Breeders Cup Draw Results: Forever Young Draws Post 5, Classic Field of Eight and Full Saturday Times

Some links in this guide are affiliate links, if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Here’s our disclosure.

What did the draw decide?

The draw for the nine championship races on Saturday, October 31, was held on Monday evening at the Keeneland sales pavilion, and it turned a strong Breeders Cup into a specific one. The Classic is now an eight horse race, the smallest Classic field since the Breeders Cup began in 1984, and the third time in six years it has happened. The Turf is a 14 horse race headed by a 3-1 favourite. The Filly and Mare Turf has an unbeaten six for six favourite drawn wide.

The most important change from pre-entries is in the Classic. Further Ado and Forged Steel, who had been pre-entered in the Classic, will run instead in the Dirt Mile. That leaves eight runners in the Classic and no also-eligibles. The draw also settled the dual-preference puzzle that dominated last week: Knightsbridge, Napoleon Solo and T O Password all stayed in the Classic, while Further Ado and Forged Steel went to the Dirt Mile.

Morning line odds below are from the draw, set by the Keeneland handicapper. They are not live betting odds, and they will move before post time. Scratches can still change fields, so check the official card before Saturday.

Who is in the Breeders Cup Classic?

Forever Young, the Japanese superstar who won last year's Classic, drew post 5 and was installed as the 2-1 morning line favourite. He has raced 16 times, won 12, and never finished worse than third. He has earned more than 32 million dollars in his career, which works out to about 2 million dollars every time he goes to the gate. He is trying to become only the second horse to win the Classic twice. Tiznow did it in 2000 and 2001, and nobody has done it since.

Sovereignty, the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner and reigning American Horse of the Year, drew post 2 and is 5-2 second choice. Golden Tempo, the 2026 Derby winner, drew post 3 and is 5-1. It is the first time two Derby winners have run in the same Classic since 1991, when Unbridled and Strike the Gold both ran and Black Tie Affair beat them both. That history is a warning against assuming the Derby winners dominate.

Bill Mott trains both Sovereignty and Knightsbridge, and he said after the draw that the decision to run both was made by committee. He said both horses fit the race, have different running styles, and will not hinder each other. Sovereignty is undefeated at 10 furlongs, and Knightsbridge has won at the distance once. Mott's quote is worth noting because trainers often split their horses between races to chase two prizes. Here, Godolphin chose to chase one prize with two horses.

Cherie DeVaux, who trains Golden Tempo, said after the draw that her horse has to progress to beat older horses for the first time, but that he continues to progress in his speed figures and looks and trains well. Golden Tempo won this year's Derby and Belmont Stakes, and finished third in the Travers. He is the youngest horse in the field, and the question is whether youth and improvement can beat experience and class.

Magnitude is the other horse to watch. He won the Dubai World Cup and beat Sovereignty in the Stephen Foster, according to earlier Breeders Cup coverage. He is 6-1 from post 6, which makes him the fourth choice in a race where you could make a case for six of the eight runners, as one Kentucky columnist put it after the draw.

Who is in the Breeders Cup Turf?

Diamond Necklace, the Aidan O'Brien trained filly, drew post 12 and was made 3-1 favourite for the 5 million dollar Turf. She finished third against males in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on October 4, and she could become the first female winner of the Turf since Tarnawa in 2020, also at Keeneland. O'Brien is chasing a record-extending win in this race.

Bay City Roller is 5-1 from post 13, Benvenuto Cellini is 6-1 from post 2, and Burnham Square is 8-1 from post 6. The full field is 14 horses, with Map of Stars and Telescopic as also-eligibles.

Far Bridge and Johanna Walsh are the two horses who drew into the Turf after the withdrawals of Minnie Hauk, Lambourn and Ombudsman last week. El Cordobes, who was first also-eligible, also drew in. That chain of withdrawals and replacements is why the Turf field looks different from the pre-entry list, and why the draw matters more than a simple list of names.

