The pre-entries for this year's Breeders' Cup at Keeneland have been announced, with Andrew Balding's star Blue Bolt holding a couple of options.
Owned by Juddmonte, the four-year-old Blue Bolt has been one of the stories of Balding's title-chasing season and she will look to follow up this month's BetMGM Sun Chariot Stakes win and make it a super seven successes on the spin in Kentucky.
However, her target has yet to be confirmed with connections entering the daughter of Blue Point in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf as well as the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile.
Entries for the Breeders' Cup Mile also feature last year's winner, the Charlie Appleby-trained Notable Speech, as well as Aidan O'Brien trio, Gstaad, Constitution River and True Love.
If Blue Bolt sticks to her own sex in the Filly & Mare Turf (1m1f) she could face Ballydoyle duo Diamond Necklace and Precise, as well as George Boughey's Survie.
Diamond Necklace is also in the 12-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf, along with stablemate Benvenuto Cellini, while the same race sees last year's winner Ethical Diamond, surprise Irish Champion Stakes winner Hotazhell and George Scott's Bay City Roller also in the shake-up.
“Bay City [Roller] has come out of the race [Champion Stakes] really well and at this stage we are planning to go to Keeneland,” Scott said on Wednesday's Nick Luck Daily Podcast.
“Fundamentally, it was always the plan for us to go to the Breeders’ Cup. We knew that it was coming down the road at us and you can only train your own horse. Having monitored the horse over the last few days we have decided to take our chance. The mile and a half is very much back in our lane. He stays very well. He is at his strongest late on in those mile and a half races."
However, last Saturday's Champion Stakes winner Ombudsman may have featured among Wednesday's pre-entries but it emerged that training team John & Thady Gosden will not ask the Godolphin ace to travel to Keeneland so soon after his Ascot heroics.
Gosden senior told the Racing Post that the Japan Cup could be a realistic alternative for the horse, stating: "I can confirm Ombudsman will not now be heading to the Breeders' Cup. The simple reason is he only ran four days ago and to breeze him and then put him on a plane is a bit much. The Japan Cup is under consideration."
Donnacha O'Brien has leading speedster Comanche Brave in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, with Karl Burke's Miss Yechance another potential raider in the five-furlong heat.
BREAKING NEWS 🚨
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 21, 2026
Ombudsman to miss the Breeders' Cup with the Japan Cup a possibility 👇 pic.twitter.com/CUvdPEGMFo
The fields for the two-year-old races have also taken shape, with Francis Graffard confirming Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Amusingly for the Juvenile Fillies' Turf. Joseph O'Brien has Green Empress and Alwaysanangel in the same event, while multiple top-class scorer Sun Goddess is the star turn for Aidan O'Brien.
Appleby has entered Al Hudaiba for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, a race in which O'Brien (senior) could run Great Barrier Reef, Haffner and Florida Bay. Joseph O'Brien has Group 1 winner Folsom Blues to call upon there.
George Boughey is set to rely on Libertango in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, with Richard Fahey running Mussab in the same contest.
It is another returning hero from 2025 who headlines the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, with Japan’s Forever Young having marked a defining moment for Japanese racing at Del Mar last year. Forever Young will return to defend his title as the Classic resumes its traditional position as the final race on Saturday’s card.
“This historic level of participation is a testament to the strength and prestige of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” said Drew Fleming, President and CEO of Breeders’ Cup Limited.
"We are deeply grateful to our board of directors, members, nominators, and participants from around the globe for their unwavering support, and to our racing department for the tremendous work that goes into assembling a lineup of this caliber.
"We also thank our great partners at Keeneland and look forward to welcoming the world to their historic venue for another thrilling edition of the Breeders’ Cup, where the very best of our sport will compete on racing’s biggest international stage.”
A maximum number of 14 starters is allowed in each of the 14 Breeders' Cup races, excluding the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint which are limited to 12 starters.
Breeders' Cup Limited utilises a field selection system to select runners when fields are oversubscribed. This system ranks horses in order of preference based on (i) Breeders' Cup Challenge race winners, (ii) a points system, and (iii) the judgment of an independent international panel of racing experts.
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