WHO’S running? Who’s not running? Who do you like? Who did you like? That’s the theme of this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland.

As we do over here, the Breeders’ Cup is supersized with five races Friday and nine Saturday and it’s being downsized with scratches, mostly based on veterinary assessments and protocols.

The buildup to the big day has scattered hand grenades like candy corn on a Halloween sidewalk with scratches of Classic contender Magnitude, Juvenile hope Gaudreau, Filly & Mare Sprint champion Splendora and 22 (I’ve lost count) others. And rumors swirl about the next one or ones to fall.

The times in which we live. For better or worse. But, alas, the game goes on, the horses will line up and the clarity of the finish line will decide fates, define careers and certainly make or break the last Saturday of October. Trick or treat?

It’s been 42 years since the first Breeders’ Cup, 42 years since Wild Again, Gate Dancer and Slew o’ Gold brought the house down in a three-way thriller in the Classic. As I watched with my dad from a family-room couch on the other side of the country, we knew the game would never be the same.

The host track that day, Hollywood Park, is long gone, a footnote in racing’s history, and the Breeders’ Cup has become a behemoth, forever changing the sport.

Here’s to the 43rd edition.

Can Sovereignty rule in Classic showdown?

10:16 The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade 1) 1m 2f

By now, the scratches and questions have long slid off the radar and you’ve still got 14 hours before the first at the Curragh so enjoy the race of the day. The finale comes down to a throwdown between America’s best and Japan’s best (where are the Euros?) to close the card. In a matchup we missed out on last year when Sovereignty had to be scratched due to a fever, the $7 million stakes pits the 2025 Classic winner Forever Young against the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty. They were meant to clash in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but Sovereignty missed that with a foot abscess.

Bill Mott and Godolphin added more broth when opting to run stablemate Knightsbridge here instead of the Dirt Mile. With the scratch of Magnitude, pace duties will go through eight-time winner Knightsbridge and Travers runner-up Napoleon Solo. Behind them will be Forever Young, Sovereignty and this year’s Derby winner Golden Tempo. Japan’s T O Password Pennsylvania Derby winner The Puma will be in the peloton as well.

“One of the things it boils down to is Godolphin would really like to win the Classic and we probably have a better chance of having two horses in there than just one,” Mott said.

As for Sovereignty. “He is doing very well right now,” Mott said earlier this week.

As for Forever Young, trainer Yoshito Yahagi is feeling confident after his prep win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in September.

“When I first saw him in New York last time, I immediately felt he was lacking a little muscle tone,” Yahagi said. “Even on race day, I still thought he lacked a bit of that tone. It wasn’t that he was carrying too much weight, but he just didn’t have quite the muscle definition I wanted to see. I think that has improved since then.”

I’ll keep dancing with the same partner. Come on, Sovereignty, one time. One more time.

Selections: 1 Sovereignty. 2 Forever Young. 3 Golden Temple.

9:36 The Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (Grade 1) 1m 4f

Aidan O’Brien offered his thoughts earlier in the week.

“It’s great to be back at the Breeders’ Cup,” O’Brien said. “As always, we try to bring our best horses to America at this time of the year. It’s never easy to win here but we’ll give it our best shot. We feel we’ve got a nice team of horses.”

Two members of that team land here. Benvenuto Cellini and Diamond Necklace. Chalk and cheese. The enigmatic colt drew post two, the electric filly drew post 12. Ryan Moore opts for the colt. Christophe Soumillon reunites with the filly. In between and around are everything from last year’s champion Ethical Diamond, who drew the rail, American hopes Minaret Station and Burnham Square to Saratoga conqueror Survie for George Boughey.

“My inclination when we bought her was that American racing would suit her well and luckily it did,” Boughey said. “We’ve been trying to get her to learn how to sprint, really, in those final 400 meters.

“She looked pretty electric at Saratoga. The final 400 to 600 meters of the race are really when we are going to see her, so hopefully she can just relax in the second half of the field and be produced late. The different conditions over here suit her better. It’s a completely different style of racing. I just think the bigger, galloping tracks in Europe kind of exposed her a little bit.”

Selections: 1 Ethical Diamond. 2 Diamond Necklace. 3 Survie.

5:10 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (Grade 1) 7f

Rusty Arnold needs – deserves – a Breeders’ Cup win and perhaps this is the one. A stand-up guy, a horseman’s horseman, a lifer, Arnold could get it done with Kilwin.

The four-year-old filly returns to the dirt where she’s three from four and most potent. She drew better than in her runner-up finish in the Test at Saratoga. Ways And Means towers at the top of the list but her best game isn’t always taken on the road.

