Breeders' Cup 2020 Post Positions, Odds for all 14 races

Headlined by classic winners Authentic, Swiss Skydiver and Tiz The Law, 184 horses were drawn Monday afternoon into 14 fields for the $28 million Breeders’ Cup championships Friday and Saturday at Keeneland. 

The morning lines were determined by handicapper Mike Battaglia. 

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Below are the fields and odds for the 14 Breeders' Cup races in reverse chronological order, starting with the Breeders' Cup Classic, the last of nine races on Saturday. 

$6 million Classic – 1 1/4 miles – Saturday, 5:13 p.m. ET 

Older horses Improbable and Maximum Security are joined by Kentucky Derby winner Authentic in representing trainer Bob Baffert in the Classic. Baffert has won the race a record three times, most recently with American Pharoah in 2015 at Keeneland. Those three horses and Belmont Stakes winner Tiz The Law are likely to attract most of the betting dollars for this race in which 7-year-old Tom’s d’Etat is trying to become the first winner older than age 5.

“I’d rather have that than the 15 in a 15-horse race, trainer Barclay Tagg said about Tiz the Law's draw. "It is what it is. He’s fit; he’s healthy; he’s doing well. I can’t do any more for him.”

“(The post position) would not have been our first choice but you watch his races this year, he pops out of the gate so he is going to be able to get in a good position, Tiz the Law's owner Jack Knowltwon added. "We are not worried about it.”

“That was crazy. I got here just before the draw and I saw Authentic in the 9, trainer Bob Baffert said after the Classic draw. "And they’re going to be easy to watch. It’s not like the Sprint and they have a long run to the turn. They have to break well. Improbable, he needs to break well. Improbable, he deserves to be the favorite. They all have speed and those jockeys will work it out. The riders I have are smart, they know their horse and are going to ride their own horse. And the horses are doing well. If they show up, they have to bring their ‘A’ game. They’re easy to ride. They’re not tough to ride. Right now, I’m not even thinking about trips. We’ve got to get them here and make sure there are no hiccups."

“That’s perfectly fine with us, trainer Al Stall Jr. told the NTRA's Alicia Wincze Hughes about post 4. "Honestly the most interesting thing is the Baffert horses are in the three outside posts. I’m kind of glad Improbable is far away from us. But we’re fine. Absolutely no excuses whatsoever."  said about Tom's d'Etat's draw of post 4. "No excuses."

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Classic

$4 million Turf – 1 1/2 miles – Saturday, 4:33 p.m. ET 

In what might be her final race, the unretired 5-year-old Magical tries to go one better than her runner-up finish to Enable in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Turf. Either she or 3-year-old stablemate Mogul could bring Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien and his Coolmore stable a record-extending seventh victory in this race. O’Brien finished first with Found in 2015, the first time the Breeders’ Cup was at Keeneland. 

Turf

$2 million Distaff – 1 1/8 miles – Saturday, 3:54 p.m. ET 

Despite drawing wide in post 10, former Eclipse Award-winning 5-year-old Monomoy Girl is favored to punctuate her comeback from the colic that cost her all of 2019 as she tries to win this race for her second time in a row. She is coming off a Grade 1 victory last month in the La Troienne at Churchill Downs. In her only previous start at Keeneland, she won the 2018 Ashland (G1) by 5 1/2 lengths.

"Monomoy was in post 11 of 11 in the Breeders' Cup in 2018," her trainer Brad Cox said. "She was 14 of 14 in the Kentucky Oaks. I love it."

Monomoy Girl and Preakness winner Swiss Skydiver are likely to get most of the betting attention for this race. 

Asked about drawing post 5 for Swiss Skydiver, trainer Kenny McPeek simply texted, "Pleased."

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Distaff

$2 million Mile (turf) – Saturday, 3:15 p.m. ET 

The 2019 winner and the reigning U.S. champion female turf horse Uni is back at age 6 for trainer Chad Brown in a race that Americans have won seven of the last nine years. Kameko, a Kitten’s Joy colt that was a 10-1 winner in England’s 2,000 Guineas, may provide Uni’s stiffest European challenge. Trainer Andrew Balding kept Kameko off the British Champions Day card with the specific aim to win the Breeders’ Cup before sending him off to stud. Ivar, the Brazilian-bred winner of last month's Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) over the same course and distance as Saturday's race, was surprisingly made the morning-line favorite.

Mile

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$2 million Sprint – 6 f – Saturday, 2:36 p.m. ET 

This could develop into a showdown between Vekoma and Yaupon. Trained by George Weaver, 4-year-old Vekoma is 5-for-5 at up to eight furlongs but has not raced since he won the Met Mile (G1) in July. Frontrunning 3-year-old Yaupon is 4-for-4, all at six furlongs for trainer Steve Asmussen, but he is graduating to his first start in a Grade 1 race.  

