Superstars expected to shine at the Breeders' Cup

The inclusion of "World Championships" in the name of the Breeders' Cup indicates that they will in fact be the world championships. Horses from all over the world travel to the host track each year in the hopes of taking home one of the coveted Breeders' Cup trophies. While some of the horses are yearly fixtures at the event, others are newcomers to North America, having flown in on turbojet airliners from places like Europe and Japan. This year's group includes the defending champion of the Breeders' Cup Mile as well as multiple other horses who finished in the money at previous Breeders' Cups. Some of the best international horses expected to compete in this year's Breeders' Cup are the ones listed below. Silver Knott, a 2YO horse trained by Charlie Appleby, will try to become his third 3YO and 4YO winner of the race in the last five years.

He has won three of his five races so far, including the Grade 3 Emirates Autumn Stakes at England's Newmarket Racecourse in early October. Victoria Road, trained by Aidan O'Brien, who has won this event four times and has a total of 13 Breeders' Cup wins, the fourth most of any trainer, won his first race nine days after his previous race and then won a stakes race in France ten days after his breakthrough. Blue Rose Cen, the filly she beat in the stakes on August 20 at Deauville, went on to win a Gr.1 in France by five lengths about a month later. Basil Martini, trained by Joseph O'Brien, who at age 26 in 2019 won the Filly and Mare Turf with Iridessa at the Breeders' Cup, won a stakes race last month at the Curragh in Ireland. The race was the Gr.3 Weld Park Stakes. It was the filly's fifth race overall, but she had already demonstrated her talent by placing second in three of her previous four races. Aidan O'Brien, Joseph O'Brien's father, enters Meditate in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

While the No Nay Never filly, Meditate, has won her first four races, including the Gr.3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, she has finished second in the last two Gr.1 events leading up to this one. After two races, Midnight Mile is undefeated and has already won the Gr.3 Oh So Sharp Stakes (which took place on October 7) by a nose. Dramatised, a previous winner of the Gr.2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, is making her fourth career start after a layoff following her fifth-place finish of 13 in the Gr.2 Lowther Stakes. Both of her prior victories, in late April and June, respectively, were accomplished by comfortable margins. Trainer Karl Burke is looking for his first Breeders' Cup victory with his third starting, Dramatised, in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. His first two starters have both finished in the bottom three in their respective races, so he hasn't had much luck. Since her victory in the Gr.3 Prix d'Arenberg in September, Lady Hollywood has handed her rookie trainer Alice Haynes her first graded/group stakes success. Lady Hollywood has already won four of her seven races and an ungraded stake in Ireland this summer. The Platinum Queen, aged only 2 years old, enters the Juvenile Turf Sprint as the first juvenile to win the Gr.1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp since 1978, where she competed against and defeated a field of older horses, most of which were 4YO. She will be Fahey's eighth Breeders' Cup starter; in 2015, he placed third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with Birchwood at Keeneland.

6YO In the time since he joined Aidan O'Brien's stable in 2018, Broome has won six graded/group stakes races (including a Gr.1) and placed second in six more. He has only one win from six races this year, and it came in the Gr.2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. Notably, he came in second place in the event last year and is continuing his comparable campaign this year, 2022. Mishriff will be making his final career appearance in the Longines Grass after winning over $15.8 million in races on dirt (the Saudi Cup in 2021) and turf (three Gr.1s). He has raced in five nations, but this Saturday will be his first and only start in North America as he looks to give trainer John Gosden his second success in the Longines Turf, following the 2018 triumph of the superstar mare Enable. After placing second in July's Grade 1 Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes, Nations Pride went on to win the Grade 1 Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes and the Grade 3 Caesars Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes in August and September, respectively.

Before being shipped to the United States in the summer, the Teofilo colt had won four of six starts abroad, including a major event in England. There is a good likelihood that Nations Pride will take home the Eclipse Award as champion turf male for 2022 if he wins or places highly in the Turf. The winner of this year's Gr1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp was Dreamloper, who finished 5 12 lengths ahead of the 2020 Breeders' Cup Mile winner, Order of Australia. The 5YO mare had a rough summer, finishing out of the money twice, but she still managed to win three of her five 2022 starts. Those triumphs included two Group 1 and one Group 2 championships. On Saturday, Modern Games will try to become the seventh horse in history to win two separate Breeders' Cup races after his dominant victory in the one-mile Juvenile Turf by 1 12 lengths last year.

Overall, the Charlie Appleby trainee has compiled six wins in 12 tries with 10 on-the-board finishes. Aidan O'Brien's 5YO horse Order Of Australia has only won five of his 21 races to date, but he has been consistently competitive this year, placing in the top three in four of his six races. He won the Breeders' Cup Mile in 2020 at odds of 73.20-1, and he returned to Keeneland in 2021 and 2022 to defend his title. Order of Australia's Keeneland debut last year ended in a non-placing. Above the Curve has earned her spot in the Breeders' Cup with a Gr.1 victory in May, a Gr.2 stakes victory, and a close third-place finish in a Gr.1 after a summer break. Placing second, just behind Above Nashwa, who raced the Curve in the Prix de l'Opera, is one of the top 3YO fillies in Europe this year. She won the Gr.1 Prix de Diane Longines (French Oaks) in June and then defeated her elders to take the Gr.1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood in July. Nashwa, trained by John and Thady Gosden, is a formidable contender in the Filly and Mare Turf. She won the Nassau and competed in the Prix de l'Opera with only a little over two months between the two. Despite coming in fourth place in the 2021 Turf Sprint, Emaraaty Ana is giving it another go this year. The 6YO had a rough start to the year, failing to finish any of his first four races. However, he has improved in his previous two outings, placing third and then second in Gr.1 races. In 14 of his 26 races, he has finished in the top three. Ay Bears! This weekend, Go travels back to the United States to compete in the Turf Sprint after coming in second in last year's Juvenile Turf Sprint by a half-length. He has two victories under his belt, and he was only beaten by a great sprinter by 1 and a quarter lengths this summer in Minzaal. Highfield Princess, a 5YO mare, showed promise early in 2022, winning twice and placing twice in her first six starts before breaking out as a top-class sprinter and winning three consecutive Gr.1 stakes beginning in August. Highfield Princess is not only a powerful miler, but she can also sprint five to seven furlongs with ease. A year after dominating the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, Japan sends Chain of Love to represent the land of the rising sun in the 2022 Filly and Mare Sprint. Chain of Love has won in her own country and has shown that she can travel well, coming in fourth by only 2 14 lengths in Dubai back in March. In her 22-race career, Chain of Love has won only three times, but two of those victories and three of her five other top-three finishes have occurred in the past 12 months.