Sierra Leone comes to defend his Classic Title. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Defending Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Winner Sierra Leone Set for Rematch as Top Three from 2024 Classic Return Against Leading 3-Year-Olds
207 Pre-Entries Recorded for International Festival of Racing Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in Del Mar, California
Breeders’ Cup Release
DEL MAR, Calif. – Connections of top Thoroughbreds from around the globe have declared their intention to compete in the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, with 207 pre-entries recorded this week for the international festival of racing.
Pre-entry is the first of a two-step process for all owners intending to start a contender in one of the 14 Breeders’ Cup World Championships races. The entry stage takes place Monday, Oct. 27, when post positions will be drawn live on FanDuel TV beginning at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET. The draw will also be streamed on BreedersCup.com, the official Breeders’ Cup mobile app, and YouTube, Facebook, and X social channels.
The World Championships will feature 14 Grade 1 races and more than $34 million in purses and awards, as the sport’s top horses, owners, breeders, trainers, and jockeys converge on racing’s biggest stage. Headlining the list of 191 individual contenders targeting the two-day celebration are the top three from last year’s $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) – Sierra Leone, Fierceness, and Forever Young (JPN) – preparing to face off in a rematch for the ages, alongside leading 3-year-olds Sovereignty and Journalism. Antiquarian, Baeza, Contrary Thinking, Locked, Mindframe, and Nevada Beach complete a deep cast pre-entered for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. Sixteen horses that have won this race have gone on to earn Horse of the Year honors at the Eclipse Awards, reflecting the elite caliber of competition that defines the World Championships.
Del Mar – “Where the Turf Meets the Surf” on the shores of the Pacific Ocean – will host the Breeders’ Cup for the fourth time, following a record-setting 2024 edition that achieved a new global wagering benchmark of $203.7 million. Horses from five continents – Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America – have been pre-entered, including 58 from abroad. Contenders hail from Argentina, Canada, Chile, England, Ireland, France, Japan, Peru, South Africa, the United States, and Uruguay.
Underscoring the exceptional depth and quality across all divisions this year, eight Breeders’ Cup Champions will seek another victory: Citizen Bull, winner of the 2024 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1); Fierceness, winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and runner-up by 1 1/2 lengths in the 2024 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic; Full Serrano (ARG), winner of the 2024 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1); Nobals, winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1); Rebel’s Romance (IRE), winner of the 2022 and 2024 editions of the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1); Sierra Leone, winner of the 2024 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic; Straight No Chaser, winner of the 2024 Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1); and White Abarrio, winner of the 2023 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Additionally, 46 individual pre-entered horses qualified through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – an international series of 93 stakes races in 15 countries whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race at the World Championships.
“The incredible group of horses pre-entered for this year’s Breeders’ Cup reflects the unmatched quality and global prestige of the World Championships,” said Drew Fleming, President & CEO of Breeders’ Cup Limited. “The divisions are loaded with champions, classic winners, and international stars. We are deeply grateful to the owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys, and teams, whose dedication and care make it possible for these extraordinary Thoroughbreds to put on an incredible show. Our thanks also go to Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for their partnership, to our nominators for their vital support, and to the passionate fans and bettors whose enthusiasm continues to drive our sport forward. We can’t wait to deliver another unforgettable edition of the World Championships at Del Mar.”
Extensive Coverage Of World Championships Planned
NBC Sports will produce more than 10 hours of world-class racing coverage during the World Championships, airing live across NBC and USA Network. NBC’s full coverage will also be simul-streamed on Peacock, providing live, continuous coverage of all 14 Breeders’ Cup races. The programming is anchored by a 3.5-hour NBC broadcast window on Saturday (12:30-4:00 p.m. PT / 3:30–7:00 p.m. ET), featuring the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, alongside four other Championship races. FanDuel TV will also present live, continuous coverage of every Championship and undercard race through the Breeders’ Cup Players’ Show, available on FanDuel TV, BreedersCup.com, the official Breeders’ Cup app, Breeders’ Cup YouTube, Facebook, and X social channels, all major ADW platforms, and simulcast outlets worldwide.
The Championships will reach fans in more than 180 countries, including live telecasts on ITV4, Sky Sports Racing, and Racing TV in the UK; Virgin Media in Ireland; ESPN in Latin America; Green Channel, Abema TV, and Netkeiba in Japan; Sportsnet in Canada; SuperSport across Africa; FanCode in India; and more. For complete domestic and international broadcast details, visit BreedersCup.com/Watch.
Fans can learn more about their favorites via the contender profiles at BreedersCup.com, which provide extensive statistics, race replays, news, photos, and more, and via the official Breeders’ Cup mobile app. Additionally, information about each Breeders’ Cup race may be found at BreedersCup.com/Races.
A maximum of 14 starters is allowed in each of the 14 Breeders’ Cup World Championships races, except for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, which are limited to 12 starters. Breeders’ Cup Limited has adopted a field selection system to select runners in the event fields are oversubscribed. This system ranks horses in order of preference based on (i) Breeders’ Cup Challenge race winners, (ii) a point system, and (iii) the judgment of an independent international panel of racing experts. The field selection system was implemented on Oct. 21, following the taking of pre-entries, to officially rank the oversubscribed fields. The Racing Secretaries and Directors Panel (the “Panel”) ranked all the horses pre-entered in the oversubscribed races as described above. After pre-entry, any vacancies in the fields will be filled by horses in order of Panel preference.
There will be up to four also-eligible horses for each Championship race, except for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, which will have up to six. The also-eligible horses will be designated in accordance with the Panel’s order of preference for each Championship race that was oversubscribed at the time of pre-entry. Scratch time for Friday Championship races will be 8:00 a.m. PT, Friday, Oct. 31, and scratch time for Saturday’s Championship races will be at 8:00 a.m. PT on Saturday, Nov. 1.
