Watch the Breeder’s Cup on TV and don’t miss out on the action at the world championships in San Diego.

This two-day event comprises 14 Grade 1 races and the Breeders’ Cup sees the world’s best thoroughbreds compete for a total prize pot of $34m.

At a glance

• Breeders’ Cup 2025 dates: 31 October – 1 November 2025
• Breeders’ Cup TV coverage: ITV, Racing TV, Sky Sports Racing, NBC, USA Network, Peacock and FanDuel TV
• Watch the Breeders’ Cup from anywhere: Use this NordVPN deal

How to watch the Breeders’ Cup on TV

The ITV Racing coverage will show three races on Saturday, including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (21:01 UK time), the Breeders’ Cup Turf (21:41) and the Breeders’ Cup Classic (22:25).

Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV will show the entirety of the Breeders’ Cup meeting, as will FanDuel TV in the US.

NBC, USA Network and Peacock will also have coverage across the event.

How to watch the Breeders’ Cup live from anywhere

A VPN is your ultimate companion to watching horse racing safely online, wherever you are in the world.

A Virtual Private Network will unblock the geo-restrictions you find on most streaming platforms, so you can get your usual coverage even while abroad. A VPN will also keep you secure while online, using encrypted connections to ensure your data remains private.

There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. We’d suggest using a paid-for service, such as NordVPN, which our colleagues at TechRadar rate as the best VPN service in the business. You can try 100% risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee, 24/7 support and, right now, a big discount.

How to use a VPN

Using a VPN is incredibly simple.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. NordVPN is the one we recommend.

2. Open up the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access.

3. Then head over to your chosen provider (e.g. ITV) on your browser or device and enjoy the livestream.

What is the Breeders’ Cup?

The Breeders’ Cup is a two-day race meeting that takes place annually with 14 races and a total prize pot of $34m.

The host venue of the Breeders’ Cup varies, but for 2025 it will return to San Diego’s iconic racing venue Del Mar.

The Breeders’ Cup meeting starts with Future Stars Friday, where the sport’s stars of tomorrow compete in five Juvenile (two-year-old) races. The action continues on Saturday where the Breeders’ Cup will crown nine more champions across different surfaces and divisions, including the season-defining $7m Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Breeder’s Cup post times

Time is provided in local time (PT), followed by British time in brackets.

Friday 31 October 2025

11:35 (18:35) | Race 1: The Pacific Shore

12:10 (19:10) | Race 2: Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes

12:45 (19:45) | Race 3: Golden State Juvenile Fillies Stakes

13:25 (20:25) | Race 4: Senator Ken Maddy Stakes

14:05 (21:05) | Race 5: Golden State Juvenile Stakes

14:45 (21:45) | Race 6: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1)

15:25 (22:25) | Race 7: NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filles (G1)

16:05 (23:05) | Race 8: John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1)

16:45 (23:45) | Race 9: FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1)

17:25 (00:25) | Race 10: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1)

Saturday 1 November 2025

10:05 (17:05) | Race 1: The Sunrise10:40 (17:40) | Race 2: The Ocean View11:15 (18:15) | Race 3: Goldikova Stakes Presented by Yaamava’ Resort & Casino12:00 (19:00) | Race 4: PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1)12:41 (19:41) | Race 5: Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1)13:21 (20:21) | Race 6: Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1)14:01 (21:01) | Race 7: Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1)14:41 (21:41)| Race 8: Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1)15:25 (22:25) | Race 9: Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1)16:05 (23:05) | Race 10: FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1)16:45 (23:45) | Race 11: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1)17:25 (00:25) | Race 12: Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (GI)

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A special horse provided a perfect Hollywood ending in Keeneland, USA, at the Breeders’ Cup Meeting on 5 November. Godolphin’s record-breaking fourth winner at the 2022 meeting, Cody’s Wish in the Dirt Mile under Junior Alvarado, was a tear-jerker that captured the hearts of those watching in person and at home.

