Breeders' Cup World Championships Betting Guide

OLBG Breeders' Cup Tipster Competition

Want to compete in our very own Breeders' Cup tipster competition, which is completely FREE to enter, and you could win a cash prize?

We have a cash prize fund of £100 up for grabs, which is in addition to the monthly horse racing competitions!

Just add your Breeders' Cup predictions as normal in the tipster competition, but make sure you add at least five at the Breeders' Cup with comments to fulfil the criteria.

The top 15 who make a profit and fulfil the criteria will receive a cash prize added to their OLBG account.

You will be able to check the progress over the two days and the final standing in the table here.

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2026 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Schedule

Friday at the Breeders' Cup is all about the Juveniles; we have five Grade 1 races dedicated to the 2-year-old runners.

2026 Breeders' Cup Championship Schedule

The Championship races on Saturday at the Breeders' Cup sees a total of nine Grade 1 races, with the highlight of the American season, the Breeders' Cup Classic.

2026 Breeders' Cup Challenge series

Throughout the 2026 season, there are certain races with a 'Win and You're In' status, meaning the runners who win those races get an automatic berth into the race at the Breeders' Cup. Each race at the Breeders' Cup has a limit of fourteen runners who can compete in the race, except for both the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Turf Sprint, in which only twelve can compete in the race.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is a great way for European runners to get their way into some of the Breeders' Cup races, there are thirteen races in England alone that are part of the series, there are also seven in France and five in Ireland so a total of twenty-five races in Europe where runners can guarantee a spot at the Breeders' Cup.

In addition, there are five races from South America, two from Argentina, and then one in Brazil, Chile and Peru. The final six races made up outside of the US are four from Japan and two from South Africa. In the US and Canada, there are a total of forty-six races making up the Challenge Series.

Number of Winners by Country Since 2016

• USA (92 Winners)
• GB (19 Winners)
• IRE (16 Winners)
• CAN (6 Winners)
• JPN (3 Winners)
• FR (2 Winners)

Breeders' Cup Challenge Series in England

Four of the thirteen races come at Royal Ascot, the Queen Anne winner receives a spot in the Mile, the Prince of Wales's Stakes winner gets a spot in the Turf, and the Norfolk Stakes winner gets the chance to race in the Juvenile Turf Sprint whilst the Kings Stand winner gets an entry into the Turf Sprint, additional, at Ascot, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner, as well as the Champions Stakes winner, have the chance to compete in the Turf race along with the Prince of Wales's Stakes winner whilst the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner could join the Queen Anne winner in the Mile.

The winner of the Sussex Stakes, which takes place at Glorious Goodwood, receives an entry in the Mile, whilst three winners at the York Ebor Festival will receive entries, the winner of the Juddmonte International goes into the main event, the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Yorkshire Oaks winner into the Filly & Mare Turf and the Nunthorpe winner into the Turf Sprint. The Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket filled the final two spots, both for two-year-old runners; the Rockfel winner receives an entry in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Royal Lodge winner into the Juvenile Turf.

• Kings Stand Stakes > Turf Sprint
• Queen Anne Stakes > Mile
• Prince of Wales's Stakes > Turf
• Norfolk Stakes > Juvenile Turf Sprint
• King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes > Turf
• Sussex Stakes > Mile
• Juddmonte International > Classic
• Yorkshire Oaks > Filly & Mare Turf
• Nunthorpe Stakes > Turf Sprint
• Rockfel Stakes > Juvenile Fillies Turf
• Royal Lodge Stakes > Juvenile Turf
• Champion Stakes > Turf
• Queen Elizabeth II Stakes > Mile

Breeders' Cup Challenge Series in Ireland

There are five races in Ireland which are part of the series, three at Leopardstown and two at the Curragh, at Leopardstown, the Juvenile Stakes winner goes into the Juvenile Turf, the Matron Stakes winner into the Filly & Mare Turf and the Irish Champion Stakes winner into the Turf whilst over at the Curragh, the Moyglare Stud Stakes winner gets an entry into the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Flying Five Stakes winner into the Turf Sprint.

