Football players dream of winning the Super Bowl. Major leaguers all hope to play in the World Series. And in horse racing, few prizes are more highly coveted by jockeys than a victory in the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. The race will be run this year as the cornerstone race of the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

The field for the race is set and the jockeys for each horse in the race have been named. Let’s take a closer look at the riders, their history at the Breeders’ Cup, and the horses who could help them secure the Breeders’ Cup Classic trophy.

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Frankie Dettori

Age: 52

Originally from: Italy

Breeders’ Cup victories: 14

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2008 (Raven’s Pass)

2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Zandon

Imagine Tom Brady with a signature celebratory leap — that’s Frankie Dettori. Widely considered one of the greatest international riders of all time, Dettori is perhaps best known to fans for his patented winner’s circle “flying dismount,” which has seen him soar off the backs of many a champion racehorse. Like Brady, Dettori also announced he was retiring and then changed his mind. However, instead of riding overseas, Dettori will continue his career exclusively in the United States as the calendar turns to 2024. Before then, Dettori will have a shot to build on his Breeders’ Cup resume and add a second Classic to his list of accomplishments when he rides Zandon on Nov. 4. A leading 2022 Kentucky Derby contender last year, Zandon hadn’t won in eight consecutive races until breaking through with a score in his most recent start, the Woodward Stakes in October.

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Geovanni Franco

Age: 32

Originally from: Mexico

Breeders’ Cup victories: 0

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: n/a

2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Senor Buscador

If you’re going to dive into the Breeders’ Cup as a jockey, you may as well jump right in the deep end. Giovanni Franco is without a doubt the least experienced Breeders’ Cup rider in this year’s Classic field. He’s only had three previous rides in the World Championships, finishing second aboard Lieutenant Dan in the 2021 Turf Sprint, but on Nov. 4 he’ll have his chance at winning the big one when he rides longshot Senor Buscador in the Classic. Franco, whose career started in Mexico City nearly 15 years ago, has earned this opportunity through a steady climb across racing circuits from the Midwest to the Northwest and back to California, where he’s captured numerous graded stakes wins. The most recent of those big wins was over the summer at Del Mar when Franco guided Senor Buscador to a win in the San Diego Handicap.

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Tyler Gaffalione

Age: 29

Originally from: Florida

Breeders’ Cup victories: 2

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Sixth in 2022 (Hot Rod Charlie)

His 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Clapton

Although he’s the youngest jockey in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, Tyler Gaffalione is far from inexperienced when it comes to riding in the sport’s biggest races. At 29 years old, he already has more than 2,200 career victories, he’s won the Preakness Stakes (2019), and he has two wins at the World Championships. Both of those victories came last year when he guided Wonder Wheel to the winner’s circle in the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, while also pulling off a shocker in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at odds of nearly 43-to-1 aboard Caravel. Gaffalione will get a shot at glory in the Classic this year aboard another longshot named Clapton. The 4-year-old colt isn’t as accomplished as much of his competition in the Classic, but Clapton does come into the race off a career-best performance when winning the Lukas Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs in September. ​

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Florent Geroux

Age: 37

Originally from: France

Breeders’ Cup victories: 7

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2017 (Gun Runner)

2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Saudi Crown

A winner of more than 2,000 career races, Florent Geroux has also snagged some of racing’s biggest prizes while teamed up with several of the sport’s true stars of the past decade: Gun Runner and Monomoy Girl. The two of them account for three of the seven Breeders’ Cup wins Geroux has to his credit, highlighted by a win in the Classic with Gun Runner in 2017. But for the past two years, Geroux has failed to land a victory at the World Championships. He’ll look to turn that around at this year’s event and perhaps make a splash in the featured race when he rides Saudi Crown. Coming off a breakthrough win in the Pennsylvania Derby, Saudi Crown was neck-and-neck to the finish line with Forte in the Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by DK Horse as well. He’s not without a shot in this ultimate year-end test, in which he’ll face older graded stakes horses for the first time.

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Yuga Kawada

Age: 38

Originally from: Japan

Breeders’ Cup victories: 1

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: n/a

2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Ushba Tesoro

The World Championships is where history is made and Yuga Kawada is just two years removed from leaving his mark on the event. In the 2021 Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, Kawada rode Loves Only You to victory as she became the first Japan-based horse to win a Breeders’ Cup race. It was an exclamation mark on a year in which Kawada rose to prominence as the leading rider in his native country. He has only built upon that momentum in since then as the leading rider in Japan in 2022 as well as the leading rider by win rate and purse earnings. Earlier this year, he rode his Breeders’ Cup Classic hopeful Ushba Tesoro to victory in the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline to become the first Japanese horse to win that race. Can Kawada and Ushba Tesoro become the first Japan-based combo to win the ultimate prize at the Breeders’ Cup? It isn’t impossible for the late-blooming Ushba Tesoro and his red-hot rider.

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Christophe Lemaire

Age: 44

Originally from: France

Breeders’ Cup victories: 1

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: N/A

2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Derma Sotogake

Big races only. If you want to see Christophe Lemaire ride in the U.S., you have to wait for the marquee racedays, and the Breeders’ Cup certainly qualifies. Born in France, Lemaire has traveled the world as one of the top international riders for decades. He began his career in Europe but has built out his resume in recent years via domination in Japan, where he’s been a force since 2015 and led the Japan Racing Association standings by wins for five straight years from 2017 to 2021. Lemaire won the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf aboard Flotilla and will try to add a Classic to his resume with Derma Sotogake this year. Bred in Japan, Derma Sotogake is a bit of a world traveler himself. He captured the UAE Derby Sponsored by Atlantis The Royal in Dubai earlier this year before finishing sixth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.

