The Trainers Who Dominate the Breeders’ Cup Classic
The Breeders’ Cup Classic is one of the premier horse racing events worldwide and one of the top races on the American calendar.
The race is for Grade I Weight for Age 3-year-old thoroughbreds and older. It is run over a distance of 1 and ¼ miles (2,000 m) on a dirt racetrack. It’s held on a different track each year, but it will typically always take place in the U.S. There has only been one instance when it wasn’t, which was in 1996. This edition took place in Canada.
Unsurprisingly, many horse trainers want to win the Classic. Given that it is one of the most lucrative prizes in the sport, it makes sense that many want to add a win to their CV. The 2024 purse is said to be worth $7 million.
Who are the winningest trainers of the Breeders’ Cup Classic?
Given the quality of the horses and trainers competing in this race, only a handful of individuals have won it multiple times.
Of the 40 races to have taken place, just seven trainers have been able to claim multiple wins in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Of those, one of them has been able to win it on more than two occasions.
Bob Baffert holds the record for the most wins. He has four, with his latest in 2020. This came with John R. Velazquez being on board of Authentic (a 3-year-old). His other wins came in a three-year period in which he dominated the event between 2014-2016. Different jockeys and horses were the winners of these race meets.
Charlie Whittingham, Jay M. Robbins, John W. Sadler, Richard E. Dutrow Jr., Steven M. Asmussen and William I. Mott are trainers who have won the race on two occasions. Dutrow Jr. won the race in 2023 for the second time, with Sadler notching his second the year before.
Who will win the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic?
With the 2024 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the horizon, there will be interest in which trainer will be able to claim victory.
The race will take place on November 2, at the iconic Del Mar racetrack in San Diego. This will be the first to two consecutive years that it will be hosted here. Next year’s event will take place on November 1, 2025, for those who want to add it to their diaries.
Back to this year’s event, and the latest horse race odds have already been released. City of Troy has been made the favorite at 6/4, with Fierceness (4/1) and Forever Young (5/1) the main outsiders. If this result was to happen, it would mean Aidan O’Brien would win his first Classic.
Will Aiden O’Brien add the Breeders’ Cup Classic to his legacy?
O’Brien is a legendary horse trainer. He is a hall of famer. The Irish trainer has won various big races worldwide, but the Breeders’ Cup Classic continues to escape him.
City of Troy appears to give him the best chance to change this. However, he has submitted a pre-entry list of a record 18 horses to be involved. That’s not to say he hasn’t been successful across the event. Despite the big race escaping his clutches, he does have 18 Breeders’ Cup wins in his career.
The most O’Brien once took to the Breeders’ Cup Classic was 14. He did this in 2018 and was almost successful. His best horses placed second and third in that edition. Therefore, he will be hoping he can go one better this time around with one of his top horses.
City of Troy will face his biggest test, though. The horse may have been a champion in Europe last year as a 2-year-old, and has three Grade I wins so far this year, but switching to dirt could be the biggest challenge for the son of Triple Crown winner Justify, who was trained by Baffert.
2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic: A maiden winner?
Taking into account the latest odds, it’s possible we could have a maiden winner of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
O’Brien wants his first title, but the bookies believe he could face competition from two other trainers who have yet to win the meet. Todd Pletcher trains fierceness, while Yoshito Yahagi trains Forever Young.
With both of these, alongside the legendary Irish trainer, all in the hunt for the huge purse, it could be an interesting event on November 2.