Arguably, the biggest event remaining on the 2025 racing calendar is now just weeks away. That, of course, is the Breeders' Cup, with the meeting marketed as the world championships, without question the biggest showdown that America has to offer. Del Mar racecourse in California will be the site of the spectacle, and ahead of the Halloween weekend, one talking point stands on the tip of every racing fan's tongue: Sovereignty.

Sovereignty's Bid For Glory

The three-year-old's march toward Breeders' Cup Classic glory—the most lucrative race on the Stateside circuit—is the talk of two continents, not least because he’s been untouchable all season. Sovereignty has ruthlessly collected both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes—two-thirds of the American Triple Crown—as well as winning five races on the bounce by a cumulative margin of 13 lengths. His timeform rating is currently in another stratosphere (132+), and the superstar runner has not been remotely hard ridden in any of his victories, a fact made all the more impressive considering he has twice downed the highly rated Journalism.

As such, it should come as no surprise to hear that horse racing betting sites make him the overwhelming frontrunner to go all the way in Del Mar. The latest horse racing at Bovada currently makes Sovereignty the 6/4 favorite to pick up the biggest win of his already sensational career. But while he remains the star of the Californian show, what of the Irish contingent?

For more than two decades, no Breeders’ Cup has been safe from the annual Ballydoyle invasion. Meticulously prepared. Deeply talented. Relentlessly ambitious. Aidan O’Brien’s record on this stage is not so much impressive as intimidating—endless Group 1s, strategy shaped by global perspective, and a reputation for peaking his string on the world’s tightest deadlines.

Who are this year’s headline acts from O'Brien's travelling troupe, and what are the numbers, nuances, and intangibles behind their bids? Let’s take a look.

Delacroix

The jewel in the O’Brien turf crown, Delacroix is the sort of thoroughbred built for legend, not just laurels. When Leopardstown’s field stared him down in the Irish Champion Stakes, he handed his trainer his 13th win in the storied race. Now, the 8/1 shot heads to the Breeders' Cup Turf in a bid to secure further glory.

Stats only tell part of Delacroix’s story. This Dubawi colt is cut from the rarest cloth—his dam, Tepin, once conquered the Breeders’ Cup Mile and redefined American turf grit. Delacroix fuses that with pure European stamina, adapting seamlessly between the tactical squeeze of the Juddmonte International and the stamina test of 12 furlongs.

With odds hovering at 8/1 and the turf likely to ride quickly, he brings both the data and the intangibles. O'Brien’s six previous Turf trophies are testament to strategic genius, and with Ryan Moore expected up, there’s every reason to believe Delacroix is timed to perfection. If he fires, it will be with an explosiveness that only Ballydoyle horses seem to summon in November.

Minnie Hauk

Some runners gather esteem quietly; Minnie Hauk demands it. She’s the undefeated juggernaut who has transcended the ‘classic filly’ tag, having swept the Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks, and Yorkshire Oaks—each in emphatic style. At York, she found an extra gear and decked her stablemate Estrange to complete an unprecedented O’Brien Oaks hat-trick, and now she looks to take her talent across the pond.

With her staggering $2.4m purchase tag, coupled with her Frankel pedigree, Minnie Hauk is peerless: fastest closing sectional in the Yorkshire Oaks, group race Timeform figures that tower over her likely Del Mar rivals, and an aura of control from flagfall to finish. The early plan flirted with the Arc, but Del Mar’s 1 3/8 miles Filly & Mares Turf is her richest vein courtesy of O'Brien’s past winners in this division—think Found and Magical. Now, the filly is poised to follow in their footsteps.

True Love & Precise

O'Brien doesn't merely reload with his classic contenders—he launches new dynasties in the juvenile ranks. This year, he sends two fillies to Del Mar whose upward momentum is as ferocious as their raw credentials.

True Love scratched her name onto the top international lists when she powered through a wall of runners to snatch the Cheveley Park Stakes by a neck—a sixth O'Brien win in the race. Four starts, two wins, one critical placing at Royal Ascot: evidence of a filly who finds her best when it matters most. Her athletic frame and honest stride are perfect for Del Mar’s right-handed mile, especially if the ground stays rattling quick.

Precise wrote the season’s surprise script. Ignored at 11-1 in the Moyglare last month, she floored the field with a power-packed finish, stamping not only her “Win and You’re In” ticket but also taking O’Brien to an extraordinary 11 victories in the contest. Backed up by G3 Prestige Stakes success at Goodwood, her record is suddenly one of rapid, relentless ascent. Both are serious contenders to win the Juvenile Fillies Turf.