BC Juvenile fair odds: Timberlake to win and who else?

The morning line for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile tells a story that this is one of the more evenly matched races of the championships, and that is good news for us, as I think Timberlake is clearly the most likely winner.

I've said it before, but his form reminds me of 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and eventual 2-year-old male champion Empire Maker. They both disappointed in the Hopeful before coming back to win a Grade 1 race in their prep for the Breeders' Cup.

One small wrinkle in that comparison is that Classic Empire won the two-turn Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and Timberlake won the one-turn mile Champagne at Aqueduct, but that's not a dealbreaker by any means at this price. Discussion will come whether an Into Mischief out of a Lookin at Lucky mare can get classic distances, but 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita Park is not a concern to me.

From a wagering standpoint, I see Timberlake as a win bet proposition and expect to lean on him heavily in the multi-race wagers. But the Bob Baffert-trained trio all figure to be overbet, which means there likely will be opportunity beyond Timberlake.

Locked and General Partner are my next two choices. The former will be running late trying to gun down Timberlake, who ran down General Partner last out. It's tough to go gate-to-wire against Baffert, but General Partner has numbers that stack up against these at a bigger price than all of them.

I have a hard time making a case for any of the other four. With such competitive races around this one, I will use only my three top choices, Timberlake, Locked and General Partner, with a heavy lean on Timberlake.

Fair odds for all 14 Breeders' Cup races will be available as part of the Breeders' Cup Everything Package, which also includes Super Screener (available now), Power Picks for all Santa Anita races this weekend, pro reports, and sire and track trends. All fair odds will be available by Thursday.