Bill Mott’s colt is named after a teenager with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, who struck up a connection with the horse as a foal, Cody Dorman. Cody went with his parents Kelly and Leslie, plus his sister Kylie, to Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm where he was introduced to a six-month-old weanling by stud farm manager Danny Mulvihill.

“We had 40-odd foals on the farm and we could have chosen any one of them for Cody to meet,” says Danny. “What happened from there was special. The foal came up to Cody and put his head in his lap.”

Cody’s condition means that he has undergone “40 to 50 procedures” during his life so far. “But the hardest thing we’ve watched him go through is depression,” says Leslie.

So, to lift Cody’s spirits, his parents decided to take Cody back to visit the foal they first met at Gainsborough Farm two years previously.

“The horse kept pulling until he was right in front of Cody,” says Danny. “It was like the horse knew who was there to see him.”

“I can count on one hand the number of times Cody has belly laughed and he did it that day,” says Leslie. “From that day on, Cody completely changed.”

When it came to his performance on the racecourse, Cody’s Wish didn’t win any of his first three races.

“Cody said ‘Cody’s Wish won’t win until I’m there in person’, and sure enough [the day Cody was there] he won,” says Kelly.

Cody’s Wish has now won seven of his last eight races, beaten only by a length into second in the other, and has clocked up almost £1m in prize money.

When Cody, who speaks through a machine, is asked why he thinks he has a bond with Cody’s Wish, his answer is simple: “Because he found me and he hasn’t forgotten me. He has always looked for me – we have the same heart and drive, and we never give up.

“He always makes me smile and I love it when we get to hang out together – thank you Cody’s Wish – you are a very special horse and a very special friend.”

Kelly says that the change in Cody since meeting this horse is remarkable.

“He now laughs and hugs me – it’s been amazing. The doctors told us he would only live two years when he was born and now he’s getting ready to turn 17.”

“I think that horse has the legs Cody wasn’t given,” says Leslie.

“It’s been an unbelievable story from the get-go when Cody Dorman first met Cody’s Wish as just a foal in the barn,” Godolphin’s US representative Michael Banahan told H&H’s Marcus Armytage. “And they developed this bond seemingly. He saw him a year-and-a-half later and we were worried about him being a rambunctious, strong two-year-old, dealing with him at that stage. But the horse put his head down in his lap. We were all surprised about that.

“It just seemed they had a connection. The Dormans came out last Wednesday and Bill had the horse out with Cody Dorman as well. He got down, nosed at him as well. It seems like he knows who Cody Dorman is and to have this little relationship with each other – he’s just a special horse for the family, for us, and it’s just like a Hollywood story. It’s hard to script.”

The emotional scenes at Keeneland were captured on TV and streamed around the world. There was also a preview published by NBC Sports which showed the incredible bond between four-year-old Cody’s Wish and 16-year-old Cody.

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Europe had its best-ever Breeders’ Cup meeting with six winners at Santa Anita in California, but their efforts were totally eclipsed by America’s darling Zenyatta, who became the first of her sex to win the event’s showpiece, the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The huge five-year-old mare had to come from last to first, overhauling Gio Ponte just before the line to extend her unbeaten record to 14.

Trained at nearby Hollywood Park by John Sherrifs and ridden by Mike Smith, Zenyatta was sent off favourite from the Aidan O’Brien-trained Rip Van Winkle, who in contrast to the Street Cry mare raced near the lead. But he could only finish 10th, beating two horses home.

John Sherriffs said: “Tears are coming to my eyes. I can’t believe it, what a great, great filly. She’s special. She came out on the wrong lead and took some time to get going but she’s all heart.”

Earlier in the day Conduit won a second consecutive Breeders’ Cup Turf for Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore, and French wonderfilly Goldikova repeated her 2008 success in the Mile under Olivier Peslier.

John Gosden and Frankie Dettori teamed up to win the Turf Juvenile with Pounced, and Godolphin took the dirt version with Vale Of York.