“I wouldn’t say confident, but I like my horse,” Arnold said. Good enough.

Selections: 1 Kilwin. 2 Ways And Means. 3 Explora.

5:48 The Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (Grade 1) 5f 110yd

The world-conquering Bacio plays a rare home game for Wesley Ward. The three-year-old son of Maclean’s Music already owns wins at Ascot and York this season and should run his 2026 record to a perfect four for four.

You can draw a line through Cy Fair’s race at Kentucky Downs, she’s better than that and could offer a bit of value if you don’t believe in Bacio.

Selections: 1 Bacio. 2 Cy Fair. 3 Roja.

6:26 The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (Grade 1) 1m

Knightsbridge impacted the race more than the actual 11 runners when Bill Mott and Godolphin opted for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. At least his defection added numbers to a race lacking star power.

Further Ado returns to Keeneland where the three-year-old should make it three for three. Breaking from the rail under Flavien Prat, the son of Gun Runner will find the sweet spot against an eclectic, albeit unspectacular field.

“I’m excited about giving him an opportunity, because he is one of the three-year-olds. That’s started the season and still around, and it’s hard to do,” Cox said. “And it just is a testament to how sound and how good he is.”

Selections: 1 Further Ado. 2 Bracket Buster. 3 Lord Fons.

7:04 The Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Grade 1) 1m 1f 110yd

For all the defections, there is still star power and none bigger than Blue Bolt. The Juddmonte filly rides a six-race winning streak into this. A layup? Not exactly. The daughter of Blue Point is asked to stretch another furlong and a half for Colin Keane and Andrew Balding. How’s that saying go…if you can get a mile at Goodwood, Ascot, Newmarket, Deauville, Leopardstown, you can get a mile plus at Keeneland? Well, if she pulls this off, it will become a saying. Audacious and honorable move. Blue Bolt drew outside and needs to work out a trip. Thanks for being here.

Selections: 1 Blue Bolt. 2 Precise. 3 Red Letter.

7:42 The Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Grade 1) 6f

More star power. And, no, don’t think it’s a gate malfunction as Englishman rocks from the gate like he got a head start and then ratchets it up from there. The son of Maxfield is three for four this year, including dominant wins in the Allen Jerkens and the Woody Stephens at Saratoga this summer. Just plain fast.

“Englishman is one of those horses that you don’t really know how fast he is, you just know he’s really fast and you only get to see it when he’s out there on race day,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “For his first couple races, I just thought the sky was the limit for him, and that proved to be correct. He’s an ultra-talented colt with natural speed, and what we do is try to keep him from race-to-race being happy and ready to fire when we do run him. He is one of those rare horses that I don’t know in my career if I’ll ever get the opportunity and the honor to have one like him ever again.”

Selections: 1 Englishman. 2 T O Elvis. 3 Built.

8:20 The Fanduel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (Grade 1) 1m

Welcome back. Notable Speech returns to defend his crown in the Mile for Godolphin, Charlie Appleby and William Buick. Fresh off a win over America’s best hope Deterministic in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in September, the five-year-old closer drew post eight while Deterministic, the five-year-old frontrunner trained by Miguel Clement, drew the rail. Deterministic owns 10 wins, four seconds and a third in 17 career starts. Game on.

“He’s amazingly special because mentally he’s remarkable,” Clement said. “That a horse could be at that level and he’s never worried, frazzled, anxious, or misbehaves mentally, he’s remarkable. He has a high-cruising speed. he’s athletic, and he’s the most efficient mover. And I believe between those traits is what makes him separate himself from any horse in North America.”

But there’s the rub. Notable Speech returns to North America.

Selection: 1 Notable Speech. 2 Deterministic. 3 Rhetorical.

8:58 The Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (Grade 1) 1m 1f

Another race. Another clash.

Fully Subscribed rides a three-race winning streak for Klaravich and Chad Brown. The last horse to beat her was Nitrogen, who charges in for D J Stable and Mark Casse. Nitrogen drew post two and will be on or near the lead. Fully Subscribed drew post four and will stalk her main rival from her favorite spot outside. Be forewarned, Nitrogen drifts out late, like a dance move, that’s just her thing.

Ding, ding, ding, sound the bell.

“She threw one race in there this year that was subpar, that 12-length loss to Nitrogen, where she just wasn’t herself in the stretch there,” Brown said. “I’m not saying she should have won, but she shouldn’t have been beaten [so far]. I have no excuse for it, but I will say that there is not that much difference between these two fillies. She came back and trained super and has run some outstanding races, back-to-back. I have her right where I want her right now.”

Selections: 1 Nitrogen. 2 Fully Subscribed. 3 Measure.