Breeders’ Cup Dirt Sprint Picks: 2025 Entries, Odds, and Analysis

VSiN expert handicapper Dave Tuley previews the Breeders’ Cup Sprint Mile 2025, including the entries, odds, and past performances of the field.

Want access to top selections for all 14 Breeders Cup’ races on Friday and Saturday? Grab the full slate of picks, handicapped by three of VSiN’s leading experts, for only $9.99. Or you can become a VSiN Pro Subscriber and get the picks included with your subscription.

The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Sprint is exactly what you would expect from the name, it’s for the fastest thoroughbreds on the planet, going the classic sprint distance of six furlongs on the dirt track at Del Mar for a $2 million purse.

Casual horse racing fans won’t recognize too many in this field of 14 as, again, this is for sprinters and not route runners like we see in the Triple Crown races or in the BC Classic. But we still have a strong field to handicap and it should be noted that the favorite has only won nine of the previous 41 runnings of the BC Sprint (only 22%), so it pays to look at some price horses.

The Breeders’ Cup Sprint will be Race 6 in your Saturday Del Mar program, right after the BC Turf Sprint, with post time expected to be 4:21 p.m. ET on November 1.

Breeders’ Cup Sprint Mile 2025 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:

Here are Dave Tuley’s thoughts on the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Sprint has to begin with a discussion of the 5-2 morning-line favorite, #10 Bentornato, who was second in this race last year. The 4-year-old son of Valiant Minister then didn’t race for more than 10 months but returned in an ungraded stakes at Churchill Downs, sitting just off the torrid pace of 21 4/5 for the opening quarter mile (two furlongs) and then taking the lead in the stretch and pulling away to win by five and a quarter lengths in the swift time of 1:08 2/5. He’s also ridden by super jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Bentornato has been very consistent in his career, never finishing out of the money in 10 races with six victories, two second and two thirds. It is his race to lose.

However, there are several solid contenders.

#12 Straight No Chaser was my value play at morning-line odds of 8-1 in the VSiN Breeders’ Cup Betting Guide at VSiN.com/breeders (there’s still time to get it for Saturday’s nine BC races with 1-2-3 picks in every race from Mike Somich, Ed Sehon and yours truly, Dave Tuley). Straight No Chaser won this race last year at odds of 6-1, besting Bentornato, who was a longshot at 28-1 before proving himself on the biggest stage. Like Bentornato, Straight No Chaser is a stalker who sat just behind Bentornato and then overcame him down the stretch. The victory earned him a trip to the Middle East last winter and early spring as he won the $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia and finished a well-beaten eighth in the Dubai Golden Shaheen before returning for a Grade 2 race at Santa Anita in September to prep for this. Even though his PPs aren’t that strong, I love betting defending champs in the BC (there have been 18 repeat winners and I remember having several, including Miesque in 1988, Tiznow in 2001 and Mizdirection in 2013) as you know the connections know how to win their races and often gear their schedules to have them peaking to defend their title. I expect Straight No Chaser to be right there again with Bentornato, but at much better odds. 

#1 Kopion is the second choice on the morning line at 7-2 and also my second choice in the VSiN BC Betting Guide (ahead of Bentornato). Kopion, a 4-year-old filly taking on the boys, is another stalker and should get a ground-saving trip from the rail. She has also shown the ability to come from farther off the pace, which makes her dangerous even if she can’t get quite near the lead, just like she did in her last race when finishing second in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes over this Del Mar track (that was a route race at 1 1/16 miles) back on Aug. 2. But even though she broke her maiden at Del Mar, she’s not just a horse for the course as she’s also won races at Churchill Downs (on a sloppy track) and Santa Anita, plus a second at Laurel Park in Maryland; she almost always runs a top race, winning five and placing three times in nine career starts with the only out-of-the-money finish at Santa Anita a year ago April.

#7 Imagination is the third betting choice at 6-1 on the morning line, This 4-year-old son of Into Mischief is trained by Bob Baffert, who is synonymous with “Southern California speed.” However, Imagination is not a front-runner like we’re used to seeing from the Baffert barn and instead is yet another stalker who should be in contention throughout, which is what you need to be at six furlongs at Del Mar. He is coming into this race off a nice come-from-behind (was three lengths back in fifth place after four furlongs of a six-furlong sprint) at Santa Anita in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

If you’re looking for a longshot to light up the toteboard on the win end or in exotics, I’ll offer up #13 Mad House, who is 30-1 on the morning line. This 3-year-old gelding could be the speed of the speed, especially since it appears all the top contenders prefer to sit just off the pace. Mad House has set the first-call fractions in his last four races at 21 2/ 5, 22 1/ 5, 21 4/ 5 and 21 2/ 5 at Canterbury and Parx and wired the field each time. Granted, that competition wasn’t as elite as he’s facing here, but I’ve seen plenty of times where the connections of top contenders will tell their jockeys to let the “rabbit” burn themselves out on the lead but then aren’t able to catch them. Mad House is worth a play just on the possibility. It’s also interesting to note (at least to me) that his last win was in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx and that’s the same race that Bentornato won last year before nearly pulling the BC Sprint upset at 28-1.