Report: Yes, Next will go to Breeders’ Cup, but which race?

Trainer Doug Cowans reportedly confirmed that dirt stayer Next will be entered for a Breeders’ Cup race Nov. 2 at Del Mar. He just did not say which one.

“Once I see the pre-entries, it will probably be an easy decision from there,” Cowans told BloodHorse.

Next, a 6-year-old gelding who is on a seven-race winning streak, will go in either the $7 million Classic at 1 1/4 miles on dirt or the $5 million Turf at 1 1/2 miles.

The son of Not This Time owned by Michael Foster has made his last 10 starts on dirt at distances of 1 3/8 to 1 5/8 miles. His last six wins have been by margins of 9 1/4 to 25 lengths, including the last two runnings of both the Grade 2 Brooklyn and the Greenwood Cup (G3).

If he were to go in the Classic, Next would cut back to a distance he never has raced on dirt. The last time he went shorter than 1 3/8 miles on such a main track, he was eased to a last-place finish in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile covering 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland.

The Turf would keep Next in his 1 1/2-mile wheelhouse, but he has not raced on the grass since he finished fourth going 1 1/8 miles more than two years ago in an Ellis Park allowance. That was before Cowans made a dirt marathoner out of Next starting with the following race.

Pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup are due Monday at 3 p.m. EDT, but they will not be revealed until Wednesday at noon. Entries will be taken Monday, Oct. 28, with post positions drawn at 7:15 p.m.