Breeders' Cup 2025: Three horses fancied to outgun the favourites

Let us get the excuses in early – the 42nd Breeders’ Cup series looks, on paper, to be one of the most competitive for many years and although 29% of favourites have won at the previous three Breeders’ Cups to be run at Del Mar, it could well pay to look for a bit more value this time around. 

Here's my idea of three horses who have the potential to shake up the big guns on Saturday.

Although I believe that the fragile #4 Tamara is the most likely winner of this race, the value appears to be the Saffie Joseph Jr-trained Haulin Ice to outrun her odds.

Supplemented last week for a cool $100,000, the four-year-old daughter of Coal Front has won 10 of her 17 career starts and also owns two victories, from six attempts, over this most specialist distances of seven furlongs.

Last time out she made all to win the seven-furlong Group Three Princess Rooney Stakes, at her home track Gulfstream Park, by an unchallenged four and three-quarter lengths, which ranks as a career-best effort.

It is hugely significant that she comes here on the back of that Princess Rooney victory, given that her trainer has brought two previous fillies to this race on the back of a win in the same exit race - he was third with Three Witches in 2023 and won with Soul Of An Angel last year here at Del Mar. 

Let’s hope that earlier in the evening the outstanding Rebel’s Romance will have retained his turf championship, just as #6 Full Serrano looks to do in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. 

In the short history of this race - this is just the 19th running - two horses (Goldencents and Cody’s Wish) have successfully defended their crown in what is usually a pretty weak division. 

That is not the case this year, but without doubt the Del Mar oval brings out the best in the John Sadler-trainee with his course record currently three wins and a second from four starts.

Twelve months ago Full Serrano stalked the early pace under Joel Rosario (who gets back aboard him for the first time since that win), but the six-year-old is equally adapt at leading and it is quite possible that Rosario might decide to send him this time around.

I am a huge fan of the “third run off a break” angle in American racing and this applies here. Last year he finished second in the Pacific Classic over a mile and a quarter at Del Mar before dropping back in trip to win the Dirt Mile. 

This year he finished second in the Goodwood over nine furlongs behind Classic-bound Nevada Beach, before dropping back to his specialist distance.

Trainer Bob Baffert saddles three runners in this race, including the favourite #3 Nysos, but Uncle Bob’s record in this particular Breeders’ Cup race is very poor given he has only had one horse placed from 12 runners. 

Despite five of her eight career victories coming at Grade One level there is a feeling that #13 She Feels Pretty is something of a forgotten horse in this year’s Breeders’ Cup finale. 

The four-year-old daughter of Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Karakontie, trained in Kentucky by Cherie DeVaux (who saddled her first Breeders’ Cup winner last year at Del Mar with More Than Looks), has already enjoyed a stellar year landing three victories, two at the highest level, all under regular pilot John Velazquez. 

Last time out she won the mile and a quarter Grade One EP Taylor at Woodbine beating returning rival #6 Diamond Rain by a head with the two of them pulling 10 lengths clear of the rest. 

This performance was better than the bare winning margin suggests given that down the back stretch she clipped heels with a rival with which lit her up and it took Johnny V a few furlongs to get her to come back to him and she was then forced to make a five-wide move into the stretch to make her challenge.

As an aside, I believe it is worth marking up all the turf form this year from Woodbine given that (due to track maintenance) all their grass races were run on the tight inner turf course that mirrors the configuration of the Del Mar course.

It is also worth noting that last year’s winner Moira came via the EP Taylor before success at Del Mar. For me the main danger would be #9 Cinderella’s Dream who was second in this race last year after having a successful American summer campaign, whereas this year she has had a European campaign which may not help her in the context of this race.