This year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic has a distinctive look to it.

An international challenger hasn’t won the race since Raven’s Pass in 2008, but this time foreign raiders have dominated the ante-post markets.

Much of the race will revolve around the Irish superstar City of Troy, who will bid to translate his stellar turf campaign onto the dirt, while a trio of Japanese contenders, led by Forever Young, all have creditable claims.

Fierceness represents the best of the home charge this time around and the triple Grade 1 winner staked his claim for this with a gutsy win over Thorpedo Anna in the DraftKings Travers Stakes in August.

The third from that race, Sierra Leone, was agonizingly defeated in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and will reoppose and bid for his own day in the sun at Del Mar.  Other notable possibles for this year’s Classic include Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes winner Highland Falls, California Crown Stakes winner Subsanador, and Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey, but the international group boasts a depth of quality.

City of Troy

Ballydoyle star City of Troy (Eclipse Sportswire)

Only two European horses have ever won the Classic, Arcangues for France in 1993 and the aforementioned Raven’s Pass for British trainer John Gosden in 2008.

Several have gone close in between and after those runnings, but few with the profile and reputation of City of Troy, who has been a strong ante-post favorite. 

Last year’s champion juvenile in Britain, City of Troy lost his flawless record in May’s QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas but has looked unflappable since, winning three of Britain’s hallmark races in the Betfred Derby, Coral Eclipse, and Juddmonte International Stakes.

The Ballydoyle behemoth was mooted for a shot at the Travers after his Epsom triumph in the summer, but will instead make his dirt debut at Del Mar.

The long-striding colt passed through a broadcasted gallop on Southwell’s Tapeta all-weather surface in mid-September and boasts a fascinating pedigree to take on the Classic as he is by the 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.

Forever Young

Forever Young after running third in the Kentucky Derby. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The Japanese have yet to win the Classic either, but they are increasingly targeting America’s biggest prizes.

Yoshito Yahagi masterminded a breakthrough Breeders’ Cup dirt success with Marche Lorraine in the 2021 Longines Distaff, while he came agonizingly close to winning the Kentucky Derby with Forever Young in May.

The colt was beaten a short-head by Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone in a pulsating stretch drive and warmed up for the Classic with a straightforward victory in the Japan Dirt Classic on Oct. 2.

Forever Young is undefeated in his home country but is already well travelled, having showcased his talents with wins in the Boutique Group Saudi Derby and UAE Derby in the spring.

He is not always a straightforward ride, but proved he could face kickback when breaking slowly and racing in behind at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Derby and remains a horse of enormous potential.

Derma Sotogake

Derma Sotogake preparing for the 2023 Breeders' Cup. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The likeable chestnut came within a length of winning last year’s Classic when second to White Abarrio.

He broke well that day and raced prominently before becoming outpaced around the home turn, but rallied gallantly to push the winner close at the finish.

He ran a respectable fifth when ridden less positively in the Saudi Cup in February but had no response to Laurel River’s tour de force in the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline the following month when beaten by 16 ¼ lengths into sixth.

He was again weak in the finish when only fifth on his reappearance in the Nippon TV Hai on Sept. 25 and will need to be back to his very best to threaten again this year.

Ushba Tesoro

Ushba Tesoro winning Tokyo Daishoten in December 2023.

Consistent type only finished fifth to White Abarrio in last year’s Classic but already has a major dirt Group 1 to his name courtesy of his extraordinary finishing effort in the 2023 Dubai World Cup.

A hold-up runner who tends to close late with a flourish, his recent record makes for better reading than Derma Sotogake’s. That horse finished behind him in both the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup in which he twice finished a respectable second.

He filled the same runner-up position when putting in a typically strong-staying performance on his reappearance behind William Barows in the Nippon TV Hai and ought to be involved in the finish this time if able to keep tabs on the field early on.