Breeders' Cup Classic Has Strong Field of 3-Year-Olds

A competitive field includes seven 3-year-olds at this weekend's Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park

The crop of 3-year-olds at this weekend's Breeders' Cup could be one of the finest in recent memory.

Seven of the 14 runners in the Breeders' Cup Classic are 3-year-olds taking on older rivals. The contingent includes Shared Belief and the second and third choices, California Chrome at 4-1 and Tonalist at 5-1.

"I think they're pretty good," Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said. "Each and every one of them has come in here strong. If California Chrome fires his Kentucky Derby race, he's going to be tough."

California Chrome has the highest profile, with victories in the Derby and the Preakness.

His bid for the Triple Crown was spoiled by Tonalist, who already owns a major victory over older runners in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.

Bayern, at 6-1, could be the pacesetter. Speed is his game, a skill that carried him to wins in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and the Pennsylvania Derby last month.

He will try to deliver the first Classic win for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who is 0 for 12 in North America's richest race.

Toast of New York at 12-1 makes his third straight U.S. start for British-based trainer Jamie Osborne. The globe-trotting colt won the UAE Derby in Dubai in March and most recently ran second to Shared Belief in the Pacific Classic.

This will be his first race on a dirt track.

Long-shot players can find a pair of 20-1 shots: V.E. Day, the largely overlooked winner of the Travers, and Candy Boy.

"These 3-year-olds, they just keep coming," Smith said.

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