By Dick Jerardi
When John Gaines conceived the Breeders’ Cup in the early 1980s, it’s hard to imagine he ever considered what his brainchild might become. Back in 1984, when the first BC was run at Hollywood Park, it was one day with some foreign participation. Since 2007, it has been two days with now 14 races and horses coming from all over the world.
There has been no better example of how the BC has evolved than last Friday and Saturday at Del Mar. Consider the winner of the $7 million Classic was from Japan, the 1-2-3 finishers in the $5 million Turf were all bred in Ireland, a trainer from Ireland who wins almost exclusively on grass, and another originally from Arizona who wins almost exclusively on dirt, just passed a legend and are now tied with most BC wins.
There was that and 40 minutes of how early speed rules when the same trainer sent out a filly to run 5 furlongs on grass in 55.24 seconds and a colt to go 6 furlongs in dirt in 1:08.20. A clear 2026 Kentucky Derby favorite emerged late in the day Friday. A horse finished as fast as horses can run in the Mile.
The star of stars was the brilliant Forever Young, who came to America from Japan for a third time and, after a very troubled trip in the 2024 Derby and a hot pace-affected trip in the 2024 Classic, took those two thirds and turned them into a tour de force victory at Del Mar. In last year’s Classic, it was Sierra Leone, Fierceness, and Forever Young in that order. This year, it was Forever Young, Sierra Leone, and Fierceness. Sierra Leone was up against a speed-favoring track, but came with his amazing rally again to fall just short. Fierceness was kind of in a trap the whole way on the rail, but kept trying. Bottom line, Forever Young was simply too good.
Sovereignty would have been a big favorite in the Classic had he not been scratched due to a fever, but he would have had to run the race of his life to win. Consider his big rival, Journalism finished a solid fourth, beaten by 3 3/4 lengths. Sovereignty beat Journalism by 3 lengths in the Belmont Stakes, 1 1/2 lengths in the Derby.
Sovereignty will be the 2025 Horse of the Year, but it would have been absolutely fascinating to see how he would have matched up with those top 4-year-olds. It would be great to see him back as a 4-year-old, but that will be up to the owner.
We have seen the last of Fierceness and Sierra Leone, two very cool horses. Sounds like Forever Young, with $19.3 million in earnings, will race on as a 5-year-old and try for a repeat in the $20 million Saudi Cup. Speaking of races in Saudi Arabia, how good was the 2024 Saudi Derby – Forever Young first, the great Jersey bred sprinter Book’Em Danno second, and 2024 Gallant Bob Stakes and now Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Bentornato third.
Bentornato absolutely crushed the best sprinters in the world Saturday, never really giving the others any chance. And that came just after stablemate Shisospicy (from the Jose D’Angelo barn) blew away the best grass sprinters in the world by outrunning all the other speed from the start and never giving them even a glimpse of the front.
The Turf was, as usual, an all Euro affair, but the surprise was former steeplechase horse 27-1 Ethical Diamond flying by the field that included two-time Turf winner and world traveler Rebel’s Romance, who in race No. 30, finished second for the first time after 21 wins.
That was Notable Speech finishing like it was a video game in the Mile. Seriously, it was like the race had just started when he blew by the frontrunner in the stretch.
Ted Noffey looked every bit a serious Derby threat when he chased the $3 million purchase Brant in Friday’s Juvenile, passed him, and then re-broke in deep stretch when a late threat emerged. This is as good and as consistent a 2-year-old as trainer Todd Pletcher has had. And that’s saying something given his history. Ted Noffey is 4-for-4 with wins in the Hopeful, Breeders’ Futurity, and now the BC itself. His last three Beyer figures? 97-97-98. Looks like Holy Bull, Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby is the plan for 2026.
Aidan O’Brien and the late Wayne Lukas each had 20 BC wins when this BC began. Lukas, of course, won most of his races when it was a one-day event. Bob Baffert had 19 BC wins.
O’Brien got the record solo when Gstaad won Friday’s Juvenile Turf, a race the trainer owns. He held the record by himself for a day until Baffert won the Filly & Mare Sprint with Splendora and then ran one-two in the Dirt Mile with Nysos and Citizen Bull. Two trainers with completely different stables each now have 21 BC wins.
And that is how it should be – the best modern American dirt trainer and the world’s best modern grass trainer tied at the top in that most international of competitions – the Breeders’ Cup.
