NBC Sports is your hub for the 2021 Breeders’ Cup, which will take place from November 5-6, culminating with the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, which airs live on NBC. Find out more info here.
The Breeders’ Cup World Championships, horseracing’s most prestigious global meeting comprising 14 top-class horse races spread over two days, rolls into beautiful Del Mar in Southern California this week. The feature event is Saturday’s $6 million Longines Classic and we’ve assessed all nine contenders to give you the lowdown on the big race.
1. TRIPOLI (Four-year-old colt)
Record: 15 starts: 4 wins, 3 seconds, 3 thirds
Earnings: $830K
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Trainer: John W. Sadler
This runner had his first 11 starts on turf and only switched to dirt this year, but he proved good enough to win the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, a race run over the same track and trip as the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the feature of Del Mar’s summer.
His speed figures, though, are nothing out of the ordinary in the context of top-level company and he managed only fourth - behind three of these rivals - in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita when last seen.
The same connections landed the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs with Accelerate, who also won the Pacific Classic and followed up in the Awesome Again.
Maybe Tripoli will bounce back to form under favorable conditions, but this requires a major career best.
Verdict: While the track and trip are ideal for Tripoli, his prep race was uninspiring and he just doesn’t look good enough.
2. EXPRESS TRAIN (Four-year-old colt)
Record: 14 starts: 4 wins, 4 seconds, 3 thirds
Earnings: $696K
Jockey: Victor Espinoza
Trainer: John A. Shirreffs
Express Train already has a second and third-place finish to his name in 1 ¼-mile Grade 1s this year - they came at Santa Anita - and he also won the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar.
That set him up for the prestigious Pacific Classic over this track and trip at the end of August and he duly went off favorite for what is the highlight of Del Mar’s summer meet, but he could manage only sixth behind Tripoli. While he was never well positioned, there’s no disguising it was a dull effort.
There was, though, at least a little hope to be taken from his next run, when prepping for this in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. Although he was below his best in finishing only third behind two of these rivals, that was over an inadequate 1 ⅛ miles and he had a troubled run through before keeping on in the stretch.
His trainer John Shirreffs won this with the wonder mare Zenyatta in 2009.
Verdict: If he has a good day and the leaders go too fast, he could stay on for some minor money, but he is an unlikely winner
3. HOT ROD CHARLIE (Three-year-old colt)
Record: 11 starts: 3 wins, 2 seconds, 3 thirds
Earnings: $2.17M
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Trainer: Doug F. O’Neill
Hot Rod Charlie was sent off the longest shot on the board at 94-1 in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile yet found only Essential Quality too good - and arguably ran the better race of the pair, even in defeat, as he sat closer than the winner to a wickedly fast pace.
Doug O’Neill’s colt has proven that was no fluke, finishing third behind Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby, one place ahead of Essential Quality, before a fine second to his old foe in the Belmont Stakes, forcing a rapid tempo yet only giving way late on.
Hot Rod Charlie was first past the wire in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth next time only to be taken down by the stewards having caused interference when edging left in the stretch.
He finally got a Grade 1 for keeps, though, in the 1 ⅛-mile Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on his latest outing. It was a little disconcerting to see him lug out to his right on the final turn, but he still recorded a really sharp time.
This will be his first test against older horses, but he has a versatile run-style and is still improving.
Verdict: With a good blend of speed and stamina, and coming into this race in flying form, Hot Rod Charlie can prove best of all
4. ESSENTIAL QUALITY (Three-year-old colt)
Record: 9 starts: 8 wins
Earnings: $4.22M
Jockey: Luis Saez
Trainer: Brad H. Cox
The winner of last season’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland and beaten just once from nine career starts, Essential Quality rates as one of the leading contenders for the main event this time around.
It was in this year’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs that he came up short when finishing only fourth behind two of these rivals. However, had a brutally wide trip from gate 14, covering more ground than all bar the 17th and 18th-placed runners and travelling a whopping 68ft further than the winner Medina Spirit.
Essential Quality subsequently got himself on the Triple Crown roll of honor in the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes, the ‘Test of the Champion’, and on his latest start he won the Travers Stakes - the ‘Midsummer Derby’ - at Saratoga.
He only got on top in the late stages of the Travers, prevailing by just a neck, but did well considering the runner-up was allowed to set steady fractions.
This will be his first start against older rivals and there are horses in here with more early speed than him, not least Knicks Go from the same barn, so the question is whether he can get rolling in time.
While Essential Quality has an abundance of stamina, the Travers showed he’s also got tactical gears and the pace is likely to be quite a bit stronger now which can only help him.
One concern, though, is that the track may not be ideal, with this year’s Breeders’ Cup host Del Mar having a relatively short home stretch.
Verdict: He’s usually in front where it counts, but may just lack the speed for top spot this time
5. KNICKS GO (Five-year-old horse)
Record: 23 starts: 9 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third
Earnings: $5.55M
Jockey: Joel Rosario
Trainer: Brad H. Cox
A brilliant front-runner at up to 1 ⅛ miles, Knicks Go is the one they’ll all have to catch and will enter the starting gates as one of the favorites.
His four Grade 1 victories include last season’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in a track-record time at Keeneland, as well as this year’s Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream and the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.
