The fields for the 14 races that comprise the Breeders’ Cup World Championships really begin to come into focus in summer and fall. This regular feature will offer a snapshot profile of one of the previous weekend’s standout stars, usually a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series winner, and whether I’m buying or selling their chances to win Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar. This week, repeat Brooklyn Stakes winner Next extended his winning streak to five with one of the best races we’ve seen in the U.S. this year.

Accomplishments: Trainer Doug Cowans claimed Next in April 2022 at Keeneland on behalf of owner Michael Foster for $62,500. A claiming race, like the aforementioned seven-furlong sprint at Keeneland, is a race in which each horse entered is eligible to be purchased at a set price.

The gray or roan Not This Time gelding has rewarded his new connections with eight wins in 10 starts since he was claimed.

First Cowans tried him back on the grass and he ran well with one win in two tries in two-turn grass races, but the real breakthrough came when Next romped by 18 ¼ lengths in a 1 ½-mile stakes race that was washed off the turf at Delaware Park in September 2022. After that, he has competed exclusively at marathon distances on dirt tracks. A racehorse who had four wins in 13 starts prior to that score in Delaware has transformed into an almost unbeatable force with seven wins in subsequent eight races, all at 1 3/8 miles or longer on dirt.

Competing at marathon distance races on dirt is about as niche as you get in Thoroughbred racing in 2024, but the reality is that Next has been utterly dominant, especially during his current five-race winning streak that began with a 2 ¼-length win in last year’s Brooklyn.

He won the $150,000 Birdstone Stakes at 1 ¾ miles by 11 ¾ lengths in July 2023 at Saratoga and then the $200,000 Greenwood Cup Stakes by 25 lengths going 1 ½ miles on a sloppy track at Parx Racing in September in his final race as a 5-year-old.

Next opened 2024 with an 11 ¼-length win in the 1 ½-mile Isaac Murphy Marathon Stakes May 1 at Churchill Downs before scoring a repeat win in the Brooklyn Stakes by 9 ¼ lengths July 5. His style is simply to crank out one strong eighth of a mile after another and wear the opposition into submission. As Daily Racing Form handicapper David Aragona noted (see below), his final three eighths of a mile in :12.02, :11.88, and :11.89 jump off the page in a 1 3/8-mile race like the Brooklyn.

Given the Brooklyn is only an eighth of a mile shorter than the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, it is fair to wonder if the 1 ¼-mile, $7 million race might become the long-range target.

“The problem is, the pace is going to change when you start shortening things down. I worry about that with him,” Cowans told BloodHorse with regard to trying shorter distances. “Early on he likes to be up close, and he has some natural speed, but he likes to get into a rhythm once he breaks out of there with that natural speed. I don’t know about putting him into a :46 [half-mile]. That’s not his style. … He just loves this, and we’re going to try and keep doing it with him.”

Speed Figures: Next has been on an absolute heater in terms of speed figures, setting or equaling a career-best Equibase Speed Figure in each of his last four starts with a 104-109-109-110 during the dazzling run. His Beyer Speed Figures have also been terrific during those same four races – 105-104-105-109 – with the 109 for the 2024 Brooklyn a career top.

Looking Ahead: There probably will be external pressure for the connections of Next to try races like the Woodward Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Breeders’ Cup Classic (he is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup). But as long as Cowans and owner Michael Foster are content to click off wins in marathon races, those races don’t seem to be part of the plan for Next.

“We’ll run him four or five times a year, whatever the marathon races are. Just keep doing it with him and hope he’s around for a while because he’s fun to be around and he’s fun to watch do this,” Cowans said.

For that reason, I’m selling Next as a Breeders’ Cup candidate even though I absolutely buy him as one of the two or three best horses in the older male division. He looks like a star, but don’t expect to see him shine on Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.