Sprint    

$2 million Filly & Mare Turf – 1 3/16 miles – Saturday, 1:57 p.m. ET 

In a race that has been won by a European or a Chad Brown trainee each of the last nine years, it figures that one of each will absorb most of the betting dollars for this renewal. Rushing Fall scored for Brown three years ago in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and her 3-for-3 record in 2020 includes a July victory at Keeneland in the Jenny Wiley (G1). Tarnawa won impressively on the softest of ground last month in the Prix de l’Opéra (G1) in France and will be only the second Breeders’ Cup horse for The Aga Khan in the last 10 years.

Filly & Mare Turf              

$1 million Dirt Mile – Saturday, 1:18 p.m. ET 

Inside post position could be as important a commodity as having a good horse like Art Collector, Complexity, Global Campaign or Knicks Go for this race. Because the main track at Keeneland is 1 1/16 miles, the gate is positioned 70 yards ahead of the regular finish line, where the timer starts. The first turn comes only 110 yards later, and the race finishes at the sixteenth pole. The luck of the draw may be more important for this race than any other this week. 

"Absolutely," said trainer Tommy Drury after his colt Art Collector drew the rail. "I think the outside horses are at a bit of a disadvantage in this race."

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Dirt Mile

$1 million Turf Sprint – 5 1/2 f – Saturday, 12:39 p.m. ET 

In what might be the most wide-open bet of the championships, 5-year-old Leinster brings in back-to-back Grade 2 victories over the same course and distance as this race. But 6-year-old Imprimis was an impressive September winner in the Turf Sprint (G3) at Kentucky Downs. Neither finished in the money in last year’s renewal at Santa Anita, but either could be go off as a tepid favorite this weekend. 

"Good draw," said Mark Casse, trainer of morning-line favorite Got Stormy after his 5-year-old mare drew post 12.

Turf Sprint

$1 million Filly & Mare Sprint – 7 f – Saturday, 12:02 p.m. ET 

After her third-place failure in the Kentucky Oaks and a preliminary test that showed an excessive albeit trace amount of a legal drug that day, Gamine cuts back to one turn for trainer Bob Baffert. In three such races she has won by 6 1/4, 18 and 7 lengths. The last two were Grade 1 victories in the Acorn and Test in New York. In her five previous starts, Gamine has never carried odds longer than 7-10. 

"I'm fine except for Gamine," Baffert said of his six horses with emphasis on the inside draw of post 2. "But she is a great filly."

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Filly & Mare Sprint

$2 million Juvenile – 1 1/16 miles – Friday, 5:10 p.m. ET 

Already the 15-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby, Jackie’s Warrior has to do something he has never done in order to win. That is to race around two turns. Trained by Steve Asmussen, he has won all four of his races and led at every call in his last three starts, including his 5 1/2-length victory last month in the Champagne (G1) at Belmont Park. The Tapit colt Essential Quality has won both his races for Brad Cox, including the two-turn Breeders’ Futurity (G1) last month over the same course and distance as the Juvenile.

“There is the quick run (to the turn) so they have to break well, trainer Bob Baffert said about Classier's draw. "If he doesn't break well, you know how that goes. He lacks a lot of seasoning and it’s a bold move to bring him here.”

Juvenile

$1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf – 1 mile – Friday, 4:30 p.m. ET 

Americans have won 10 of the 12 runnings of this race, and Chad Brown has trained five of them. But his Editor At Large is a long shot against the likes of Aunt Pearl, a Brad Cox filly that won the 1 1/16-mile Jessamine (G2) last month at Keeneland. Wesley Ward’s frontrunner Campanelle is stateside again after winning a Group 1 race this summer in France, and Christophe Clément has a contender in undefeated Grade 2-winning closer Plum Ali. 

Juvenile Fillies Turf

$2 million Juvenile Fillies – 1 1/16 miles – Friday, 3:50 p.m. ET 

Bringing in a record of 3-for-3 for Bob Baffert, Princess Noor could be the shortest-priced favorite in the championships. She won the Del Mar Futurity (G1) by 6 1/2 lengths and followed in late September with an 8 1/4-length score in the Chandelier (G2). The $1.35 million Not This Time filly has been an odds-on favorite each time she has gone to the gate. This will be her first start outside southern California.

Juvenile Fillies

$1 million Juvenile Turf – 1 mile – Friday, 3:10 p.m. ET 

Group 2 winners may attract most of the wagers for this race with Todd Pletcher’s Mutasaabeq having local experience, finishing first last month on the same course in the 1 1/16-mile Bourbon Stakes (G2). European hopes are centered on Cadillac, New Mandate and on Aidan O’Brien’s Battleground. A 12-time winner in the championships, O’Brien won this race in 2017 with Mendelssohn. But all 35 of his Breeders’ Cup starters since have lost.

Juvenile Turf

$1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint – 5 1/2 f – Friday, 2:30 p.m. ET 

A narrow defeat at Royal Ascot followed by a stakes win as an odds-on favorite at Saratoga have given Golden Pal enough of a résumé to be short-priced in foreign futures for this first of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races. He will be out to give trainer Wesley Ward his second consecutive victory in this race that is being run for only the third time.

Juvenile Turf Sprint