Daily Racing Form expert handicapper and analyst Steve Andersen previews the Breeders’ Cup Turf 2025, including the entries, odds, and past performances of the field.
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It was only in the last 50 to 75 yards of the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Oct. 5 that Minnie Hauk yielded her lead to Daryz, eventually losing by a head.
Minnie Hauk, who was 5 1/2 lengths clear of third-place finisher Sosie, ran too well to lose the $5.8 million Arc, Europe’s leading race. Minnie Hauk’s performance that day, combined with wins in three consecutive Group 1 races for females in Britain and Ireland from early June to mid-August, are the main reasons the 3-year-old filly will be favored to win Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar.
To do so, Minnie Hauk must play the role of spoiler. Rebel’s Romance, the 7-year-old gelding who has won 20 of 29 starts, has won the BC Turf twice, at Keeneland in 2022 and at Del Mar last year. A win on Saturday would give Rebel’s Romance a record third win in the richest grass race in the United States.
Minnie Hauk could be part of history, too. Her trainer, Aidan O’Brien, has won the BC Turf a record seven times, most recently in 2023 at Santa Anita.
The Breeders’ Cup Turf will be Race 8 in your Saturday Del Mar program with post time expected to be 5:41 p.m. ET on November 1.
Breeders’ Cup Turf 2025 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | Rebel’s Romance | W. Buick | C. Appleby | 5/2 |
| 2 | Goliath | M. Barzalona | F. Graffard | 8-1 |
| 3 | Amiloc | R. Ryan | R. Beckett | 10-1 |
| 4 | Redistricting | F. Prat | C. Brown | 15-1 |
| 5 | Rebel Red | I. Ortiz Jr. | C. DeVaux | 30-1 |
| 6 | Wimbledon Hawkeye | L. Dettori | J. Owen | 20-1 |
| 7 | Silawi | J. Doyle | H. Jehani | 30-1 |
| 8 | Minnie Hauk | C. Soumillon | A P O’Brien | 8/5 |
| 9 | Gold Phoenix | U. Rispoli | P. D’Amato | 20-1 |
| 10 | El Cordobes | B. Loughnane | C. Appleby | 15-1 |
| 11 | Rashabar | J. Leavy | B. Meehan | 20-1 |
| 12 | Tawny Port | M. Franco | M. Clement | 30-1 |
| 13 | Hill Road | D. Egan | C. Brown | 30-1 |
| 14 | Ethical Diamond | D. McMonagle | W. Mullins | 30-1 |
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Minnie Hauk and Rebel’s Romance are the dominant players in the BC Turf, which drew seven other foreign-based runners and five hopefuls based in the United States. Minnie Hauk, owned by the Coolmore syndicate, was not confirmed as a BC Turf starter until mid-October. She needed minimal time to recover from the Arc, O’Brien said.
“Everything is good with her,” O’Brien said. “She’s had a busy season and we’re very happy with her. She’s a classy filly.”
Minnie Hauk won five consecutive races prior to the Arc, the highlights of which were the Group 1 Epsom Oaks in June, the Group 1 Irish Oaks on July 19 as the 2-11 favorite, and the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks against fillies and mares on Aug. 21.
By Frankel, Minnie Hauk has won on good-to-firm turf at York and run well on soft turf at Longchamp. The going will be firm on Saturday. Minnie Hauk will not be far off the leaders.
“She’s a lovely mover,” O’Brien said. “She handles fast ground and she has plenty of pace.”
Rebel’s Romance won the 2024 BC Turf as a stalker. In his last start, the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at 1 1/2 miles at Aqueduct on Sept. 27, Rebel’s Romance raced near a slow pace before taking the lead with a mile remaining. He won by 3 1/2 lengths.
Rebel’s Romance drew the inside post in the BC Turf and will be ridden by William Buick, who has been aboard for 24 of the gelding’s 29 races.
“From that draw, you’d like to pop and be forward,” trainer Charlie Appleby said. “That’s the great thing with Rebel’s Romance. I wasn’t concerned where he was drawn. Tactically, he’s versatile. It looks like there is pace on paper. I tend not to overcomplicate things. With a horse like him, William knows him so well. If there is pace on, he can drop them in.”
A win by any of the American-trained runners – Gold Phoenix, Hill Road, Rebel Red, Redistricting, or Tawny Port – would be a surprise.
This is Gold Phoenix’s fourth consecutive start in the BC Turf. He was 10th in 2022 and fourth the last two years. In 2024, Gold Phoenix had the best finish of an American-based runner.
Redistricting, a two-time stakes winner trained by Chad Brown, was second to Rebel’s Romance in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and seems capable of a top-three finish. Redistricting is another runner likely to stalk the pace.
“It’s a lot of prize money even if you don’t win,” Brown said. “I think he’ll prefer the tighter turns. I think he could move up a few lengths. Things will have to set up for him to get a piece. There are good horses in there, but you don’t have a half a dozen of them.”
Brown also starts Hill Road, who was third to BC Turf entrant Wimbledon Hawkeye in the Grade 3, $3.5 million Nashville Derby at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 30 and third in the Grade 2 Jockey Club Derby at Aqueduct on Oct. 4. The BC Turf will be his first start at 1 1/2 miles.
Wimbledon Hawkeye was second in two stakes at 1 1/2 miles in Britain in July before his win as the 2-1 favorite in the Nashville Derby. Trainer James Owen is hoping Wimbledon’s Hawkeye’s late rally will be effective on Saturday.
“He does have a kick,” he said.
Silawi, trained by Hamad Al Jehani, who is based in Britain and Qatar, and Tawny Port, trained in New York by Miguel Clement, were first and second, separated by a nose, in the Grade 1 Canadian International at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Woodbine on Oct. 4. The narrow loss convinced Clement that Tawny Port, a closer, belonged in the BC Turf.
“He’s a live outsider and he’ll come with a late run,” Clement said.
The Europeans, Amiloc, second in the Group 1 Irish St. Leger on Sept. 14, and Ethical Diamond, a former hurdler who has won two major handicaps in Britain, would be surprise winners, as would Rashabar of Britain, who was fourth in the Group 2 Prix Dollar at Longchamp on Oct. 4.
Goliath, based in France with Francis-Henri Graffard, has run races that would make him a factor. These include a win at 25-1 in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Ascot in 2024, and his last start, a win in the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden in Germany on Sept. 7.
They all must defeat Minnie Hauk, who is a head away from an undefeated record this year, and the ageless Rebel’s Romance.
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