On the first day of the two-day meeting Henry Cecil finally won a Breeders’ Cup race when Midday, second in this year’s Oaks, took the Filly & Mare Turf. Johnny Murtagh and Aidan O’Brien were victorious in the first race, the mile and three-quarters Marathon, with the Giant’s Causeway-sired Man Of Iron.

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“What odds would I get for a Breeders’ Cup-Grand National double?” asked British jumps handicapper Phil Smith as we watched Cloudy’s Knight breeze past. A rangy chestnut nine-year-old who’s the spit of a three-mile chaser, Cloudy’s Knight runs in the first race of the Breeders’ Cup meeting here at Santa Anita in California, Friday’s Marathon. Phil thinks he’s a good thing for the $500,000 race — the poorest purse of the meeting — but looking like a candidate for the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham doesn’t really translate to these so-called thoroughbred world championships.

All the big horses are out working on the track this morning as a chilly mist hangs over the San Gabriel mountains, which leap up behind the Los Angeles course. Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner, scratches along. He’s nothing to look at, and his cowboy-hatted, moustachioed trainer Chip Woolley’s going to have to perform a miracle to get him to beat the rest of the satin-coated Classic field on Saturday.

The other “Bird”, Belmont winner Summer Bird, looks much more impressive. His two other Grade One wins since — the Travers Stakes and the Jockey Club Gold Cup — show how much of an upward curve he’s on, but all three were on dirt, not the Pro-Ride synthetic surface here that we Europeans love and the Americans (at least those from the East Coast) loathe.

The biggest superstar in American racing, the unbeaten Zenyatta, has finally moved over from her base at nearby Hollywood Park, and looks suitably fabulous. I can’t tell you how much I’d like her to beat the boys and win the Classic, but the odds are well against her. The satirical free-sheet Indian Charlie has this to say: “Definitely one of the great racemares we’ve seen in the modern era. But if Miss America was playing halfback in the Super Bowl, she’d probably get pretty beat-up too.” Go on girl, prove all those cynical (male) hacks wrong.

Aidan O’Brien’s seven runners stick close together. Rip Van Winkle, favourite for the Classic, looked hot and sweaty yesterday, but the other horses obscure him today and I can’t see him clearly. We do however see the great man himself in the saddle — he’s cantering Lillie Langtry, who runs in the Juvenile Fillies’, in just a baseball cap and no body protector. Will anyone dare tear a strip off him for breaking track rules?

John Gosden’s Turf pair, two-year-old Pounced and the Lloyd-Webber-owned Da Re Mi, work on the grass, moving easily. Da Re Mi’s excellent fifth place in the Arc behind Sea The Stars might nearly be good enough to give her the race, and last year’s winner Conduit looks stroppy and a little out of sorts.

The coolest horse I’ve seen here though is Zensational. Trained by Bob Baffert here at Santa Anita, the grey three-year-old is favourite for the Sprint and has the number one draw. Just after dawn on Monday morning he shot round the track like a bullet — literally the fastest I’ve ever seen a horse go. I swear the track was smoking behind him. We went down to his barn afterwards to see him, and he was being walked around to cool off, his head low, his haunches moving like those of a cheetah. He knows he’s good and his trainer knows he’s good — his headcollar plate says simply “The Beast”.

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RAVEN’S Pass made history today in Santa Anita, California by becoming the first British-trained horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, the lithe chestnut colt crowned the best day Europe has ever had at a Breeders’ Cup by beating the Aidan O’Brien-trained Henrythenavigator to take the $5million purse for his owner, Princess Haya.

America’s big hope, last year’s champion Curlin, faded after looking strong early in the straight to take fourth place behind Tiago.

It was a particularly sweet victory for John Gosden, who started his training career here at Santa Anita, and also for Dettori, who must feel he has finally laid the ghost of losing the Classic on Swain 10 years ago.

