This year's Breeders' Cup will return to Churchill Downs on Friday and Saturday for the ninth time after being in Southern California for five of the last six years. After all, why run in temperatures in the low 80s and a clear sky when you could be in the 40s with a chance of rain?
The two-day, 14-race event is worth $30 million in purses and awards. But the one thing missing from the Breeders' Cup is the 13th winner of the Triple Crown. Justify, whose career was only six races, was retired after winning the Belmont Stakes. It was decided that after a minor injury he couldn't be ready for the one prep race he was supposed to have before the Breeders' Cup Classic.
A record 221 horses were pre-entered, although a few, such as Bob Baffert's undefeated filly Dream Tree, have been pulled because of health issues.
At 51, there is more than your share of foreign horses, whose lack of intermediate calls in past performances confound bettors. Aidan O'Brien has 18 horses pre-entered, the most of any trainer. Each race is capped at 14 horses, except for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, which allows only 12.
So, these are the five story lines you can expect to contemplate this week.
