Neil Morrice best bets and tips – Saturday, 31 October 2026

BREEDERS CUP KEENELAND DAY TWO BEST BETS SATURDAY

Race 4 BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY & MARE SPRINT (Grade 1)

No7 EVANESCENCE

Trainer: Eddie Kenneally – Jockey: Luis Saez

Well drawn and bringing an unbeaten record at this track to the table, EVANESCENCE is a lightly raced filly moving up in class but one who could post a minor upset. SWEET AZTECA would prefer slower ground but having missed the last two Breeders’ Cup comes here with solid claims. Bob Baffert’s EXPLORA holds her form well and can also earn if coping with an outside post.

Prediction: 1st EVANESCENCE, 2nd Sweet Azteca, 3rd Explors

Race 5 PREVAGEN BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT (Grade 1)

Num7 COMMANCHE BRAVE

Trainer: Donnacha O’Brien – Jockey: Billy Loughnane

Back-to-back Group 1 scorer COMMANCHE BRAVE has looked the part in training but this is the first time his rider has sat on him. The four-year-old took his form to a new level this year and may capitalise if Morning Line favourite BACIO fluffs his lines. Wes Ward’s speedster looked invincible with the way he burned off his Nunthorpe foes, but very worrying is his failure to win a stakes race in America. Prix de l’Abbaye winner MISS YERCHANCE might find it hard to lead, but on the basis of that Group 1 success in France could prove a big priced earner.

Prediction: 1st COMMANCHE BRAVE, 2nd Bacio, 3rd Miss Yerchance

Race 6 BREEDERS’ CUP DIRT MILE (Grade 1)

Num1 FURTHER ADO

Trainer: Brad Cox – Jockey: Flavien Prat

Cox has been all over FURTHER ADO on the backside this week and his Keeneland specialist will surely prove very hard to beat at his optimum trip. The Gun Runner colt is four from ten, with two of those triumphs happening here. He’s been trained specifically for this one day, and can show that the decision to run here rather than the longer Classic was both logical and correct. One line of form from the Mountaineer brings BRACKET BUSTER into the equation. The four-year-old got hooked up in traffic in his prep but if there’s any justice he will earn.

Prediction: 1st FURTHER ADO, 2nd Bracket Buster, 3rd Coal Battle

Race 7 MAKER’S MARK BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY & MARE TURF (Grade 1)

Num12 BLUE BOLT (Nap)

Trainer: Andrew Balding – Jockey: Colin Keane

If BLUE BOLT stays the extra furlong and a half she has to travel in this showcase affair then surely she is the best bet at Breeders’ Cup 2026. The Blue Point filly is poised to make it a seventh conversion from as many starts this season and a fifth Group/Grade 1 in succession. She’s an adaptable filly who can take her time granted her rider’s knowledge of her explosive turn of foot. That’s a potent weapon she should utilise to hunt down old adversary PRECISE, whose chance rests largely in the fact she got the mile and a quarter well when second in the Prix De L’Opera at Longchamp. GIMME A NOTHER is unbeaten this season and for English trainer Graham Motion could prove the best of the American distaffers.

Prediction: 1st BLUE BOLT, 2nd Precise, 3rd Gimme A Nother

Race 8 CYGAMES BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT (Grade 1)

Num13 ENGLISHMAN

Trainer: Cherie Devaux – Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Three-year-old ENGLISHMAN brings a towering figure advantage to the party in his quest to take down mainly older opponents, and if getting the rub from his outside gate should make this a winning first visit to Keeneland. T O ELVIS is a worthy rival from Japan who has the form to be competitive, though connections might have benefitted from employing an American jockey. Freshened up for this, he must take a hand of repeating his Derby day run. LISTENUPSHANCE arrives in the form of his life and figures to get into the argument if he can maintain that progression.

Prediction: 1st ENGLISHMAN, 2nd T O Elvis, 3rd Listenupshance

Race 9 FANDUEL BREEDERS’ CUP MILE (Grade 1)

No8 NOTABLE SPEECH

Trainer: Charlie Appleby – Jockey: William Buick

The 2025 Mile winner NOTABLE SPEECH stated his case as the top dog at this distance with his last to first swoop at Woodbine to make it three successes from five outings this season. As the spearhead of a smaller attack on this meeting than usual for owners Godolphin, he rates one of the best bets of the night and can stave off the attentions of TRUE LOVE. Aidan O’Brien’s filly took out the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Group 1 Foret at Longchamp and her stamina should be assured around this tight course. PUERTO RICO wasn’t far behind his stablemate in the Foret in a seasonal best effort, and while he lacks consistency he could again get into the argument for the Coolmore team.

Prediction: 1st NOTABLE SPEECH, 2nd True Love, 3rd Puerto Rico

Race 10 LONGNES BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF (Grade 1)

Num2 NITROGEN

Trainer: Mark Casse – Jockey: Jose Ortiz

After a Grade 1 triumph in the Phipps NITROGEN rocks up as a worthy favourite to take care of business. In a race that’s cut up the nine race winner should dominate affairs, with FULLY SUBSCRIBED forming the flip side of the exacta. The last named filly is getting better and has to be taken seriously in her bid to claim a third Grade 1 of the year. There is a doubt over the participation of SPLENDORA but Bob Baffert’s mare will firmly enter calculations if she does participate in a bid to back up her Del Mar success in the corresponding race of 2025.

Prediction: 1st NITROGEN, 2nd Fully Subscribed, 3rd Splendora

Race 11 LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP TURF (Grade 1)

Num2 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Trainer: Aidan O’Brien – Jockey: Ryan Moore

Having the dubious honour of running in the Derby when he had actually been scratched, things haven’t gone perfectly to plan for BENVENUTO CELLINI in his subsequent forays to the track but I’m happy to buy into the same faith of his trainer, who has been all over the chestnut in interviews this week. His King George and Arc efforts were probably better than they looked, especially in France, and the Irish Derby winner also gets the thumbs up from Ryan Moore who could have ridden DIAMOND NECKLACE. Her Arc near miss gives her the beating of her stablemate on the book, but in one of the hardest races on the card I’m happy to stick with BENVENUTO CELLINI. TIFFANY made a bright start to her US campaign when scoring at Kentucky Downs in a race where ETHICAL DIAMOND experienced traffic issues. Sir Mark Prescott’s mare is a player on her career swan song while BAY CITY ROLLER would have preferred some give in the ground. It’s a lovely racing surface on the turf course, but it won’t be ideal for him.

Prediction: 1st BENVENUTO CELLINI, 2nd Tiffany, 3rd Diamond Necklace, 4th Ethical Diamond

Race 12 LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC (Grade 1)

Num7 KNIGHTSBRIDGE

Trainer: Billy Mott – Jockey: Luis Saez

Mott holds the key to the always thrilling Breeders’ Cup nightcap, with KNIGHTSBRIDGE getting the vote over SOVEREIGNTY. It’s very interesting that, having indicated he would switch the selection to the Dirt Mile, he’s taken up the gauntlet with my selection even though the injury prone SOVEREIGNTY is also declared to run. Knightsbridge has limited experience of this track but it’s hard to knock his form going into the race. All told he rates a safer option than Sovereignty who has suffered from a foot problem since taking out the Whitney at Saratoga in the summer. FOREVER YOUNG was workmanlike in landing Belmont’s Jockey Club Gold Cup, and though looking on his game in training might not be quite good enough to repeat his Del Mar Classic triumph of 12 months ago.