The day started with a bang for Britain when Ralph Beckett trained Muhannak to win the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Marathon. Frankie Dettori went down by half a length in the next race, the Turf Sprint, on Diabolical, who was passed by Desert Code just before the line. Jeremy Noseda’s filly, Fleeting Spirit, was fourth.

Jockey Olivier Peslier put a winner on the board for France in the Breeders’ Cup Mile when the three-year-old filly Goldikova burst through for an impressive victory ahead of last year’s winner Kip Deville.

Midshipman, trained by Bob Baffert but owned by Sheikh Mohammed, took the Juvenile ahead of the former British horse Square Eddie. And the Sheikh doubled up when Donativum won the Juvenile Turf in his wife Princess Haya’s colours — a first winner of the day for John Gosden. The Coolmore team had to settle for second again with Westphalia.

Bob Baffert picked his fourth trophy of the meeting when the popular Midnight Lute became the first horse to win consecutive Breeder’s Cup Sprints.

And St Leger hero Conduit, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, gave jockey Ryan Moore a first Breeders’ Cup win by breezing past Eagle Mountain in the Turf, with Soldier Of Fortune a close fourth.

Don’t miss H&H’s full report on all the action from the Breeders’ Cup in next week’s magazine, on sale 30 October, ’08

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THE American four-year-old filly Zenyatta was the undoubted star of day one of the Breeders’ Cup meeting at Santa Anita, California when she put in a huge run from the tail of the field to win the $2million Ladies’ Classic comfortably.

Unbeaten in all her nine races now, the tall, rangy daughter of Street Cry looked temperamental in the paddock, striking at the ground with her forelegs. But jockey Mike Smith settled her at the back of the pack before producing her on the bridle round the home bend to surge past the field and win without picking up his stick.

Godolphin horses finished second and third, Cocoa Beach coming home in front of the Frankie Dettori-ridden Music Note.

The nearest the European team got to a winner was Heart Shaped in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf. The Aidan O’Brien-trained chestnut filly came off worst in a photo-finish with Maram.

“She ran a blinder,” said part-owner John Magnier.

Ventura, trained in Britain until last year by Amanda Perrett, took the opening Filly & Mare Sprint under Garrett Gomez. Owned and bred by Khalid Abdulla’s Juddmonte Farms, the four-year-old switched to trainer Bobby Frankel last autumn.

Pursuit Of Glory, trained in Ireland by John Magnier’s son-in-law David Wachman, couldn’t get near the impressive winner Stardom Bound – another winner for jockey Mike Smith – in the Juvenile Fillies’ race on the artificial Pro-Ride surface.

Sir Michael Stoute’s Visit came to win the Filly & Mare Turf, but didn’t quite stay the last quarter-mile and was passed by Forever Together, Sealy Hill and Wait A While. The winner is trained by New York-based Brit Jonathan Sheppard, better known for his jumpers.

“This is my first championship race, and I’m very humbled by it,” he said.

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Thursday 30 October

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TODAY (Friday) is Ladies’ Day at the Breeders’ Cup. I have no idea whether a slew of D-list beauties are going to be bussed in from nearby Hollywood, but it’s all about the girls on the track.

There are five Breeders’ Cup races today, all for fillies and mares. The best, and with a claim to be the race of the meeting, is the Ladies’ Classic — used to be the Distaff — where the mighty Zenyatta is odds-on to continue her unbeaten run.

But there’s classy opposition in the shape of the Godolphin filly Music Note, who has won three Group Ones on the east coast, the steel-hard five-year-old Ginger Punch, winner of the race last year, and Godolphin’s other runner, the Chilean-bred Cocoa Beach, who beat Ginger Punch last time out.

This is a Classic worthy of the name — it’s a bit naff to call it the Ladies’ Classic, but this is a really good race. The winner will need to be one tough chick.

But there are certain racing journalists here whose eyes will be on another tough chick. Chantal Sutherland has her first Breeders’ Cup ride today in the Juvenile Fillies’ on the Pro-Ride surface.

