Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The stage is set for the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland, with Flightline, undefeated and the world's top-ranked horse, taking a starring role in the featured race, the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.
The two-day event, Nov. 4 to 5, drew 45 overseas runners among 205 horses pre-entered this week The list includes 73 Grade I or Group 1 winners and seven former or defending Breeders' Cup champions.
Final entries are taken and post positions drawn Monday for the 14 Championships races -- five Friday and nine Saturday. We'll have much more on the individual races then.
However the draw shakes out, the Classic will remain the focus.
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Flightline, a 4-year-old Tapit colt, has won all five career starts and his 19 1/4-length score in the Grade I Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sept. 3 supercharged the "best ever" discussion surrounding the John Sadler trainee.
Flightline is rated 139 on the Longines World's Best Racehorse measure, fully 4 points ahead of his closest rival and 14 points ahead of his closest rivals in the Classic -- Epicenter and Life Is Good.
While rivals in the Classic express awe when discussing Flightline, they harbor a shred of hope he can be beaten.
Much of that hope lies with Life Is Good. That colt's running style is very similar to Flightline's. Both take the lead, dare anyone to run with them early, then seem to find more in the stretch run to deal with any late challenges.
If those two go head-to-head, will one tire? Will both tire, opening the way for one of the other talented runners, perhaps this year's Kentucky Derby winner, Rich Strike, Travers winner Epicenter or Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Olympiad?
The gates are due to spring back at 5:40 p.m. EDT on Nov. 5, and we'll know the answers within two minutes.
Meanwhile, here's what's on tap in this weekend's racing:
Keeneland
The regular fall meeting winds up Saturday with a pair of graded stakes. First Captain, third in the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup in his last, is the morning-line pick in a well-matched field in the $350,000 Grade II Hagyard Fayette Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt.
The $300,000 Grade III Bryan Station sends 3-year-olds over 1 mile on the grass. A competitive, overflow field has some familiar names.
Friday's feature is the $300,000 Grade III Rubicon Valley View Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on the turf with the Chad Brown-trained Dolce Zel as the morning-line pick in a full field. Two-year-old fillies go 6 furlongs on the turf in the $200,000 Myrtlewood Stakes.
Churchill Downs
The Louisville track squeezes in one weekend of racing between Keeneland's closing and its brief reopening for Breeders' Cup.
The feature is Sunday's $200,000 Grade III Street Sense Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. There's a huge and competitive field so sharpen up the juvenile handicapping skills on this one before next weekend's "Future Stars Friday" at Breeders' Cup.
Santa Anita
Saturday's card features three graded races on the turf. The $200,000 Grade II Twilight Derby is a 1 1/8 miles. Hawthorne Derby winner Speaking Scout journeys west and faces the likes of Cabo Spirit, Handy Dandy and War at Sea.
The $200,000 Grade II Goldikova has fillies and mares trying 1 mile with Avenue de France and Going Global among six. And the $100,000 Grade III Autumn Miss has a dozen 3-year-old fillies going 1 mile.
Aqueduct
Saturday's $300,000 Grade II Kelso is 1 mile on the dirt. The six-horse field includes Morello, a Triple Crown candidate early this year, and impressive last-out winner Baby Yoda.
The $200,000 Grade III Bold Ruler, a 6-furlongs test, attracted a well-balanced and experienced field of 10.
Sunday's program at the Big A is filled with rich events for the New York-breds that include the Empire Classic and Empire Distaff, each worth $250,000 at the end of 1 1/8 miles.
The 2-year-olds
For the fillies: Friday's $120,000 Chelsea Flower Stakes for fillies, 1 1/16 miles on the turf at Aqueduct; Friday's $200,000 Myrtlewood at Keeneland, 6 furlongs, Saturday's $200,000 Rags to Riches Stakes, 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs; and Saturday's $75,000 Pike Place Dancer, 1 mile on the Golden Gate Fields turf.
Open, or for colts and geldings: Friday's $100,000 Clever Trevor, 7 furlongs at Remington Park; Saturday's $200,000 Grade III Street Sense Stakes, 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs; Saturday's $120,000 Awad Stakes, 1 1/16 miles on the Aqueduct turf; Saturday's $200,000 Bowman Mill, 6 furlongs at Keeneland.
There are races for state-bred juveniles at Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, Zia Park, Presque Isle Downs, Charles Town, Golden Gate Fields, Horseshoe Indiana and Mahoning Valley.
Around the world, around the clock
Japan
Sunday's Grade 1 Tenno Sho (Autumn), 2,000 meters at Tokyo Racecourse, has a diverse cast with some impressive worldwide credentials. Shahryar doubled down on last year's Japanese Derby victory with a win in this year's Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic. He runs fresh off a long layoff.
Panthalassa won the 1,800-meter Dubai Turf on the same program in March. Equinox, second in this year's Derby, has two wins and two seconds from four starts.
Australia
The Saturday card at Flemington includes three Group 1 events: The 1,200-meters Coolmore Stud Stakes and the Penfolds Victoria Derby at 2,500 meters and the TAB Empire Rose Stakes for fillies and mares at 1,600 meters.
England
Queen Aminatu got the lead inside the furlong marker in Thursday's Fleur De Lys Fillies' Stakes at Lingfield Park and got clear to win by 2 1/4 lengths over Roman Mist. The race was a Fast-Track Qualifier for the All-Weather Championships Fillies & Mares Division.
Internationalangel, second behind Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint entrant Highfield Princess in the Fillies & Mares Championship on Good Friday, resumed her all-weather career with a third-place finish.
