2025 Breeders’ Cup Picks: Friday, October 31st

Key takeaways:

• Future Stars Friday at Del Mar showcases five Grade 1 races for two-year-olds, setting the stage for next year’s Derby and Oaks contenders.
• Havana Anna leads the Juvenile Turf Sprint after strong European form, with Obliteration and Cy Fair offering upside at prices.
• Iron Orchard’s tactical versatility makes her the one to beat in the Juvenile Fillies, with Tommy Jo, Percy’s Bar, and Explora close behind.
• Precise looks dominant in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, while Infinite Sky, Imaginationthelady, and Ground Support bring value underneath.
• Ted Noffey headlines the Juvenile for Todd Pletcher, with Intrepido, Brant, and Mr. A. P. dangerous alternatives.
• O’Brien chases a fourth straight Juvenile Turf with Gstaad, while Bottas, Argos, and Heeere’s Johnny look well placed to fill out exotics.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships are the best two days of the horse racing year. The weekend gets off to an exciting start on Friday, October 31, with Future Stars Friday. Through five Grade 1 races, the spotlight shines on two-year-olds: the newest stars of today, all on the precipice of becoming the biggest stars tomorrow.

Dirt runners take the spotlight in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, two of the original Breeders’ Cup races and races that still have a major impact on both the two-year-old championship races and the roads to the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks. Future Stars Friday also features three turf races with global fields. From the fast and furious Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint to the one-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, horses who run well in these races make an impact on the best grass races all over the world going forward.

The Breeders’ Cup continues Saturday with nine more championship races on both dirt and turf, featuring three-year-olds and older horses. This year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic features a rematch between the top three horses from the 2024 edition: Sierra Leone, Fierceness, and Forever Young. We will cover this race, and all the day-two action, in our Breeders’ Cup Saturday picks.

Naturally, you can bet which horses will win their Breeders’ Cup races at FanDuel Racing. Also, discover 2025 Breeders’ Cup odds and bet the Breeders’ Cup with exclusive bonuses and promos.

These are our top picks and predictions for the five Breeders’ Cup races on Friday at Del Mar:

2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint

Havana Anna, the runner-up in the classy Cheveley Park (G1) at Newmarket five weeks out from the Breeders’ Cup, has the right to turn the tables on True Love, who she faces again at the Breeders’ Cup. The Cheveley Park was a six-furlong race, but she showed sharp form through the summer, going five furlongs, the distance to which she will cut back for the Breeders’ Cup. She’ll get the jump on True Love this time, and the shorter distance should make it harder for True Love to get rolling and catch her, making her a good key to a price in this spot.

Obliteration comes out of another traditionally live prep, the Indian Summer Stakes at Keeneland, and his improving tactical speed should allow him to get a good trip—at a price that is certain to be an overlay, with so many more heralded foes in the field. Cy Fair showed a more tactical dimension when trying five furlongs for the first time last out at Woodbine, and is finding her best at the right time for rising turf sprint training star George Weaver. True Love may fall just short on the win end as the likely favorite, but her class and her consistency should be enough to get her into the under-rungs of exotics for Irish powerhouse Aidan O’Brien.

2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies

Iron Orchard showed an exciting new dimension when winning the Frizette (G1), a perennially strong prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, last out. Instead of just sending to the front like she did in her maiden and second-out wins, she was able to track a few lengths off the pace and battle down the lane, getting up by a nose. Given that frontrunning sprinters often keep showing speed as they stretch out, it was a testament to her class that she was able to adjust to a sharp pace (for the distance) unfolding in front of her and adjust accordingly under Joel Rosario. With no shortage of foes in the Breeders’ Cup who have shown sharp speed, she should be able to work a trip and win at a price.

Tommy Jo, the likely favorite, also has a tactical gear, something she has shown in all three races of her career so far. The fact that she only won the Alcibiades (G1) last out by disqualification raises questions at a short price, but even then, she didn’t run badly, and she gets a nice middle gate. Percy’s Bar, the horse who interfered with her at Keeneland, needs to keep her mind on business, but between her strong speed figure last out and the tactical versatility she showed in earlier starts, she has the tools. Bob Baffert has yet to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but has hit the board on and off, and the tactical speed that Explora showed when stretching out to two turns for the Oak Leaf (G2) could get her in the frame.

2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

Aidan O’Brien trainee Precise shapes as a strong favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Though she breaks from the far outside gate, the daughter of Starspangledbanner has unassailable class, and the already-proven filly took an eye-catching step forward when winning the Fillies Mile (G1) at Newmarket in a 3 ¼-length romp. It was her first try at a mile, and suggests she is thriving at the distance. Jockey Christophe Soumillon partners with her once again at Del Mar, and the rest are going to have to find a lot in the lane in order to stave off her run.

Though the win end of this race is often formful, looking for long shots underneath can pay handsomely. Jessamine (G2) runner-up Infinite Sky, a daughter of Not This Time, has found a sharp late run in all three of her starts so far and should get another fast pace to close into at Del Mar. Imaginationthelady comes out of that same prep at Keeneland; she is more likely to come from a tracking or midpack spot than a closing spot, but should be one of the first to produce a run on the pacesetters. Ground Support showed tactical speed in her debut win at Kentucky Downs, and if she taps into that dimension again and takes another step forward in her third career start, she can find the frame at another big price for up-and-coming trainer Kelsey Danner.

2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

Horses coming into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with two-turn experience tend to carry the day, and Ted Noffey looked good stretching out to two turns in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland last out. An impressive two-time winner at the Saratoga meet, the son of Into Mischief has been able to stalk and pounce from the outside gate in all three of his starts so far—and, look at that, Ted Noffey was lucky enough to draw the clean outside gate this time, too. Todd Pletcher has won two of the last three editions of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. This talented and tactical grey won’t be a big price, but he has the talent to make it three of the last four for his barn.

Intrepido won the two-turn west-coast prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. He overcame a thorny trip to do it, meaning he could outrun his odds even from the rail gate. Brant tries two turns for the first time, but has run to the hype in both of his starts so far, and his pedigree does suggest he should handle two turns well. Mr. A. P. will probably fly under the radar, between the fact that he steps up from a maiden win and his trainer Vladimir Cerin isn’t usually a fixture at the Breeders’ Cup. But, the speed figures in his last two races have come back downright fast, and he has the tactical pace to work a trip under Antonio Fresu.

2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf

This race is virtually synonymous with Aidan O’Brien, who has won it seven times, including each of the last three years. Gstaad gives him a strong shot at the four-peat. Though this Royal Ascot winner has been narrowly defeated in his last three races, those have all been close decisions: less than a length each time, and most of those races over good ground. Horses who repeatedly find the frame in top European turf races often find the top spot in grass races at the Breeders’ Cup, and especially if he settles down a little better before this race than he did before the Dewhurst, it should be all systems go.

Pilgrim Stakes (G2) winner Bottas has built fitness in a pair of 1 1/16-mile starts for trainer Miguel Clement, and this son of Vekoma should be able to find a place to drop in and then make a stout run in the lane. Argos took a nice step forward winning the Summer (G1) at Woodbine—a race usually run at a one-turn mile, but run at two turns on the inner turf this year, meaning he has proven he and jockey Flavien Prat can work a trip and flash late foot over this configuration. Heeere’s Johnny, a son of 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Oscar Performance, was narrowly defeated by Bottas in the Pilgrim. The rail draw is a concern, but he cuts back after three 1 1/16-mile races, the odds will be long, and a reasonable step up should put him in the frame.

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