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Irad Ortiz Jr.

Age: 31

Originally from: Puerto Rico

Breeders’ Cup victories: 17

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2019 (Vino Rosso)

His 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: White Abarrio

He’s two decades younger than his childhood idol – Hall of Famer John Velazquez – yet Irad Ortiz Jr. is on pace to soon soar past Velazquez in terms of Breeders’ Cup victories. At just 31 years old, Ortiz already has 17 wins at the Breeders’ Cup, which is just two fewer than Velazquez. In fact, if he keeps up his current pace, Ortiz has a very good chance to catch or surpass Mike Smith for the all-time Breeders’ Cup wins lead by the end of the decade. In 2019, Ortiz won the Breeders’ Cup Classic aboard Vino Rosso. He’ll have a shot at adding another Classic to his resume when he rides Whitney Stakes winner White Abarrio on Nov 4.

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Jose Ortiz

Age: 30

Originally from: Puerto Rico

Breeders’ Cup victories: 5

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Finished fourth four times, most recently in 2020 (Tacitus)

His 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Dreamlike

As half of the dynamic Ortiz Brothers, Jose is on the fast track to the Hall of Fame, just like his older brother Irad. Over his short 10-year career, Jose has won more than 2,800 races and received the Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey in 2017. That was the same year he won the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets aboard Tapwrit. Ortiz added a Preakness Stakes to his résumé last year with Early Voting. He heads into this year’s World Championships with five wins under his belt at the Breeders’ Cup. Interestingly, Ortiz has had four previous rides in the Classic and he’s finished fourth in every one of those races. The odds will likely be against him capturing his first win in this year’s Classic, as he’s slated to ride longshot Dreamlike. In his most recent race, Dreamlike finished second to Saudi Crown (who’ll also run in the Classic) in the Pennsylvania Derby.​

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Flavien Prat

Age: 31

Originally from: France

Breeders’ Cup victories: 4

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2022 (Flightline)

2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Arabian Knight

After what nearly turned into a three-year winless drought at the Breeders’ Cup, Flavien Prat won the biggest prize at the World Championships in 2022. He was the jockey aboard Flightline when the superstar horse pulled off one of the most memorable routs in Breeders’ Cup Classic history. While Flightline was a heavy favorite in that race, Prat has had a flair for the dramatics in some big races over the years, including a win with 45.90-1 longshot Storm the Court in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2019. In this year’s Classic, Prat will ride one of the logical favorites in Arabian Knight, who has only lost once in four career starts and enters off a win in the FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic Stakes.

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Joel Rosario

Age: 38

Originally from: Dominican Republic

Breeders’ Cup victories: 15

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2018 (Accelerate) and 2021 (Knicks Go)

2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Proxy

For eight years in a row, Joel Rosario had won at least one race at the Breeders’ Cup until he was blanked at the 2022 World Championships. Don’t expect Rosario to stay shut out for long — he’s been one of this generation’s most consistent jockeys. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Rosario is a two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, as well a Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner. He was honored as the top jockey in North America in 2021 when he took home his first Eclipse Award. Rosario will be paired with a hard-trying, 5-year-old named Proxy in this year’s Classic. The horse has earned more then $2.2-million in his career and recently finished second behind Bright Future in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes.

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Luis Saez

Age: 31

Originally from: Panama

Breeders’ Cup victories: 1

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Second in 2013 (Will Take Charge)

His 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Missed the Cut

At just 31 years of age, Luis Saez already has nearly 3,400 career wins, a Belmont Stakes victory and a dozen in-the-money finishes at the Breeders’ Cup. But surprisingly, the future Hall of Famer has only had one career win at the World Championships and he’s yet to break through in the Classic. A native of Panama City, Saez started out in South Florida after moving to the U.S. in 2009 and won four straight riding titles at now-closed Calder Race Course. He has had success on every circuit he’s ridden on ever since, including New York and Kentucky. Saez will pick up the mount on Missed the Cut in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. The horse began his career in the United Kingdom before coming over to race in the U.S. earlier this year. In four starts in America he’s run his two best races at Santa Anita Park, site of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup.

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John Velazquez

Age: 51

Originally from: Puerto Rico

Breeders’ Cup victories: 19

Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2020 (Authentic)

His 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Bright Future

John Velazquez shows no signs of slowing down. Now, 51, Velazquez is again in the top 10 nationally in 2023 earnings amongst jockeys, aided by the purse he took down winning his first Preakness Stakes earlier this year. That win gave him a total of seven victories in his career across the Triple Crown races. Velazquez is also second all-time in victories at the Breeders’ Cup with 19 wins. Last year, his Breeders’ Cup weekend was made when he won a classic three-way photo finish aboard Malathaat in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff. He’ll try to add a second career win in the Classic this year when he rides Bright Future on Nov. 4. The horse showed dramatic improvement in his last two starts, highlighted by his win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes at Saratoga in September.