What about the other big Saturday races?

Blue Bolt, Andrew Balding's unbeaten filly, drew post 12 in the Filly and Mare Turf and is 5-2 favourite. She has won all six of her starts in 2026, including four straight Group 1 races at a mile, and the longer trip of one mile and three sixteenths is her test. Precise is 7-2 from post 11, Kathynmarissa is 5-1 from post 5, and Gimme a Nother is 10-1 from post 1. Diamond Necklace and Survie run in the Turf instead of this race, which is why the Filly and Mare Turf field settled the way it did.

In the Distaff, Nitrogen is 6-5 favourite from post 2, with Fully Subscribed 8-5 from post 4. Nitrogen finished second in last year's Distaff at Del Mar and comes in off a Beldame win at Belmont Park. In the Mile, the field includes Notable Speech, a returning Breeders Cup winner, and Puerto Rico, who drew into the Mile after the earlier withdrawals. In the Sprint, the favourite is Englishman at 4-5, with T O Elvis at 7-2.

The Dirt Mile, which gained Further Ado and Forged Steel from the Classic, is now a stronger race than it looked a week ago. Full Serrano, another returning Breeders Cup winner, is also in the Dirt Mile. That is the knock-on effect of the draw: a decision in one race improves another.

When is every Saturday race, in your time zone?

All times below are post times for Saturday, October 31, at Keeneland. The United States is still on daylight time on Saturday, so New York is EDT. London is on GMT after the October 25 clock change, and Berlin and Paris are on CET. Karachi is PKT, which is UTC plus five.

The Classic is the final race of the two-day, 14-race, 34 million dollar Breeders Cup. Friday, October 30, is Future Stars Friday, with five Breeders Cup races for juveniles. Saturday has nine championship races. In the US, the Classic is on NBC and Peacock. Post times are subject to change, and scratches can move the schedule, so check the official card on the day.

What changed from last week's draw preview?

Three things changed, and all three matter. First, the Classic shrank from a possible ten to a firm eight, with Further Ado and Forged Steel moving to the Dirt Mile. Second, the Turf field firmed up around Diamond Necklace as favourite, with Far Bridge, Johanna Walsh and El Cordobes all confirmed in the field after last week's withdrawals. Third, Blue Bolt is no longer conditional. She is confirmed in the Filly and Mare Turf from post 12, not waiting on another race.

Phileas Fogg remains out, with a left front foot issue confirmed by trainer Gustavo Rodriguez to the Daily Racing Form on October 22. He will miss the Classic and is pointed to 2027. That withdrawal, a week old, is still the biggest name missing from Saturday, because it removed a horse who would have been a major player in the Classic.

What is the smart way to watch Saturday?

Start with the Classic, because it is the race everyone will talk about, but do not ignore the Turf and the Filly and Mare Turf, because both have favourites with a real chance to make history. Diamond Necklace can become the first female Turf winner since 2020. Blue Bolt can stay unbeaten in six starts and win over a longer trip. Forever Young can join Tiznow as the only repeat Classic winners.

For UK and European viewers, the practical point is the late finish. The Classic goes off at 22:16 London time and 23:16 in Berlin and Paris, which is late but watchable. For viewers in Karachi, the Classic is at 03:16 on Sunday morning, which means the Turf at 02:36 and the Distaff at 01:58 are also overnight races. The early Saturday races, from 22:10 Karachi, are the ones to catch live without an all-nighter.

Related reading on Of The Pitch: Breeders Cup Draw Tonight: What Gets Decided, Classic and Turf Fields, and Full Race Times and Breeders Cup Draw on Monday: What Gets Decided, Classic and Turf Fields, and Full Race Times.

Sources: Breeders Cup draw coverage from Horse Racing Nation, US Racing, Courier-Journal and WDRB on October 26, 2026; Breeders Cup and Keeneland post times; trainer comments from Bill Mott and Cherie DeVaux after the draw.