The top thoroughbred horses in 14 divisions will be crowned when the racing world convenes for the 41st annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday and Saturday at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club outside San Diego.

The highlight will be the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday afternoon, deciding the best horse in the world at the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles on the dirt surface.

Though there has not been a true standout horse this season among the 3-year-old and older roster, the Classic will feature an impressive list of 14 entries, several of whom will be racing out of their normal comfort zone.

The morning-line favorite in the Classic at 5-2 is City of Troy, the world’s best turf horse with three Group 1 wins in Europe this season. Trained by Aidan O’Brien and set to be ridden by Ryan Moore, City of Troy will race on the dirt for the first time as O’Brien looks to win the Classic after 17 misses.

“(City of Troy) has been trained very hard through the summer and then he’s come here on a different continent, different ground, different surface, race and pace, there’s so many different things,” O’Brien said. “Everything is done. We think we have looked under every stone we can.”

Looming large as the second choice at 3-1 is the enigmatic Fierceness, who was last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner. The champion 2-year-old male horse of the year in 2023 has captured his past two races, including the Travers Stakes (G1) in his most recent start.

Fierceness has never raced against older horses and has been a feast-or-famine-type runner, finishing 15th as the favorite at this year’s Kentucky Derby. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, likes the way the strapping colt has been training and maturing.

“I think physically, Fierceness has done really well,” Pletcher said. “He’s gotten bigger, stronger, and put on weight. You can see him maturing into a fall 3-year-old. I’m very pleased with his overall condition.”

The Classic field will feature three horses from Japan, two who ran in last year’s Classic (Derma Sotogake and Ushba Tesoro) as well as the uber-talented Forever Young, who finished third by a nose in the Kentucky Derby.

Forever Young has raced once since the Run for the Roses, posting an easy win in the Japan Cup Dirt Classic that has his connections enthused about his chances in the Classic. He is listed as the third choice at 6-1.

Perhaps the most intriguing horse in the Classic is Next. He is currently on a seven-race winning streak, all in dirt marathon races of 1 3/8 miles or longer, with a combined margin of victory of over 90 lengths. He was given morning-line odds of 8-1.

Besides the Classic, the nine-race Breeders’ Cup card on Saturday will feature the $5 million Turf, with Rebel’s Romance the 5-2 morning-line favorite; the $2 million Distaff in which the popular filly Thorpedo Anna is the 4-5 pick to win; the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf, with War Like Goddess the top choice at 5-2; the $2 million Sprint that will send Federal Judge to the post as a 3-1 favorite; the $2 million Mile, with the Irish-bred Porta Fortuna the lukewarm 4-1 favorite; and three $1 million races: the Filly & Mare Sprint, the Turf Sprint and the Dirt Mile.

The Breeders’ Cup begins with Future Stars Friday, with all five races contested by horses in their 2-year-old racing year. The card includes a pair of $2 million races: the Juvenile Fillies and the Juvenile (both on dirt); and three $1 million events — the Juvenile Turf Sprint, the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Juvenile Turf.

This is the second consecutive year that the Breeders’ Cup has been conducted in California — it was contested at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia last year — and the third time it’s been held at Del Mar. The iconic beachside track will also host the Breeders’ Cup in 2025.

–Field Level Media