The 32-year-old, who didn’t have her first race-ride until she was 24 (she was too busy majoring in psychology at college) is the face of a cosmetics company, has had a four-page spread in Vogue and was one of People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful recently.

Her riding helmet is covered in glitter, and her chaps are decorated with rhinestones. One British journalist — very happily married, I hasten to add — even got a photographer to tell her his own claim to racing fame (1990, Aintree, to give you a clue). She was suitably impressed.

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I used to think Ascot was the most beautiful racecourse in the world. Then I saw Longchamp. But now I’ve seen Santa Anita.

The home of this year’s Breeders’ Cup nestles at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains, a few miles north east of Los Angeles in California. The track is dominated by the rearing rocks of the mountain range, which stand up starkly just behind the backstretch. There is none of the softness and gentle curves of Cheltenham’s Cleeve Hill; these are like the city of Los Angeles itself, brash and thrusting.

We arrived at the track at 6am to watch Frankie Dettori ride Raven’s Pass, his mount in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the climax of the two-day meeting. For an hour it was pitch black, before the pink sunrise stole over the mountains with Santa Anita’s palm trees silhouetted against the dawn. The chestnut colt, his coat like burnished bronze in the rising sun, floated over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface like a surfer.

At 8am, Aidan O’Brien’s eight-strong string trotted and cantered gently round the oval mile. His Classic runners, Duke Of Marmalade and Henrythenavigator, winners of nine Group Ones between them, look askance at the streams of other horses working on the track at the same time. “Coming through!” shouts a work rider and brushes past. I bet that doesn’t happen at Ballydoyle.

The pick of the eight looks to be Halfway To Heaven, favourite for the Filly & Mare Turf on Friday. She is ridden in her work by O’Brien’s 15-year-old son, Joseph. Not a bad half-term holiday.

The French pair, Freddy Head’s Breeders’ Cup Mile favourite Goldikova and Andre Fabre’s Turf Sprint runner Only Answer, pick their way delicately over the dirt path from the quarantine barn to the track. The dirt round the barns is the only remnant of Santa Anita’s former racing surface — all Californian tracks switched to synthetic this year.

This is the first Breeders’ Cup to be run on a synthetic surface rather than the lightning-fast, unforgiving dirt that all big American races have been run on for a century. It should favour the European horses, trained on similarly cushioned surfaces at home and raced on grass, and the raiders have their best-ever chance of exceeding the three winners they achieved in 1991, 2001 and 2003.

As Frankie Dettori said this morning as he stepped off one of our best chances, Raven’s Pass, “It’s all systems go, lads.”

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Britain’s most highly-rated representative at the 22nd Breeders’ Cup meeting, Ouija Board, produced a good performance in the Filly and Mare Turf on Saturday, but was unable to reproduce last year’s outstanding win, and finished second behind Intercontinental.

Her connections were pleased with her performance, which follows a difficult season beset with problems at home. She is expected to remain in training for the rest of this season and travel to either Japan or Hong Kong for her next race, before retiring to stud at some point in the future.

The only European horse to win a race at the meeting was Shirocco. The French horse carried all before him to take the Breeders’ Cup Turf. The Turf was the only race in which the European raiders truly shined, as France and Ireland shared the first four places between them.

The highest-placed British horse after Ouija Board was Stellar Jayne, who finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff for the Godolphin stable.

Carberry chosen for Best Mate

The uncertainly surrounding who will ride Best Mate (pictured) in his return to the track has come to an end. Paul Carberry has been chosen to ride the public’s favourite as his campaign to claim a fourth Cheltenham Gold Cup gets underway at Exeter tomorrow. It will be the famous gelding’s first run since missing the 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup, but the soft ground is unlikely to be in his favour.

Irish Turf Club hit by fire

A fire destroyed the registry office of the Irish Turf Club on Saturday night. The building was completely gutted by the flames. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation but arson has not been ruled out. It is hoped that most of the records kept in the office will have survived the blaze in their fireproof cabinets.

