The fields for the 14 races that comprise the Breeders’ Cup World Championships really begin to come into focus in summer and fall and this regular feature will offer a snapshot profile of one of the previous weekend’s standout stars.

Often as the Thoroughbred racing season approaches fall, a string of rising stars emerges ahead of the Breeders’ Cup. But those breakout performers are often lightly raced 2-year-olds competing in stakes races for the first time or 3-year-olds maturing into bigger and better all-around athletes in the second half of their sophomore seasons. In Bright Future’s case, his emergence came a bit later but his determined nose victory over hard-charging Proxy in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes Sept. 3 at Saratoga Race Course nonetheless served as a coming-out party. The Grade 1 win earned him an expenses-paid berth in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park and stamped him a major contender in the $6 million race.

Bright Future did not race as a 2-year-old in 2021 and did not make his first career start until March 19, 2022, winning a one-mile maiden special weight race at Gulfstream Park by 4 ¾ lengths in a dazzling debut. Rather than rush him for the 2022 Triple Crown races, the chestnut Curlin colt raced at Belmont Park in an allowance-optional claiming race the day after that year’s Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets on June 11 and finished third.

“We weren’t really thinking Triple Crown races after his maiden, but he’s always one we thought would develop into a good, solid stakes horse,” trainer Todd Pletcher reflected before the Jockey Club Gold Cup. “He has a lot of Curlin about him; his physical makeup, demeanor and he seems to get better as he matures.”

After the allowance race, Bright Future had some minor issues that led to the decision to give him some time off. It has paid dividends this year as he’s posted three wins and one third in five races. The only poor effort was when he was eased late when eighth of 10 in the Grade 2 Brooklyn Stakes going 1 ½ miles in his stakes debut June 10.

Perhaps the class and distance of the Brooklyn was too much too soon for Bright Future after winning a one-mile allowance race in April and running third in an allowance race in May. Maybe the troubled trip led to the dull effort or perhaps it was a combination of all of the above, but he turned things around in his fourth race this year in a 1 1/8-mile allowance race July 21 at Saratoga.

Bright Future stalked the pace from second and proved much the best in winning by 4 ¾ lengths to earn a career-best 108 Equibase Speed Figure and 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

“[His last race] was a rebound from the Brooklyn and showed that he liked the track and handled the mile and an eighth well,” Pletcher said. “It was something where usually you don’t go immediately from an allowance race thinking you’re going to go into a Grade 1, but in that case we did because we thought it was a good enough performance and the timing of the Jockey Club seemed to fit.”

Bright Future’s second try in a stakes races went significantly better than his first. He tracked pacesetter Warrior Johny from second through three quarters of a mile, seized command nearing the top of the stretch, and then pulled away to a 2 ½-length lead near the eighth pole. Proxy closed powerfully late and gave Bright Future a heck of a battle but finished a nose short as Bright Future completed 1 ¼ miles in 2:03.

Owned by Mike Repole’s Repole Stable and Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable, Bright Future earned new career-top speed figures for the Jockey Club Gold Cup win: 111 Equibase Speed Figure and 103 Beyer Speed Figure.

Bright Future has made tremendous strides in his two most recent starts, but is he ready for the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic?

On paper, he probably is not fast enough yet. The average winning Breeders’ Cup Classic Equibase Speed Figure over the last 20 years is a 120.85 with a median of 119 and the lowest came from Bayern (113) in 2014. So, he will need to take a step forward in the Classic, which Pletcher said will very likely be his next start.

There are some reasons for optimism, however:

• His pace-tracking running style has proved effective in the BC Classic with each of the last 11 winners no more than 3 ½ lengths off the pace after the opening quarter- and half-mile.
• The last 19 Breeders’ Cup Classic winners were Grade 1 winners entering the race, something Bright Future added to his résumé last weekend. Additionally, 11 of the last 19 prepped for the race in New York with five coming out of the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
• Fourteen of the last 20 winners won their final prep and 15 crossed the finish line first with Vino Rosso, by Curlin, disqualified from first to second in the 2019 Jockey Club Gold Cup for Pletcher and Repole-Viola before winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Strong recent form is the best indicator of Classic success with the last 20 winners amassing 40 wins in 61 starts (65.60%) and 57 top-three finishes (93.40%) from June through their final prep during their Classic-winning seasons. The two recent wins from Bright Future fit that trend but that disastrous Suburban should not be overlooked.

Bright Future is a solid contender for the Breeders’ Cup Classic that indeed has validated his name this summer, but he needs to take a significant step forward in terms of speed figure as it almost certainly will take the absolute best race of his life to have a chance to win Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.