• Juvenile Stakes > Juvenile Turf
• Matron Stakes > Filly & Mare Turf
• Irish Champion Stakes > Turf
• Moyglare Stud Stakes > Juvenile Fillies Turf
• Flying Five Stakes > Turf Sprint

Breeders' Cup Challenge Series in France

Rounding off the qualifying races in Europe are seven races in France, five of which take place at Longchamp during the Arc festival, before there are two at Deauville in August, the Prix Jacques Le Marois, in which the winner receives an automatic spot in the Mile, whilst the Prix Morny winner gets into the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Then, in October, we have the five races at Longchamp, all of which will serve as a prep run for the Breeders' Cup because of the closeness of the two meetings.

The Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp winner goes to the Turf Spring, the Prix de l'Opera into the Filly & Mare Turf, the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere into the Juvenile Turf, the Prix Marcel Boussac into the Juvenile Fillies Turf, whilst the winner of the feature race at Longchamp, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, goes into the Turf.

• Prix Jacques Le Marois > Mile
• Prix Morny > Juvenile Turf Sprint
• Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp > Turf Sprint
• Prix de l'Opéra > Filly & Mare Turf
• Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère > Juvenile Turf
• Prix Marcel Boussac > Juvenile Fillies Turf
• Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe > Turf

Breeders' Cup Trainer Records since 2016

Here are the top trainers since 2016 in terms of winners for current races only. Chad Brown leads the way with twelve winners, from Aidan O'Brien, who is just one behind with eleven winners. Whilst both Brown & O'Brien show overall losses, both Brad Cox & Charlie Appleby, who are level with Aidan on eleven winners apiece, both show profitable LSPs.

Who are the Profitable Breeders' Cup Trainers?

As already touched on, Brad Cox tops the list for profitable trainers with his 11 winners and LSP of +33.96, ahead of Charlie Appleby with his LSP of +22.64 from 11 winners. William Mott is next on the list; his seven winners have helped him to an LSP of +21.81, whilst Peter Miller shows an impressive LSP of +48.00.

Turf vs Dirt

The races are split into seven on the dirt and seven on the turf. Do the trainers prefer one surface over the other? You would expect the European trainers to show better figures on the turf and that is true, all eleven of Aidan O'Brien's and all eleven of Charlie Appleby's winners have come on the turf and when you list the trainers by the number of winners over the past ten years in the turf races then along with Aidan and Charlie, Sir Michael Stoute (2) also makes the top ten trainers list. Another name to take note of on the turf is Chad Brown, the leading trainer with twelve winners, eight of whom have come in races on the turf! The leading trainer on dirt is Brad H Cox with nine wins over the last ten years, with Bob Baffert (7-63) & William Mott (6-22) next best.

Breeders' Cup Jockey Records since 2016

Irad Ortiz Jr, who has ridden twenty-one winners over the last ten Breeders' Cup meetings, retains his position at the top of the list and is nine winners clear of Joel Rosario, who has ridden twelve winners. The top Europeans are William Buick (10 winners) and Ryan Moore (8 winners); Moore missed the 2025 meeting with an injury.

Who are the Profitable Breeders' Cup Jockeys?

The amazing fact is, had you backed all the rides of the top two jockeys over the last ten years, you would be showing a profit of +112.65 to LSP, as both are showing a profit! Ortiz Jr with a profit of +74.12 and Rosario with +38.53.

Turf vs Dirt

Like with the trainers, we have looked at rides on the dirt vs rides on the turf to see if certain jockeys perform better on either of the surfaces, Joel Rosario seems to favour the races on the dirt where nine of his twelve winners have come, on the turf he has notched up three wins but that is from forty-nine rides, a 6% strike rate. The leading jockey over the last ten years for the races on turf is William Buick, who has ridden ten winners from just thirty-one rides, which means that all of his wins have come on the turf; the same with Ryan Moore (8), who has a record of 8 wins from 57 rides.