The field is almost set for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park on Saturday (Nov. 4). The 1 ¼-mile Classic is the centerpiece of racing’s two-day, 14-race, $31 million championships. In the days leading up to the race, usracing.com will publish snapshots of the entries. Updates with odds and post positions will be published following the draw on Monday, Oct. 30.
Zandon, trained by Chad C. Brown, exercises during morning workouts at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California on October 30, 2023 as horses prepare for the 2023 Breeder’s Cup World Championships. Scott Serio/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup
Breeders’ Cup Classic Contenders: ZANDON
He’s been in the money 11 times in 12 stakes races, made more than $2 million and earned trophies in the Blue Grass (G1) and the Woodward (G2). Although unquestionably top-class, the hard-trying Zandon still strikes horseplayers as a teaser and a disappointment. He’s been the superstar of a tomorrow that never comes.
His only off-the-board finish was a fourth in last year’s prestigious Cigar Mile (G1), an unusually impressive resume. But it always seems he should do better. His victory on Oct. 1 in the Woodward at Aqueduct ended an eight-race losing streak, all in graded stakes, dating to the Blue Grass almost 18 months earlier.
He ran second or third in all but one of those races, so he constantly enriched his owner, Jeff Drown, and anyone who played him underneath in exactas, trifectas, and superfectas. But if you were betting on him to win, it was an endless streak of pain as he battled hard in Grade 1’s such as the Kentucky Derby (third), Travers (third), Met Mile (second), and Whitney (second).
“I’m just so happy for him,” Brown said after the Woodward. “He’s been a horse who’s been knocking on the door. He’s had a little bit of bad luck running into really, really top horses in some of these races. He’s showed up every week.
“I’m really proud of this horse and he’s been a pleasure to train. He has always showed a lot of heart and battled to the wire, win or lose.”
Betting advice: Zandon runs good figures and usually comes close, but it will take a leap of faith to think everything finally will go his way in the Classic. Maybe Frankie Dettori, one of the greatest riders of all time, can find a way to get him over the top. Zandon will be a generous price, so if you like him, bet him across the board and underneath in the exotics.
Breeders’ Cup Classic Odds and Post Positions
Post position: 2
Odds: 12-1
Jockey: Frankie Dettori
Trainer: Chad Brown
Owner: Jeff Drown
Biggest Win: Blue Grass Stakes (G1), Keeneland, April 2022
Age: 4
Career record: 13-3-6-3
Career earnings: $2,140,000
Top Equibase speed figure: 114
Pedigree: Upstart-Memories Prevail, by Creative Cause
Color: Dark bay
Running style: Closer
Notes: Brown, a certain Hall of Famer, won four consecutive Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Trainer (2016-19) and has guided 10 champions. Like Todd Pletcher, his longtime rival in New York, if you say Chad you don’t need to use the last name … Brown, 44, has an outstanding record in the Breeders’ Cup with 16 victories, 13 of them on turf. On the dirt he’s won the Juvenile and the Filly & Mare Sprint (twice), but never the Classic … He’s a protégé of the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, whom he often credits … Zandon’s owner, Minnesotan Jeff Drown, co-owned 2019 Juvenile Turf winner Structor, who was trained by Brown.