Breeders’ Cup 2025 had a Familiar Ring  Forever Young

By William G. Gotimer, Jr.

The more things change the more they stay the same. Breeders’ Cup 2025 bore a striking resemblance to Breeders’ Cup 2024, and it wasn’t just because the venue was the same. The centerpiece of the two- day event – the Breeders’ Cup Classic – saw the same top three finishers in 2025 as in 2024, albeit in a different order. The Japanese owned, bred and trained Forever Young avenged two tough defeats last year in the United States to stamp himself as the world’s champion older dirt horse under an aggressive ride by his rider Ryusei Sakai who seized the initiative right out of the gate. Tracking the Chad Brown-trained rabbit Contrary Thinking from the jump and withstanding an Eddington-like brush (look it up) from Mindframe at the 5/8ths pole Forever Young assumed the lead with a half mile to go then resolutely held off Fierceness’s run from the inside and then the late run of Sierra Leone from the outside. Hitting the wire first, Forever Young fulfilled the Breeders’ Cup billing of the race as a true “World Championship”.

 

Photo by William G. Gotimer, Jr.

 

The mile and a quarter event, which lost some luster with the defection of three-year-old champion Sovereignty to a mild illness after travelling to California, nonetheless delivered on its promise to match up the best horses in training. Racing is not a team sport but it could be argued that Forever Young beat “teams” from both the Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher barns.  Chad Brown entered Contrary Thinking to assure a fast early pace which would assist his other entry the stout closer Sierra Leone and according to Jockey John Velazquez, his presence bothered the Todd Pletcher entry of Fierceness more than he did Forever Young.  Velazquez was open in his opinion that Contrary Thinking’s presence in the race hurt Fierceness’s chances throughout the race. Fierceness, however, received his own assist from entry mate Mindframe, who made a bold middle-race move that made things tougher on Forever Young and assured the Sierra Leone would have to go wide to make his late run. Forever Young, however, seemed unfazed by the earlier than expected challenge from Mindframe and went about his business to the wire. The others performed admirably but, on this day, Forever Young was best.

When it was all said and done, the older horses in the race dominated their three-year-old rivals allowing one to surmise that as good as the three-year-old crop was this year, the older horses were best. It is unclear whether Sovereignty, Journalism or Baeza will run as four-year-olds in 2026. Refreshingly, the connections of Forever Young (owner Susumu Fujit and trainer Yoshito Yahagi) have expressed their intention to keep the horse in training in 2026 and possibly beyond, mapping out a globetrotting schedule to face all comers around the globe.

Europeans

This year’s Breeders’ Cup seemed familiar in other respects as once again European shippers dominated the grass races with a Willie Mullins-trained steeplechase runner upsetting the field in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. The winner, Ethical Diamond, saw a late betting plunge as his odds plummeted down to 25-1 at post time from 45-1 seconds earlier. An astonishing result for many. The other grass races saw European runners fare well over their American opponents winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf as well as the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Event

As mentioned earlier, this was the second consecutive year that the event was held at Del Mar (the third consecutive event run in California) but one difference from prior years was the lackluster attendance.  The venue, the weather, the customer service and atmosphere were all top notch, but the Breeders’ Cup has increasingly become an “industry event” filled mostly with those with a connection to the sport as participants.  The cost of admission, seats and concessions seems to have driven fans and bettors to watch from afar, an observation borne out by both the weak attendance numbers and strong mutual handle figures.

This is not necessarily a criticism, just an observation. Every industry needs an event where participants can convene and celebrate annually and the crowds of casual observers at the Triple Crown and other marquee events make those events unsuitable for that purpose. The Breeders’ Cup has now filled that role but its separate goal of creating new fans and highlighting racing to a wider audience has been undercut by the increased cost of attendance.  The next two renewals of the event at Lexington, Kentucky’s stately Keeneland Race Course and New York’s pristine new Belmont Park are much anticipated by the industry.  As a return to the East after the recent West Coast events an effort should be made to make at least the Friday card affordable for the average fan or newcomers.  Developing new pure fans of the sport is in its long term interest and that cannot be accomplished by simply vying for the high-end customers that all entertainment seeks to capture.