Top Longshots to Bet for the Breeders’ Cup

Key takeaways

• The Breeders’ Cup is one of the best betting weekends of the year, with full fields and live longshots in nearly every race.
• Obliteration (15-1) brings experience, sharp speed, and a proven prep pattern that fits perfectly for the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
• Infinite Sky (20-1) has strong late kick and the right pace setup to light up the board in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
• She’s Quality (20-1) is a true five-furlong specialist exiting elite European sprints, ideal for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
• Bellezza (20-1) thrives at 1⅜ miles on firm turf and could close out the weekend with a huge upset in the Filly & Mare Turf.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships happen Friday, October 31, and Saturday, November 1, at Del Mar. The races offer over $30 million in purses, including $7 million in the Breeders’ Cup Classic alone. However, the big money isn’t limited to just the horse owners.

You can be a part of the Breeders’ Cup action by betting the races, and part of the thrill of betting the World Championships is the promise of big prices coming in. The Breeders’ Cup is one of the best times for finding live longshots: after all, every race features a full field of the best horses in the world.

Every year, world-class horses will be ignored at the betting windows in favor of other world-class horses—and the key to winning big at the Breeders’ Cup is finding those horses who are not getting bet as heavily as they should. If they win, or even find a piece of the exotics at a good price, and you gave them a chance when the rest of the betting public didn’t? That’s how you cash big horse racing tickets.

Here are long shots across the two days of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships who could key some of those huge payouts during the weekend, along with the morning-line odds for each of these live longshots.

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.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: Obliteration (15-1)

No race on Future Stars Friday has better median exotic payouts than the Juvenile Turf Sprint, meaning that it’s a good bet that some high-priced horse is going to hit the board. In 2025, Obliteration is the horse to put into focus.

With five starts already, the Steve Asmussen trainee has built more of a bottom than a lot of United States-based juveniles have by this time of year. He was a precocious dirt sprinter, winning his 5 ½-furlong debut at Churchill from a stalking spot and then, shall we say, obliterating the field in gate-to-wire fashion in the Sanford (G3).

Obliteration ran a credible enough second to Ewing in the Saratoga Special (G2), but then Asmussen took a shot running him on the grass. He ran second in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint over the demanding 6 ½ furlong trip, something that often even favors milers better than sprinters. But, dialing back to 5 ½ furlongs for the Indian Summer at Keeneland, he ran his best race yet.

The Indian Summer is one of the key final prep races for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint year in and year out—though no horse has won both yet, a horse from the Indian Summer exacta has hit the board in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in six of seven editions. At least at this point in his career, Obliteration really wants a short, sharp trip, so five furlongs from a good middle gate should be just the ticket. He should be close to the pace early and make a threatening run late at a big price.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Infinite Sky (20-1)

Brad Cox won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with favored Aunt Pearl in 2020—and he has a long shot chance at a second one in 2025 with Infinite Sky. She comes out of a strongly-finishing second-place finish in the Jessamine (G2) at Keeneland last out. The Jessamine is not only a Win and You’re In prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but also a key prep in recent years. The cut back in distance also appeals—the Jessamine is 1 1/16 miles, but she dials back to a mile, the distance at which she broke her maiden two back under a well-timed ride from Irad Ortiz, Jr.

The key for Infinite Sky will be for her to get a strong early pace to close into. Barring a lot of scratches on race day, that looks likely to happen, with several speed horses in the field. And, given her poor start last out, she may even be able to sit a little closer to the pace than she did in the Jessamine last out if she comes away better. And, at anything near her 20-1 morning-line odds, she’ll be the right price to bet she can work a trip, especially from a fine middle gate with big-race rider Flavien Prat in the irons.

Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint: She’s Quality (20-1)

Judging from median payouts over the last decade, the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint offers the biggest exotic payouts of any of the Breeders’ Cup Saturday races, so finding the right longshot should be a priority for any player. She’s Quality looks like the quality longshot for 2025.

In grass races at the Breeders’ Cup, even a horse who doesn’t win their final prep is live coming to the World Championships if they come in off of credible outings in the best European turf races. She’s Quality is just that kind of horse. For one, she’s a stone-cold five-furlong horse, good to see when she faces a lot of horses cutting back for this sharp Breeders’ Cup trip.

Though she hasn’t won since last fall, she has been second in four of seven starts this year, with all of those runner-up finishes coming in Group 2 and Group 3 races in England. Her last two starts came against even classier company. She was fourth to Arizona Blaze in the Flying Five (G1) at Goodwood. Furthermore, she comes directly out of a third-place finish in the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp (G1) at ParisLongchamp—the race that has yielded two of the last five winners of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Starlust (2024) and Glass Slippers (2020). Neither came out of a win there, and both were long shots, boding well for She’s Quality’s chances to run big.

Breeders’ Cup Sprint: Big City Lights (15-1)

Trainer Richard Mandella isn’t known for taking a lot of big swings, so when a horse from the barn of this cautious trainer takes a shot class-wise on the biggest stage, it pays to take notice. Mandella actually has two in here: rail-drawn Kopion is one of the breakout sprint stars of 2025, but is better proven at seven furlongs than six, and will be one of the shorter prices. However, Big City Lights is a graded-stakes winner going this distance, and has a chance to play spoiler at a huge price.

Big City Lights has class to prove, of course. He comes into the Breeders’ Cup on a two-win streak, but both of those recent blowout wins came against California-breds. He also has to prove that Big City Lights is ready off the bench—that last victory, in the California Cup Sprint, came in January of this year. But, he has run well fresh before, he is working regularly into the Breeders’ Cup, and he looks good on track. He has never missed the board in five starts at Santa Anita, and though he has done most of his racing going longer than this, he has never been out of the exacta in three starts at the trip, including a Grade 2 win last year. Especially for a horse who regularly shows sharp but tactical speed? There’s a lot to like about Big City Lights at what will certainly be huge odds.

Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf: Bellezza (20-1)

The Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf is the last race of the entire Breeders’ Cup weekend, so it’s only right that there’s a serious long shot to build around to end the day.

Bellezza’s form in four starts since moving to the United States this year is muddled. However, she lost her pair of starts over yielding ground, but won graded-stakes races the two times she caught firm going. Even better, both her wins this year came at 1 ⅜ miles, the distance of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf this year.

This is a deeper field than she faced in the Flower Bowl (G2) and the Sheepshead Bay (G3), of course. But, in a race where main stateside hope She Feels Pretty may be hitting the end of her distance abilities, Bellezza gets her perfect distance. And, her ability to track in range or rally from well off the pace gives her the tactical versatility she needs to handle the outside draw.

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