He’s never tried the 1 ¼ miles of the Classic but is at his most effective in two-turn races with his lightning early speed able to get most horses out of their comfort zone. He’s a perfect seven-for-seven in such races since joining trainer Brad Cox.
The question is whether he can last out the extra furlong. With other early speed types in opposition, he’s going to have to work to take up his favored spot.
It remains to be seen whether the track suits a particular run style - track biases can be a key part of the puzzle - but the configuration of Del Mar, just a mile round and with a short stretch, seems set to help him. The only other time the Breeders’ Cup was held at this venue, in 2017, the winner and runner-up in the Classic were first and second throughout.
On pedigree there’s hope to be taken from the sire, Paynter, who was second in the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes. But the dam was a sprinter.
Verdict: A fun horse to watch but he’s up in trip and unlikely to be allowed an easy time on the lead, so he may struggle to see it out best
6. ART COLLECTOR (Four-year-old colt)
Record: 15 starts: 8 wins, 1 second
Earnings: $1.49M
Jockey: Mike Smith
Trainer: William I. Mott
Art Collector was an also-ran in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland, finishing eighth of 12 behind Knicks Go. But a mid-season trainer switch in this latest campaign has seen an upswing in his fortunes.
Since moving to the care of Bill Mott, who was inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 1998, Art Collector has won all three starts. His most recent victory was gained in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes over 1 ⅛ miles at Belmont, where he led throughout.
Mott won the Classic with the great Cigar, who was sent off favorite when completing an unbeaten season in 1995, as well as with Drosselmeyer, a 14-1 longshot in 2011.
There’s encouragement in this horse’s pedigree for the step up to 1 ¼ miles, seeing as his sire was second in this race in 2006 and the dam was a close fourth in the 2011 Filly & Mare Turf going 1 ⅜ miles.
However, the Woodward wasn’t a strong contest - the time was ordinary in the context of this race - and jockey Luis Saez, aboard for those last three starts, has abandoned him in favor of Essential Quality.
Mott has instead turned to fellow Hall-of-Famer Mike Smith - ‘Big Money Mike’ - who was aboard Drosselmeyer for that one’s Classic victory.
Verdict: Has to be respected given his connections but doesn’t look quite good enough
7. STILLETO BOY (Three-year-old gelding)
Record: 10 starts: 2 wins, 3 seconds, 3 thirds
Earnings: $325K
Jockey: Kent Desormeaux
Trainer: Ed Moger, Jr.
The only gelding in the line-up, Stilleto Boy has finished behind Medina Spirit on his last two starts, most recently a five-length second to the Bob Baffert runner in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita.
Stilleto Boy is improving and may progress some more now being upped again in distance from 1 ⅛ miles, although the sire Shackleford was a speed horse so the pedigree is hardly encouraging for an added stamina test.
Those who like a longshot can perhaps take inspiration from Stormy Lucy’s 65-1 upset win in a Del Mar Grade 1 - the Matriarch Stakes - in 2015. She went for this same jockey and trainer combination.
Verdict: There’s no evidence he will be good enough to trouble the best of these runners so he’ll be one of the longest shots on the board
8. MEDINA SPIRIT (Three-year-old colt)
Record: 9 starts: 5 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third
Earnings: $2.53M
Jockey: John Velazquez
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Controversy surrounds Medina Spirit’s front-running success in this year’s Kentucky Derby as he failed his post-race drug test, and all of Bob Baffert’s Breeders’ Cup runners will have to undergo enhanced testing.
Following his Derby win, Medina Spirit was only third in the Preakness Stakes - the second leg of the Triple Crown - but he’s since rebounded with back-to-back victories.
The first of them was gained in a minor event at Del Mar and he followed up in last month’s Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, proving himself against top older runners.
All those wins, though, were gained under front-running tactics and he faces some serious competition for the lead now, particularly from Knicks Go, who wired the field over a mile at last year’s Breeders’ Cup.
Baffert has won this race four times since 2014, including just last year at Keeneland with another front-running Kentucky Derby winner in Authentic.
Verdict: It’s always dangerous to discount a Baffert runner, but Medina Spirit is unlikely to get his own way in front so may struggle to produce his best
9. MAX PLAYER (Four-year-old colt)
Record: 11 starts: 4 wins, 1 second, 2 thirds
Earnings: $1.25M
Jockey: Ricardo Santana, Jr.
Trainer: Steven M. Asmussen
The only other time the Breeders’ Cup was staged ‘where the turf meets the surf’, as the Bing Crosby song about Del Mar goes, trainer Steve Asmussen won the Classic with Gun Runner. He also won the race at Monmouth in 2007 with Curlin.
But they were brilliant horses. Max Player, for all his determination and stamina, and even with a breakthrough Grade 1 win on his latest start, is yet to prove that he’s in the same superstar bracket.
He has found his groove this year, winning the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont and most recently gaining that first top-level success in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga, both over the Classic distance.
However, the times of those races were slow in the context of what will be required in this contest, and whereas he was forwardly positioned throughout for those victories, he’ll likely find himself further back in the pack in this company.
Verdict: A strong pace might bring him into it and there’s still room for him to improve, but he’s probably not good enough
