After 94 earlier qualifying races in the United States and abroad, the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In concludes Oct. 17 with the Champion Stakes (G1) at Ascot Racecourse.
Though contested in England just two weeks before the Breeders' Cup, the 1 1/4-mile race still could produce a starter for the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) this fall in Kentucky. Godolphin's Ombudsman and Victorious Forever's Bay City Roller are potential Breeders' Cup starters, although their performances at Ascot and post-race condition will go a long way toward determining whether they travel to Keeneland, which hosts the Breeders' Cup for the fourth time this fall in two days of racing Oct. 30-31.
Along with The Aga Khan Studs' Calandagan, Ombudsman and Bay City Roller are among the favorites in the six-horse field. Calandagan, a 5-year-old gelding by Gleneagles trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, is expected to await the Nov. 29 Japan Cup (G1T) after racing Saturday. He captured both races last year.
After a follow-up win this year in the March 28 Dubai Sheema Classic (G1T) at Meydan, he finished fourth in the June 6 Coronation Cup Stakes (G1) at Epsom Downs Racecourse, won the July 5 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) in France, and ran second in the July 25 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1). He was freshened thereafter and has not raced since.
Ombudsman, runner-up to Calandagan in last year's Champion Stakes for co-trainers John and Thady Gosden, will look to rebound from defeat after finishing fourth in the Aug. 19 International Stakes (G1) at York Racecourse. That effort ended a three-race winning streak that included the Dubai Turf (G1T), Brigadier Gerard Stakes (G3), and Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) at Ascot Racecourse.
His Prince of Wales's Stakes victory has already secured him an automatic Breeders' Cup berth, with entry fees paid.
The Gosdens have campaigned Ombudsman this year in races around 1 1/4 miles, the distance of the Champion Stakes. The Breeders' Cup Turf is a quarter mile longer at 1 1/2 miles, although European horses often possess the stamina needed to handle longer distances in America.
Bay City Roller, trained by George Scott, brings a different profile. He captured the Coronation Cup at Epsom by 10 lengths, outrunning a field that included 2024 St Leger Stakes (G1) winner Jan Brueghel. He then finished second to Daryz in the Prix Foy (G2) Sept. 6 and again to that rival in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) Oct. 4, beaten just 1 1/4 lengths.
"He'll go to Ascot and then the Breeders' Cup as he backs up well out of his races, just as he did when winning the Coronation Cup only 13 days after running second in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh," trainer George Scott told Racing Post in the days after the Arc.
He noted the horse had a light summer campaign.
Trainer Jessica Harrington is taking a different approach by skipping the Champion Stakes and waiting for the Breeders' Cup with Hotazhell, who comes off an upset victory in the Sept. 12 Irish Champion Stakes (G1) at Leopardstown Racecourse.
Europeans Imposing in BC Grass Races
An examination of results from the three previous Breeders' Cup meetings at Keeneland suggests European-trained horses will be formidable in grass races this fall, as they often are regardless of the racetrack hosting the Breeders' Cup.
Found defeated Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner Golden Horn and other males in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) for trainer Aidan O'Brien. Five years later, the Dermot Weld-trained Tarnawa defeated fellow female Magical, while world traveler Rebel's Romance captured the most recent Keeneland edition in 2022.
European runners also fared well in other turf races, though Hit It a Bomb and Found were the only European shippers to win a Breeders' Cup grass race in 2015 at Keeneland, with the former capturing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T).
European-based runners enjoyed broader success in 2020, when Order of Australia, Audarya, and Glass Slippers came to Kentucky and notched Breeders' Cup victories.
Similarly, Modern Games, Tuesday, Victoria Road, Meditate, and Mischief Magic added more success in 2022.
Godolphin and Coolmore-affiliated ownership rank among the most successful in Breeders' Cup history, a record reflected in the accomplishments of their principal trainers, Charlie Appleby and Aidan O'Brien. Appleby is 12-for-32 in Breeders' Cup races, while O'Brien is 21-for-193. O'Brien and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert are tied for the most Breeders' Cup victories.
Appleby, more than O'Brien, often uses North American prep races ahead of the Breeders' Cup. In one recent example, Notable Speech captured the Woodbine Mile (G1T) last month over Deterministic , one of America's most accomplished turf horses of 2026. Last year, Notable Speech won the Woodbine Mile and later the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) at Del Mar.
American-based horses benefit from less travel and greater familiarity with racing conditions, but Europe's top turf runners can outclass them. Sometimes, horses not necessarily considered Europe's best can thrive in the United States or, at least, on the day. Order of Australia provided such a surprising victory with his 73-1 upset in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T).
