The Breeders’ Cup Classic is the most lucrative horse race in American racing. Every
year, the planet’s very best head to the Land of the Free in a bid to be crowned
champion and to secure all involved with the horse an almighty windfall. The upcoming
2025 installment of the showdown could be the best one yet.
Sovereignty and Journalism have embarked upon a rivalry for the ages throughout their
three-year-old campaigns. Many thought that the latter was the superior of the two
heading into the Triple Crown, but it was the former that proved to be the one to beat.
Sovereignty’s late surge secured him an upset victory at the Kentucky Derby, and while
Journalism would win a thrilling Preakness, his triumph had somewhat of an asterisk
over it due to the fact that his archrival sat on the sidelines.
The pair would clash again in the Belmont, and once again, it was Journalism that was
the favorite. However, just like at Churchill Downs, Sovereignty would upset the odds
once more. Now, the two are on a collision course for an end-of-year super showdown
in the Classic, and this time around, the outsider is no more.
Sovereignty and Journalism Set For One More Showdown
Even though the Breeders’ Cup doesn’t get underway until October 31st, horse racing
betting sites already have their odds listed for the Classic. And for the first time in their
storied rivalry, it’s Sovereignty that’s the favorite. The latest horse racing betting at
Bovada odds currently prices the Derby winner as a +250 frontrunner to bring the
curtain down on an epic year with his crowning moment. Journalism, meanwhile, is out
at +750, and he will have to follow in his rivals’ footsteps and shine as the underdog if
he is to emerge victorious.
But underdogs have won the Classic before, plenty of times. And they have done so at
far longer odds than +750. Here are the most expensive winners to have ever won the
Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Arcangues
Santa Anita. 1993. Anyone glancing at the tote board that autumn afternoon beheld a
number so audacious it was barely worth registering: 133-1. Arcangues, a French
import known for solid efforts on turf, but considered very out of place on the dirt.
Jockey Jerry Bailey, given scant instructions in broken French moments before the
start, had never before ridden the rank outsider. The American audience, savvy and
seasoned, dismissed him outright.
Yet the Breeders’ Cup has always flirted with the improbable. As the pack thundered for
home, Arcangues—dead last with three furlongs to run—erupted into motion. Bailey
threaded him through traffic like fate itself, then uncorked a relentless drive past the
heavily favored Bertrando. Two lengths clear at the wire, Arcangues stopped the clock,
and the sport, cold.
Volponi
Ten years later, the scene shifted to Arlington Park under low, wintry clouds. Big names
like War Emblem, with a Kentucky Derby on his resume, towered over a loaded field. In
the background loomed Volponi—a gritty but overlooked runner, dismissed at 43-1. His trainer, Philip Johnson, a man whose quiet dedication spanned 54 years, believed. So did Jose Santos, the cagey veteran in the saddle.
The gates snapped open, and the field pressed forward. Volponi settled mid-pack,
biding his time. Then, in the final turn, he detonated—a late burst so explosive it left
rivals reeling in his wake. Six and a half lengths separated Volponi from the rest at the
finish, the widest winning margin since 1991. In an age of split-second margins, this was
domination.
Drosselmeyer
There’s a particular electricity in seeing redemption play out on a racetrack.
Drosselmeyer, the 2010 Belmont winner and son of Distorted Humor, entered the 2011
Classic with an unsettled form line—flashes of brilliance buried beneath months of
frustration. At 14-1, few fans expected a second act of greatness.
But champions don’t vanish. They regroup.
Trainer Bill Mott, himself a master of the Classic, made a tactical gamble. Mike Smith,
as seasoned a rider as the game offers, understood patience. Drosselmeyer trailed. He
waited. And as Game On Dude and To Honor and Serve stretched for the wire,
Drosselmeyer launched—legs churning with perfectly timed fury. He swept past his
foes, galloping into the Churchill night to seal a 1½-length win.
Raven’s Pass
By 2008, the Classic was on Santa Anita’s synthetic surface, a wildcard upheaval in
itself. Many handicappers wrote off European runners—until Raven’s Pass arrived,
young and brimming with untapped potential. His resume glistened with turf wins, but
American dirt was a mythical unknown.
Enter the teamwork of John Gosden and the ever-animated Frankie Dettori. As Curlin,
either by design or fate, loomed in the stretch, Dettori angled Raven’s Pass into the
clear and asked for everything. What came next was a transatlantic thunderclap—Raven’s Pass galloping past Curlin, stamping a 1¾-length win on foreign soil.
Mucho Macho Man
Not every underdog wears the cloak of a rank outsider. Mucho Macho Man went off at
8-1, a number shrugged off by many bettors, but his journey to the Classic summit was anything but easy. Ridden by Gary Stevens—himself staging a storybook comeback—and trained by Kathy Ritvo, a heart transplant survivor and the first woman to win the Classic, the connections wrote their own chapters of resilience.
Santa Anita’s grandstand was a furnace of anticipation as the field surged for home.
Mucho Macho Man clung to a slender lead; Will Take Charge and Declaration of War
lunged in a blur. The margin? A nose so fine that the photo finish required forensic
study.