Former jockey awarded damages

A former jockey, who was seriously injured in an accident with a car while crossing a road at the head of a string of 60 racehorses in Lambourn, has been awarded £115,000 damages. Terry Sturrock suffered multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung as well as psychological trauma in the accident, which resulted in the death of the horse he was riding. The injuries were so severe that Sturrock was unable to return to his job as a senior work rider.

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Ouija Board is set to play a leading role in tomorrow’s Breeders’ Cup at Belmont Park, according to trainer Ed Dunlop. Record rainfall in New York has led to soft going, but Dunlop is convinced that the filly is ready to bid for a second victory in the $1 million Filly and Mare Turf.

Ouija Board was injured in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot at York and did not reappear until September when she won the Group 3 Princess Royal Stakes at Newmarket with Frankie Dettori. Dunlop confesses he does not yet know whether will be as good as she was last season, but claims the filly is better mentally and very fresh.

High security at Belmont

European challengers at this year’s Breeders’ Cup will join their US counterparts in special security barns at Belmont Park to comply with new strict rules designed to curb the activities of drug cheats. Runners will be placed in one of three areas at least six hours before post time and kept under close surveillance. The measures were put in force in May by the New York Racing Association to limit the opportunity for horses to be administered with illegal performance enhancing substances.

Motivator retired to stud

Derby winner Motivator has been retired to stud after pulling a muscle during his final piece of training at Newmarket before heading out to America for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup in New York. The Michael Bell-trained three-year-old had been classed a 5-1 third favourite for the race by William Hill. The son of Montjeu will now be retired to the Royal Stud at Sandringham. His Derby victory at Epsom in June was the last of his four wins.

Best Mate ready for action

Triple Gold Cup hero Best Mate could face as many as 13 rivals in the Haldon Cup at Exeter next Tuesday. The 10-year-old won the event in 2001 but will encounter stiff opposition this year with Contraband, Ashley Brook and Kauto Star all set to run. Trainer Henrietta Knight says she has every confidence in Best Mate but refuses to disclose who will partner him on Tuesday.

Alex Ferguson buys Rock yearling

Sir Alex Ferguson has bought a yearling son of Rock of Gibraltar at the recent Newmarket Sales. Rock of Gibraltar won eight of his 10 races in Ferguson’s colours, including both the English and Irish 2,000 guineas. But when the colt retired to stud, rows broke out between Ferguson and the Coolmore bloodstock empire over ownership and stud fees. Ferguson received an estimated £3 million pay out in 2004. The colt, as yet unnamed, will be trained by Ed Dunlop.

Charitable trust status for National Stud

Following two years of detailed discussions with the Charity Commission, Levy Board and DCMS, the National Stud has been granted charitable status in respect of its non-commercial activities. These include the training and education programme, general public access and the planned visitor centre. The charity will be known as the Wavertree Charitable Trust in memory of Lord Wavertree, who presented his stud and bloodstock to the nation in 1916.

Ruby Walsh sidelined

Jockey Ruby Walsh has been sidelined following a nasty fall at Aintree on Sunday. Walsh got pinned between his ride Ain’t That A Shame and the railings. X-rays revealed a chipped bone in his right elbow. Walsh hopes to be back for the Open meeting at Cheltenham next month

And finally…

The jumps season starts with a bang on 5th November with The Mark Davies Injured Rider’s Fund Race Day at Sandown Park. The racecourse is offering its highest ever National Hunt prize money this season, with over £2 million up for grabs.

Visitors to Saturday’s races will be able to make donations to the MDIRF throughout the day and a beautiful Stevenson Bros Rocking Horse will be won by the charity’s raffle winner.

“The most important outcome of the race meeting is to raise substantial and much needed funds for MDIRJF,” says Jane Davies, mother to Mark Davies who died in a fall at Burghley in 1988.

Gates will open at approximately 11.00am, with the first race at 12.55pm and the last race run at 4.10pm. For further information or to book tickets (tel: 01372 470047) or visit: www.sandown.co.uk

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