Beginner’s Guide to the 2025 Breeders’ Cup World Championships
Meet the Jockeys of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic
Racing
Junior Alvarado, John Velazquez, and Flavien Prat (left to right) are three of 10 accomplished jockeys expected to ride in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 1 at Del Mar. (Eclipse Sportswire)
Some of the most accomplished jockeys in the U.S., plus a top rider from Japan, have mounts in the 42nd running of the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The top-three finishers in last year’s Longines Classic, also held at Del Mar, are scheduled to run once again, and Sierra Leone, Fierceness, and Japan’s Forever Young all have the same jockeys assigned.
Add four top 3-year-olds of 2025, led by Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and DraftKings Travers Stakes winner Sovereignty, and two more solid older horses in Mindframe and Antiquarian, and you have the makings of a sensational Classic.
Jockeys’ decisions will be of the highest importance as these top-class Thoroughbreds maneuver around Del Mar’s dirt track at the so-called “classic” distance of 1 ¼ miles (same as the Kentucky Derby). Fortunately, the collective portfolio of the Breeders’ Cup Classic jockeys contains ample experience in this race and similarly prestigious stakes races. Let’s meet this year’s riders.
Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 39
Originally from: Venezuela
Breeders’ Cup victories: 3
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Second in 2022 (Olympiad)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Sovereignty
Always a highly respected jockey among his peers, Junior Alvarado has reached a career peak in the past four years. He tallied his first win in the World Championships aboard Cody’s Wish in 2022 when that colt won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and also finished second on Olympiad behind superstar Flightline in the Longines Classic. A year later, Alvarado and Cody’s Wish notched another Dirt Mile victory, and Cody’s Wish was honored as 2023’s Horse of the Year. Now, Alvarado has accumulated five prestigious stakes wins and counting in 2025 on 3-year-old sensation Sovereignty, including victories in the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes, and the Travers Stakes. Those three races were contested at 1 ¼ miles, as is the Classic.
Ryan Denver/EQUI-PHOTO
Age: 38
Originally from: Chile
Breeders’ Cup victories: 0
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: N/A
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Baeza
After a brief stint in the U.S. back in the early 2010s, Hector Berrios became one of the mainstays in the Southern California jockey colony after returning from his home country (where he began riding at age 17) in 2022. Nine of his 10 mounts in the World Championships have come since then, and he nearly won the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 2022 aboard longshot runner-up Blue Stripe. Berrios rode Baeza three times early in 2025, relinquished the mount to Flavien Prat for the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and has been back aboard for the colt’s last two races, including his breakthrough stakes win in the Sept. 20 Pennsylvania Derby.
Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 39
Originally from: France
Breeders’ Cup victories: 8
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2017 (Gun Runner)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Contrary Thinking
Florent Geroux has won some of the sport’s biggest races through the years, including the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar aboard Hall of Famer Gun Runner. In this year’s Classic, however, he’s assigned to a horse with a different goal in Contrary Thinking. This gelding is co-owned by Peter Brant, who also co-owns defending Classic winner Sierra Leone. Contrary Thinking is entered in the Classic to try to set up a fast early pace in order to help Sierra Leone, a deep closer – so he isn’t “in it to win it” but to give an assist to his stablemate. If all goes to plan, Geroux and Contrary Thinking will be winging it up front for a mile or so in the Classic before fading.
Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 33
Originally from: Puerto Rico
Breeders’ Cup victories: 20
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2019 (Vino Rosso) and 2023 (White Abarrio)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Mindframe
As he winds down another typically stellar year, Irad Ortiz Jr. will vie for his third Longines Classic win in seven years aboard Mindframe. He and the colt both narrowly escaped injury in their lead-in race, the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes on Aug. 31, when Mindframe received the worst in a chain reaction of bumping and Ortiz was unseated soon after the field exited the starting gate. Prior to that, Ortiz rode Mindframe to an impressive win over Sierra Leone in the Stephen Foster Stakes back in June. Mindframe could be somewhat overlooked in the post-time win pool despite having a five-time Eclipse Award winner in the saddle.
Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 32
Originally from: Puerto Rico
Breeders’ Cup victories: 6
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Finished fourth four times, most recently in 2020 (Tacitus)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Journalism
The practice of owners and/or trainers switching jockeys on horses in advance of a marquee race is a common one, and Jose Ortiz will be the beneficiary in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Top-class 3-year-old Journalism had been ridden by Southern California-based Umberto Rispoli for nine of his 10 career starts, including the last eight in a row, highlighted by wins in the Preakness Stakes and NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes. But the colt’s connections decided to make a change last week, and now Journalism, who comes into the Classic off of a runner-up finish behind Fierceness in the Aug. 30 Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar, will get the services of a former Eclipse Award winner. Ortiz did not have a mount in last year’s Classic at Del Mar but did tally his sixth career win in the World Championships aboard More Than Looks in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF.
Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 33
Originally from: France
Breeders’ Cup victories: 7
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2022 (Flightline) and in 2024 (Sierra Leone)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Sierra Leone
Flavien Prat is enjoying another banner season after being honored with an Eclipse Award as Outstanding Jockey for the first time in 2024. He earned that distinction by setting single-season records for stakes wins and graded stakes wins during the year, and he’s leading North American jockeys again in those categories for 2025. Prat gave Sierra Leone a well-timed ride last November at Del Mar to capture his second Breeders’ Cup Classic, and he’ll attempt to do that again on Nov. 1 with an assist from “rabbit” stablemate Contrary Thinking.
Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 33
Originally from: Panama
Breeders’ Cup victories: 1
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: 2nd in 2013 (Will Take Charge)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Antiquarian
Luis Saez having only one win in the World Championships is the definition of a misleading statistic when looking at his overall body of work. He’s tallied eight second-place finishes and another eight third-place finishes, and nearly won the 2013 Classic aboard champion Will Take Charge, who finished a nose behind Mucho Macho Man in a thriller. Perennially one of North America’s leading jockeys by wins and purse earnings, Saez is known for his willingness to use a horse’s natural speed to gain an advantageous early position in a race, and he’ll very likely use that skill with Antiquarian. He takes the mount on the Jockey Club Gold Stakes winner for the first time in the Classic and should have him hustling out of the outside post position when the starting gate springs open.
Erika Rasmussen/Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia
Age: 28
Originally from: Japan
Breeders’ Cup victories: 0
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Third in 2024 (Forever Young)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Forever Young
The Breeders’ Cup spotlight wasn’t too bright for Ryusei Sakai in his debut nearly a year ago as he piloted Japan-based superstar racehorse Forever Young to a third-place finish in the Classic. The young jockey had already excelled on arguably an even bigger stage, the 2024 Kentucky Derby, when he urged Forever Young to finish a very close third, only a neck behind the winner. Sakai is one of the leading jockeys in his home country and has a good chance to make another strong impression to U.S. racing fans and bettors as Forever Young comes back to the Breeders’ Cup as a win candidate.
BENOIT photo
Age: 59
Originally from: Roswell, N.M.
Breeders’ Cup victories: 27
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 1997 (Skip Away), 2009 (Zenyatta), 2011 (Drosselmeyer), and 2016 (Arrogate)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Nevada Beach
No jockey has been more successful at the Breeders’ Cup than “Big Money” Mike Smith. The Hall of Famer has been a constant presence at the World Championships since the early 1990s and has provided some of the sport’s most memorable moments on champions such as Skip Away, Zenyatta, and Arrogate. Smith has cut down on his mounts in recent years but has still tallied marquee victories, his latest coming in the Goodwood Stakes on Bob Baffert-trained Nevada Beach. He’ll be aboard the fast-rising 3-year-old again in the Classic as he seeks his first Breeders’ Cup victory since 2021.
BENOIT photo
Age: 53
Originally from: Puerto Rico
Breeders’ Cup victories: 21
Best finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic: Won in 2020 (Authentic)
His 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic horse: Fierceness
At age 53, John Velazquez shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. The Hall of Fame jockey does not ride as many horses per day as his younger peers, but still racks up graded stakes wins on a regular basis. He just finished the fall meet at Keeneland Race Course – one of the most competitive meets for jockeys – with seven stakes wins, tying a mark set by Pat Day in 1998. Velazquez has been aboard Fierceness for his last 11 starts, and his first ride aboard the talented colt resulted in a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory in 2023. Since then, they’ve combined to win big-ticket races such as the Travers Stakes and the Pacific Classic Stakes, the latter serving as Fierceness’ tuneup for another shot at the Classic. He finished second last year under a typically excellent ride from Velazquez.
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