California Chrome installed as hot Classic favorite

The reigning king and queen of horse racing, California Chrome and Songbird, received post-position assignments Monday as anticipation began to grow for this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita.

Horse racing fans will have the opportunity to go to the Red Mile on Friday and Saturday to watch and wager on the Breeders’ Cup World Championships from Santa Anita. Curalina, 3. Stellar Wind.

Effinex, runner-up to Hoppertunity by a half-length in the JC Gold Cup and second to Grand Slam champion American Pharoah in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, landed post one and was pegged at 15-1 in the morning line. The ‘TDN Rising Star’, now flawless in 11 career starts, will look to join champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) as the only other filly to follow up with a victory in the following year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff when she starts a relatively short-priced favorite Friday at Santa Anita. She has never really been challenged and her smallest margin of victory has been 3 3/4 lengths.

In the Filly and Mare Sprint, Irish Jasper (#11) has won both of her main-track sprints this year for trainer Chad Brown and may be in the right place at the right time in a field that lacks a standout.

Mike Smith is up.

Trained by John Sadler, Stellar Wind has won seven of 11 career starts. Om is shortening up from one mile to 6 1/2 furlongs down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course, has the advantageous No. 12 post and the services of Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens. Conversely, it will be just as impossible for Winx to make a completely convincing case worldwide without running in any races outside Australia.

Baffert, however, believes that Arrogate’s time may well come at some point in the future and there is the suspicion he is holding out for next year. Where California Chrome has raced twenty-four times and has fifteen wins under his belt, the 3-year old Arrogate is in his first year of racing and making just the sixth start of his career. “She’s been an extremely consistent race mare throughout her career. He’s ridden all of her races for us”.

“She’s been able to handle it well”. They know when they win. He wasn’t happy. You could see the body language.

“She’s had a good workout at Keeneland and she’s adjusted to her surroundings well which is always a massive positive”. You can’t leave those people in limbo as far as they’re going to do. Chrome is atop the Longines and Timeform ratings, both of which came out before Winx’s latest victory at Moonee Valley. Now, he more correctly sees it as a learning experience. “So was Zenyatta. but I can say that for a horse at her age, Songbird has the fastest cruising speed of any of them”. “Even if you already know what it taught you”.

Sunglider stayed on well from a mile back at Catterick last time, giving the impression that he might be ready to win under more favourable conditions.

For Espinoza, Stellar Wind is another in a phenomenal series of mounts.

Arrogate is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who swept the last two Classics with Bayern and Triple Crown champion American Pharoah. She’ll be going for her second victory in the Distaff after her win in 2013.

While attention centers firmly on the top three, none of the other five in the Distaff is exactly chopped liver.

Also in the Distaff field are Argentina-bred Corona Del Inca, Curalina, Forever Unbridled, I’m a Chatterbox and Land Over Sea.

The $2 million Juvenile has a great cast headed by double blowout victor Not This Time along with unbeatens Practical Joke, Gormley, and Three Rules.