City of Troy, Europe’s star 3-year-old, is the slight 5-2 morning-line favorite over America’s top contender Fierceness in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar on Saturday.
Breeders’ Cup Classic 2024 Preview: City of Troy, Fierceness, and More Elite Contenders
While City of Troy will be running in the U.S. for the first time and racing on a dirt track rather than turf for the first time, the colt is a son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and comes into the 1 ¼-mile Classic with four Grade 1 victories.
“It’s probably the toughest race in the world, really, the Classic,’’ O’Brien said last week. “It’s at the end of the season, even against older horses, for a try to be on a total different continent, a totally different race makeup, totally different surface.
“There’s so many first times that he has to deal with. And no matter what we do in this part of the world, we can’t replicate that. So, listen, it’s very, very tough.”
Fierceness will attempt to win a second straight Breeders’ Cup race after last year’s victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and is the 3-1 second betting choice in a full field o 14.
Forever Young, third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) in a three-horse photo, is back for another try in America, and is the 6-1 third choice. Two other Japan breds, Ushba Tesoro (12-1) and Derma Sotogake (20-1) are also in the field.
City of Troy, trained by Irish wizard Aidan O’Brien, drew post 3 and will be ridden by the world’s top-rated jockey Ryan Moore. O’Brien, with 18 BC victories (mostly on turf) is 0-for-17 in the Classic. City of Troy has a three-racing winning streak, most recently capturing the Juddmonte International (G1).
Fierceness and Thorpedo Anna Prepare for High Stakes in Breeders’ Cup Distaff
Fierceness, trained by Todd Pletcher, drew post 9 and will be ridden by John Velazquez. Fierceness comes into the race off victories in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) and the Travers Stakes (G1).
Entries were taken for all 14 races on Monday for the 41st Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 1-2, with five BC races for 2-year-olds on Friday, and the remaining nine on Saturday. Total prize money tops $34 million.
Thorpedo Anna, the star 3-year-old filly trained by Kenny McPeek, tops the field for the $2 million Breeders’Cup Distaff (G1) and is the 4-5 favorite in a field of 10. Thorpedo Anna has overpowered fellow fillies this year and finished a close second to Fierceness in the Travers on Aug. 24.
The $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on Friday drew a field of 10, with East Avenue the 5-2 favorite and Chancer McPatrick the 3-1 second choice.
Fierceness, trained by Todd A. Pletcher, exercises in preparation for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classicat Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California on October 28, 2024. Carlos Calo/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup
The $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), the second richest race in the Breeders’ Cup, is led by a large contingent of international runners. Charlie Appleby-trained Rebel’s Romance, the 2022 Distaff winner, returns as the 5-2 favorite in a field of 13. O’Brien sends out two – Wingspan (15-1) and Luxembourg (12-1).
The main attraction will surely be the 1 ¼-mile Classic, which will be run as race 8 with a post time of 5:41 p.m. ET. There are four BC races prior to the Classic and four races after.
While there were 212 pre-entries, the final draw saw 179 entered, including 67 international runners out of 80 pre-entered.
Rest of the Classic field
The Classic field also includes Arthur’s Ride (15-1), Highland Falls (20-1), Mixto (30-1), Newgate (20-1), Next (8-1), Senor Buscador (30-1), Sierra Leone (12-1), Tapit Trice (30-1), and Pyrenees (30-1).
The top three betting choices are 3-year-olds. The field includes seven 4-year-olds, four 3-year-olds, two 6-year-olds (Senor Buscador, Next), and one 7-year-old (Ushba Tesoro).
The last Classic winner who raced outside the U.S. was Raven’s Pass in 2005.
Next comes into the Classic on a seven-race winning streak, all at distances of 1 ½ miles or longer.
Other favorites
Other favorites for Saturday’s race are Ways and Means (5-2) in the Filly & Mare Sprint, Cogburn (7-5) in the Turf Sprint, Notable Speech (7-2) in the Turf, Domestic Product (7-2) in the Mile, Federal Judge (3-1) in the Sprint, and War Like Goddess (5-2) in the Filly & Mare Turf.
No Triple Crown race winners in Classic
For the second year in a row none of the Triple Crown race winners are running the Classic.
Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan recently returned to training; Preakness (G1) winner Seize the Grey is 10-1 in the BC Dirt Mile; and Belmont (G1) winner Dornoch was recently retired.
| 1 | Forever Young (JPN) | 6-1 | Yoshito Yahagi | Ryusei Sakai |
| 2 | Highland Falls | 20-1 | Brad Cox | Luis Saez |
| 3 | City of Troy | 5-2 | Aidan O’Brien | Ryan Moore |
| 4 | Mixto | 30-1 | Doug O’Neill | Kyle Frey |
| 5 | Senor Buscador | 30-1 | Todd Fincher | Joel Rosario |
| 6 | Derma Sotogake (JPN) | 20-1 | Hidetaka Otonashi | Christophe Lemaire |
| 7 | Ushba Tesoro (JPN) | 12-1 | Noboru Takagi | Yuga Kawada |
| 8 | Pyrenees | 30-1 | Cherie DeVaux | Brian Hernandez Jr. |
| 9 | Fierceness | 3-1 | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez |
| 10 | Tapit Trice | 30-1 | Todd Pletcher | Irad Ortiz Jr. |
| 11 | Sierra Leone | 12-1 | Chad Brown | Flavien Prat |
| 12 | Arthur’s Ride | 15-1 | William Mott | Junior Alvarado |
| 13 | Newgate | 20-1 | Bob Baffert | Lanfranco Dettori |
| 14 | Next | 8-1 | William D. Cowans | Luan Machado |
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
