares in the Beldame. Fully Subscribed, with three wins and two seconds this year, could be the value pick if Nitrogen and Splendora duel on the front end.
The $5 million Breeders' Cup Turf, run at 1½ miles, is rarely won by U.S.-based horses, most recently Bricks and Mortar in 2019. Burnham Square, who finished seventh in the Kentucky Turf Cup, has four wins this year, while Ethical Diamond, who won this race at 27-1 last year, breaks from the inside post. Our picks for the feature races are based on these recent form lines.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing