As is a common theme at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships every year, we again see a strong international presence at this year’s races with 59 international runners among the 205 pre-entries released last week.

As always, trainer Aidan O’Brien is responsible for many of those with 14 pre-entered but he isn’t the only one eying the races and this year Japan has a very strong contingent shipping over to the United States for the event.

USA Network and FanDuel TV will both televise the first day of this year’s World Championships with USA Network’s coverage taking place from 4-8 p.m. ET / 1-5 p.m. PT, concluding with the Juvenile Turf. FanDuel TV coverage will begin at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT with the first undercard race and will conclude with undercard Race 10.

On Saturday, The USA Network will start covering the races at 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT followed by an extended 3 1/2 hours of live programming on NBC and Peacock from 3:30 - 7 p.m. ET / 12:30 - 4 p.m. PT that will feature five World Championship races, including the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. The final two Breeders’ Cup races will be on Peacock starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. These races will also stream live on BreedersCup.com and Breeders’ Cup social media channels. You can also watch all of the races except for the Classic on FanDuel TV all day Saturday.

Friday’s Races

$1 million Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf

Aidan O'Brien. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Aidan O’Brien has won the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Turf five times, including last year, and this year he pre-entered four in the race.

River Tiber is one of those entries and has been unlucky in his last few starts with a pair of third place finishes in European Group 1s (the top level of horse racing). By Wootton Bassett, who already has sired (fathered) one Breeders’ Cup winner with Audarya in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, River Tiber is already a group stakes winner with a win at Royal Ascot in the Grade 2 Coventry Stakes in June. River Tiber won his first three starts before the aforementioned third-place finishes to be one of the most experienced runners in the field, but his big question is distance. His sire’s runners have gone much farther than a mile, but River Tiber has never raced past six furlongs, though pedigree shows it shouldn’t be a problem.

O’Brien also has Wootton Bassett’s Unquestionable pre-entered. That colt doesn’t have a stakes win to his name but did break his maiden by 4 ¼ lengths in May and finished second in two of his three group stakes attempts, including a nose loss to Bucanero Fuerte in the Group 2 Railway Stakes going six furlongs. Just like River Tiber, Unquestionable hasn’t been tested at the one-mile distance, but his pedigree suggests it shouldn’t be a problem.

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

Carla’s Way comes into this race off a win going seven furlongs in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes on Sept. 29. The filly has gotten better when stretching to seven furlongs in her last two starts, indicating that she should be able to handle the one-mile distance even though she hasn’t yet attempted it yet. Her female family already has history with the Breeders’ Cup as well. Her grandam (maternal grandmother) is a half-sister to the dam of The Fugue, who finished second in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Turf and third in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf – both results coming at Santa Anita.

Porta Fortuna. (Shaela Hanley/Eclipse Sportswire)

Les Pavots is a Group 2 winner who has won three of her six starts with all six of those resulting in top-three finishes. In her last start, she made her one-mile debut when third in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac. As she had done in previous races, the filly came running late to grab third and will very likely be doing the same at the Breeders’ Cup.

Porta Fortuna is one of the top juvenile fillies in Europe and comes into this race with a 1 ½-length victory over Pearls and Rubies in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. This filly won her first three races – including a pair of Group 3s – to kick off her career before breaking that undefeated streak when second against males in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes. She had a small blip again in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes in her next start but returned to her winning ways in the Cheveley Park last out.

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint

Big Evs is set to be the first Breeders’ Cup starter for Michael Appleby when he loads into the gate in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. The Blue Point colt has made a big impression in Europe this year with an ambitious campaign that he has handled well, starting with a win in the Windsor Castle Stakes by three lengths at Royal Ascot to break his maiden. He went on to win a Group 3 in his next start before his connections decided to make a move not seen often with juveniles and race him against older horses. Big Evs recorded his only off-the-board finish in that start. but he showed no ill effects at all from that foray and won a Group 2 stakes by 2 ¾ lengths three weeks later. He comes into this race off that victory.

Adrian McGuinness made his Breeders’ Cup debut when A Case Of You finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2021 and he returns this year with the filly Tiger Belle, who comes into this race off two wins going this distance on ground that was wetter than she’ll most likely see in California. The filly did win on good ground in her debut, however, so she doesn’t look overly dependent on soft ground. She should be fine on the firmer turf she’ll encounter at the Breeders’ Cup.

Saturday’s Races

$6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic

Ushba Tesoro. (Shamela Hanley/Eclipse Sportswire)

In 2021, Japan enjoyed a dominant day at Del Mar with a pair of wins at the Breeders’ Cup and they’re looking to do it again this year while also securing their first victory in the Classic. They have two pre-entered, including this year’s Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve sixth-place finisher Derma Sotogake, who earlier who had won the Group 2 UAE Derby Sponsored by Atlantis The Royal by 5 ½ lengths in the start before. Derma Sotogake is a well-traveled runner with starts in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Kentucky – finishing on the board in all but the Kentucky Derby. He hasn’t made a start since the Derby but will have spent more than a week in Southern California by the time he loads into the gate for the race.

Ushba Tesoro may be an unknown when it comes to American racing, but he comes into the Breeders’ Cup Classic on a six-race win streak that includes this year’s Group 1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline and a Japanese Group 1 race. The winner of nearly $10 million, Ushba Tesoro has done well at the distance with three wins and two other top-three finishes in nine starts – with all of those wins coming during his win streak.

$4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf

Considered to be one of the best 3-year-olds in Europe, Auguste Rodin has won three Group 1s this year with victories in both the Epsom Derby and Irish Derby – both considered 3-year-old “classics” just like the U.S. Triple Crown. Coming into this race off a victory in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, Auguste Rodin has only lost twice this year with both of them coming on soft or good to soft (wet) turf courses. Trained by Aidan O’Brien, who has won this race six times, Auguste Rodin’s dam, Rhododendron, was second in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She is also a half-sister to 2018 Breeders’ Cup Turf second-place finisher Magical (last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road also is from the same the family).

Auguste Rodin. (Kaz Ishida/Eclipse Sportswire)

King of Steel has been one of the most consistent runners in Europe this season, finishing second to fellow Breeders’ Cup Turf entrant Auguste Rodin in the Group 1 Epsom Derby by just half a length. One race later, he won the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes by 3 ½ lengths at Royal Ascot before recording another Group 1 placing in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes in his next out. Finishing just a length behind Auguste Rodin in September, King of Steel earned a well-deserved Group 1 victory in October in the Champion Stakes.

Mostahdaf exits a win in the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes. That was his second straight Group 1 victory after winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. This year has been a huge leap forward for 5-year-old Mostahdaf who was a quality runner last year before beginning 2023 with a seven-length win in the Group 2 Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia. The 1 ½-mile Breeders’ Cup Turf distance has been a challenge for the Shadwell homebred during his career with just one win in five starts with the lone win coming in a Group 3 race last September.

$2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF

In a strong group of international runners, Mawj holds her own. If you recognize her name, it’s because she made her last start in the U.S. with a win in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup presented by Dixiana at Keeneland earlier this month. That was the filly’s first run since she won the Group 1 One Thousand Guineas in May for her third victory in a four-race win streak that she brings into the Breeders’ Cup. The 3-year-old has won six of her 10 starts overall with a Group 2 win last year as a juvenile. She is undefeated in her two starts going a mile on the turf.

One of two Japanese runners in this race, Songline looks like a strong contender with back-to-back Group 1 wins at a mile earlier this year before losing by just a nose in her last start going 1 1/8 miles. Songline hasn’t raced much this year with just four starts. Her only off-the-board finish came at just under seven furlongs in the Group 3 1351 Turf Sprint Cup in Saudi Arabia. She’ll be the first Breeders’ Cup runner for both trainer Toru Hayashi and owner Sunday Racing.

$2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf

Inspiral is looking to pull off a rare feat in this race by winning three consecutive Grade/Group 1 races in three different countries. The 4-year-old daughter of Frankel has already accomplished another difficult feat with wins at the Group 1 level in three different years – she won two Group 1s each in two of those seasons. While her record suggests she’ll be one of the top horses in this race, there’s a big question – can she handle the distance? Inspiral has never competed at the 1 1/4 miles she’ll be facing in this race, but her sire, Frankel, is by Galileo, who has sired six Breeders’ Cup victors including the winner of the Filly and Mare Turf last year, so obviously stamina comes from that side and multiple siblings out of her dam have won past one mile.

Warm Heart. (Shamela Hanley/Eclipse Sportswire)

Legendary trainer Aidan O’Brien checked the “train a Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner” box off his list last year when Tuesday won the race. He’s looking to repeat this year when Warm Heart becomes his 19^th starter in the race. O’Brien has sent many accomplished fillies to the race in the past and Warm Heart is no different. Racing at 1 ½ miles her last two races, Warm Heart won both at the Group 1 level. She’s also undefeated in two prior starts at the 1 ¼-mile distance of this race.

Japan is looking to win this race for the second time in a three-year period with Win Marilyn. The mare has had a rough campaign so far with her three runs in both Dubai and Japan resulting in off-the-board finishes, but she has proven she belongs at this level when last December she won the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase.

$1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

The only international runner in the Grade 1 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile is Algiers, who was last seen finishing second by half a length in a Canadian Grade 3 race on Woodbine’s all-weather surface. That start was his first since finishing second in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup behind Breeders’ Cup Classic entrant Ushba Tesoro in March. While his bridesmaid tendencies may seem worrisome, he does have wins under his belt this year including a 6 ½-length win in January in Dubai going a mile in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 and a six-length victory in the Group 2  Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2  going 1 3/16 miles in his final start before the Dubai World Cup.

$1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint

Bred in Kentucky before moving to Japan when sold as an unraced 2-year-old, Jasper Krone has two options in the Breeders’ Cup with pre-entries in both the Turf Sprint and the Qatar Racing Sprint. He holds his first preference for the Turf Sprint and is in the main body of the field, so it’s likely he’ll be seen here when entries come out later this week. Fourth last out, Jasper Krone has only faced the five-furlong distance once this year and won that race by a nose. He’s made his last four starts all going six furlongs and won two of those before finishing fourth by two lengths in the Group 1 Sprinters Stakes in his final Breeders’ Cup prep.

Live in The Dream has spent the last month in Kentucky in preparation for this start after finishing fourth in his final pre-Breeders’ Cup race at Keeneland against Arzak, who is also running here. Before coming to the U.S. for that start, Live In The Dream won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes and has been consistent in the European sprints this year. Distance should be no problem for him since he’s raced at five furlongs in all but one start this year and his Group 1 victory came on firm turf so he should be well suited for this race.