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View Winners → 33rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Friday and Saturday
Arcadia Weekly Nov 03, 2016
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Royalty of Racing, Breeders’ Cup, returns to Santa Anita Friday. The world’s greatest thoroughbreds will compete for fame and considerable fortune at one of the greatest race tracks in the world in Arcadia. – Photo by Terry Miller
California Chrome LLC’s California Chrome and Juddmonte Farms’ Arrogate are the top two morning line favorites in a field of 10 3-year-olds and up set for Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), the climax of the 33rd Breeders’ Cup World Championship races to be run Friday and Saturday (Nov. 4 and Nov. 5) at Santa Anita.
The 1.25 mile Classic is the richest of 13 Championship races worth $28.5 million in purses and awards to be run over the two days at Santa Anita and will be televised live by NBCSN and NBC. The Classic will be broadcast live at 8:35 p.m. ET on NBC (8 p.m. – 9 p.m. ET).
Four Championship races will be run Friday, highlighted by the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles and featuring champions Beholder, Songbird and Stellar Wind in a field of eight.
The 169 horses entered includes six also-eligibles. Among the entries are eight winners from the 2015 event at Keeneland. Going for repeat wins in the same race are Tepin (Mile), Found (Ire) (Turf), Wavell Avenue (Filly & Mare Sprint) and Mongolian Saturday(Turf Sprint). The others are Juvenile Fillies winner Songbird (Distaff), Sprint winner Runhappy (Las Vegas Dirt Mile), Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Catch a Glimpse (Filly & Mare Turf) and Juvenile Turf winner Hit a Bomb (Mile).
Trained by Art Sherman, California Chrome is undefeated in six starts this year and has pushed his career bankroll to more than $13.4 million. Third in the Classic at Santa Anita in 2014, California Chrome is the even-money morning line favorite and will break from post position four under Victor Espinoza.
Second on the morning line at 5-2 is the Bob Baffert-trained Arrogate.
A winner of his past four starts, Arrogate exploded onto the national racing scene with a 13 ½-length victory in the Travers (G1) in his most recent start August 27. Mike Smith will be aboard the lone 3-year-old in the race and break from post position 10.
Baffert, who won last year’s Classic with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and the 2014 Classic with Bayern, will have a second starter in the race in Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman’s Hoppertunity. Winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) in his most recent starter and earner of more than $3.5 million, Hoppertunity will break from post position nine and be ridden by John Velazquez. Hoppertunity is 15-1 on the morning line.
