The Breeders’ Cup is two weeks away. On November 3rd and 4th the best horses, trainers and jockeys will convene at Santa Anita Park for the World Series of Horse Racing.

In regard to the riders, several of the all-time Winningest jockeys in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships history are still active.

So if you are stuck between two horses in any given race and looking for a tiebreaker in your handicapping this year, you could do a lot worse than picking the contenders ridden by jockeys that have had the best success at the Breeders’ Cup so far in their careers.

Based on results in past Breeders’ Cups, some of the best bets may be horses ridden by Mike Smith, John Velazquez, Irad Ortiz Jr., Joel Rosario, and Ryan Moore.

There are also some formidable Breeders’ Cup jockeys who could stand to improve on their BC performances.

BEST BREEDERS’ CUP JOCKEYS

The jockey currently moving up the Breeders’ Cup Win leaderboard the fastest is Irad Ortiz Jr., who Won his first Breeders’ Cup race in 2014 and is already up to 17 career Breeders’ Cup Wins, with 14 of those Victories the last five years.

The all-time leading rider in the history of the Breeders’ Cup is Mike Smith with 27 career Wins and there may be no better rider to have aboard your Breeders’ Cup horse than the veteran known as Big Money Mike.

Smith is not riding too many horses anymore (just two Breeders’ Cup mounts in 2022 and three in 2021), but he did Win the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile aboard CORNICHE. Smith leads all jockeys in Breeders’ Cup purses Won with $38,344,605.

But it’s worth noting that CORNICHE is Smith’s only Breeders’ Cup Win since 2017.

The other jockey on Smith’s level is John Velazquez, who now has 19 Breeders’ Cup Wins dating back to 1998, including his thrilling Victory aboard MALATHAAT in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. That score was Velazquez’s only Win in 10 mounts in 2022, but regardless of that stat you can do a lot worse than having Johnny V. aboard your Breeders’ Cup pick in any race.

He is ranked second in all-time Breeders’ Cup purse earnings with $35,610,275.

Anther veteran jockey who has made the most impact in the Breeders’ Cup in recent years is Joel Rosario, this despite him going winless on 11 mounts in 2022.

If you are willing to overlook last year, Rosario has been a proven rider with 15 career Wins from 146 mounts. Rosario’s drought in 2022 ended his impressive streak of Winning at least one Breeders’ Cup race every year since 2014.

Rosario is all the way up to third on the all-time Breeders’ Cup earnings list with purses of $28,062,535.

UNDERPERFORMING BREEDERS’ CUP JOCKEYS

Not every one of the most high-profile jockeys has enjoyed a lot of Breeders’ Cup success, which makes you appreciate even more the accomplishments of the aforementioned all-stars, because Winning Breeders’ Cup races with regularity is not an easy task.

Flavian Prat was the man of the hour in the 2022 World Championships when he guided superstar FLIGHTLINE to Victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

With FLIGHTLINE being the exception, Prat has not been a standout in his Breeders’ Cup outings to date. Of Prat’s 14 mounts at the 2022 Breeders’ Cup, FLIGHTLINE was his only Winner, and his lifetime record is just four Winners from his first 71 Breeders’ Cup mounts (5.6%).

Jose Ortiz is often mentioned in the same breath as his brother, Irad, when talking about the leading riders in New York, but when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup, Jose has yet to achieve anything close to the same level of success.

Jose went 0-for-9 at the 2022 Breeders’ Cup and owns just five Breeders’ Cup Wins so far from 77 mounts for a Win percentage of 6.5%.

Finally, a jockey that rides essentially on par with the Ortiz brothers at other meets except the Breeders’ Cup is Luis Saez, who has Won riding titles at places like Saratoga, Keeneland, and Gulfstream Park but so far has only one career Breeders’ Cup Win from 53 mounts.

Saez’s lone Win came in 2020 aboard ESSENTIAL QUALITY in the Juvenile. His best result since then was 3rd-place finish aboard ESSENTIAL QUALITY in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Who will be the jockey stars of this year’s Breeders’ Cup?