The Breeders’ Cup Classic is not merely a horse race; it is a crucible where legends are forged, reputations are remade, and—on rare occasions—outsiders rewrite racing history in indelible ink. As Del Mar readies itself for the 2025 edition, anticipation has already reached a fever pitch, despite the end-of-year showcase still being months away.
This year’s Classic promises all the electricity of a heavyweight prizefight, as American rivals Sovereignty and Journalism set to square off once again. The pair of three-year-olds went head to head for two of the three legs of the American Triple Crown, with Sovereignty coming out on top on both occasions despite his adversary being much more fancied. Journalism struck back in the Preakness Stakes, but that triumph came with his rival on the sidelines, leaving many to put an asterisk next to the victory.
Online horse racing betting sites make both of them contenders in this year's Breeders' Cup. Unlike during the Triple Crown, however, this time around, with two victories under his belt, it's Sovereignty who has been made the favorite. The latest horse racing odds Bovada price the Kentucky Derby winner as a +200 frontrunner, with Journalism listed at +700. Sandwiched in between is reigning champion Sierra Leone at +500.
But another contender has begun to rear his head in the form of Japanese sensation Forever Young. He is considered a +900 shot, and he is aiming to follow in the footsteps of a long lineage of foreign steeds that have left their mark on the grandest race on the American circuit.
Sovereignty… again?! This horse is a PROBLEM. #BelmontStakes
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) June 7, 2025
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Can Forever Young Upset the Odds?
Storylines abound, but none are more captivating than the inscrutable air around Forever Young. The Japanese star's 2025 has been a campaign sculpted for this moment. Start with his performance in the Saudi Cup, where he unleashed his devastating late charge, rallying past Romantic Warrior—a bona fide global star—in a race that doubled as a stress test for stamina and adaptability. That closing kick is not theoretical; in one of the world’s highest-pursed races, he ran his final furlong faster than any other horse in the field, proving his will to win against world-class opposition.
Statisticians won’t ignore his third-place finish in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic either—a run marked not just by grit, but by tactical poise under maximum pressure. He absorbed the harshest of American dirt racing’s challenges: face-peeling early fractions, relentless tempo, and the unfamiliar cauldron of a U.S. crowd trained to roar for a home victory. And still, Forever Young was not only present at the finish—he was charging home, a length-and-a-half from glory.
His final prep in the Japan Dirt Classic only reinforced his credentials. Against the best his homeland could muster, Forever Young gave no quarter, dispatching his rivals with the kind of command reserved for those destined for global stardom. And what of his mastermind, Yoshito Yahagi? There’s intent at every turn: the acclimatization to Del Mar’s unique tight-turn, deep-dirt profile, the steady progression of sectional times in morning works, the targeted schooling to inoculate Forever Young against the psychological warfare of a Breeders’ Cup post parade. With last year's experience firmly in the bank and under both trainer and steed's belt, the four-year-old is poised to take America by storm.
Foreign Winners
However, to grasp the true significance of Forever Young’s bid, one must understand the scale of the task. Only a handful of times in the Classic’s vaunted history have foreign-trained or bred horses managed to storm the American barricades. Here are the finest of them.
Arcangues - 1993
No result in Classic history stirs greater disbelief than Arcangues’ 1993 shocker. Sent off at an astronomical 133-1, the French-trained, Jerry Bailey-piloted outsider had never tackled dirt.
His odds reflected every punter’s suspicion, yet as the field stormed into the Santa Anita stretch, Arcangues unfurled a withering burst of speed, toppling Bertrando and amazing everyone on the scene. Behind the chaos: a shrewd Frenchman by the name of André Fabre, a language-barrier comedy of tactics gone awry, and a dirt track made lethal for front-runners—a combination that turned the presumed impossible into racing folklore.
Invasor - 2006
If Arcangues was chaos incarnate, Invasor was inevitably made flesh. Argentine-bred and UAE-seasoned but U.S.-trained, he arrived at Churchill Downs the reigning champion of the Whitney and Pimlico Special. What he lacked in hyperbole, he made up for in relentless professionalism.
Under the poised hands of Fernando Jara, Invasor stalked the fearsome Bernardini before powering home in 2:02.18—his closing quarter a master class in determination and physical dominance. Invasor’s win was less a shock and more a recitation of the perfect foreign playbook: build a resume on dirt, integrate with North American competition, and, on the sport’s grandest stage, outfight the field when the whips are truly cracking.
Raven’s Pass - 2008
Raven’s Pass belongs to a different chapter altogether. The John Gosden-trained UK star, piloted by Frankie Dettori, capitalized on Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface—a one-off window when the Classic switched from dirt to an all-weather track that tilted the balance toward European turf runners. Dettori’s dance down the stretch was poetry in motion; Raven’s Pass caught Henrythenavigator at the wire in 1:59.27.
While the win validates foreign talent, it also highlights the role of conditions—Europeans flourished because the surface mirrored their own, a quirk now absent as the Classic reverted to a dirt-only trial by fire.
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