1st to last: Ranking Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf

Perhaps no race captures the global nature of the Breeders’ Cup better than the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The past five winners have been based in Canada, Britain, Ireland, Japan and France. Many of those countries will be represented again in the 2025 edition of this race, but the favorite is likely to be a runner who hails from America.

Cherie DeVaux’s She Feels Pretty is a head away from entering the Breeders’ Cup on a six-race winning streak since adding blinkers late last year. She would be a deserving favorite, but that does not mean she will win on this global stage. Below I analyze her chances against her competition as I rank the projected Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf field from first to last.

1. See The Fire. Andrew Balding’s shipper checks every box as she gets set to make her U.S. debut. She has faced almost all of Europe’s best horses over the past 18 months including Calandagan, Ombudsman, Delacroix, Porta Fortuna, Opera Singer, Ramatuelle, City of Troy and Inspiral. Half of that list of superstars are males, meaning she truly has fought every challenge. She has been very competitive against this stiff competition, but only has one win from six tries this year, which may lead to some value. That win came when she faced Group 2 fillies and mares and she defeated them by 12 lengths. That race was on firm turf over a track with left-handed turns, so this layoff should be right up her alley. It is rare to say a filly is dropping in class in the Breeders' Cup, but that is exactly what she is doing in this spot.

2. Diamond Rain. Charlie Appleby’s filly was flying late against She Feels Pretty in the E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1) and she should be able to get the better of her rival with the added distance of this race. Her form 1n Europe was good as she was a winner of both her starts this year, though she did not face the same level of class as See The Fire. Charlie Appleby has brought horses like this over here before with great success, however, since he knows the type of horse it takes to win in America. She has been rapidly improving, has shown she likes firm turf and left-handed turns and does not need to improve much on her North America debut to be a big factor. 

3. Cinderella’s Dream. Charlie Appleby’s second entrant may be every bit as good as Diamond Rain. She was favored in this race last year when running a close second. Appleby campaigned her in America last summer and she defeated She Feels Pretty in New York before running in the Breeders’ Cup. He took a different approach this year, keeping her in Europe and running at mostly shorter distances. It will be interesting to see if this strategy leads to a step forward or a step backward, but either way this extremely talented filly figures to be right in the mix once more over a layout that we know she handles well.

4. She Feels Pretty. The likely favorite has never been out of the money in 12 career starts so it may be foolish to place her this low, but it is a sign of respect for her rivals rather than a knock against her. She is by far the best turf filly in America, but this is a much tougher assignment. This is stretching the absolute limits of her distance capabilities and that last half-furlong or so may make the difference between her finishing second and fourth in what should be a close finish.

5. Gezora. She is another European shipper that could mean serious business in this race. She is a Group 1 winner in France this year and has proven she can stay the distance. This 3-year-old filly can certainly get a piece, but she is not ranked as high as some of her foreign counterparts as she has not won around left-handed turns, has not won on a firm turf and has not beaten older foes.

6. Bellezza. This filly really relishes firm turf and she will get that in the Breeders’ Cup. She is also perfect at the distance of this race. She is up against it from a class standpoint as she finished last in her only group stakes effort in Europe last year, but some horses thrive once they get to America and she seems to continue to improve for the Miguel Clement barn.

7. Village Voice. Like Bellezza, this mare’s European form was just average, but she also has already acclimated to America and settled nicely into the Chad Brown barn. She won her U.S. debut in the Waya (G3) off almost a year layoff for Brown and could be a factor with another move forward in her second start off the bench.

8. Bedtime Story. Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Frankel is a tough filly to figure out. She won her first four starts and looked on her way to stardom before losing her next nine starts. Some fillies just do not progress and that seems to be the case with this 3-year-old. She has kept excellent company, running in nine straight Group 1 races, but has not been very competitive lately and seems to be going the wrong direction. 

9. Stellify. This daughter of Justify has looked great winning her last 4 races and now faces the acid test. She won a Grade 3 at Kentucky Downs last out in her stakes debut and now catches a field full of top-tier talent. She is progressing the right way and has the speed to be dangerous, but she is likely to get swallowed up by this all-star cast.

10. Gimme a Nother. Graham Motion’s mare was an undefeated superstar in South Africa, but has found life tougher in America. She has been defeated by She Feels Pretty twice as well as Bellezza and had to ship to Del Mar to face easier in order to earn her first stakes win in five tries in this country.

11. Atsila. This European shipper is on the also-eligible list, but is likely to get in. She is a 3-year-old who has only been group stakes placed only once and is stretching out beyond a mile for the first time. This is an awfully tough assignment for this distance challenge. 

12. Be Your Best. She is her best when she is able to face the second tier of stakes fillies and mares in America. She has struggled at this level of competition and will have company on the front-end early in the form of Stellify.

13. Mission of Joy. Like Be Your Best, she is a cut below the top fillies and mares in America and on this global stage she just has too much ground to make up even with her experience over the track.

14. La Kika. Doug O’Neill’s filly earned a berth to this race by capturing a Group 1 in Peru and then proceeded to lose by 47 lengths in her U.S. debut. That was on dirt and she will return to turf for this race, but she would be a gigantic upset in this spot.

Also of note: Minnie Hauk has first preference in the Breeders' Cup Turf and Alice Verite has first preference in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. If both defect from this race as expected, Atsila will be in and Cathedral will be the next also-eligible.