Every sport has a definitive year-ending event to crown its champions. In Thoroughbred racing, the Breeders' Cup World Championships is the culmination of the horse racing season worldwide and the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic is the defining event of the international racing season.

Breeders' Cup Classic

The 37th Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious two-day global event, consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $31 million, will be held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7. There will be five Breeders' Cup races on Championship Friday and nine Breeders' Cup races on Championship Saturday.

The $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), the climactic event of the Championships, will be run on the main track at 1 ¼ miles with a first-place owner's prize of $3.12 million. On 13 occasions, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic also has been named Horse of the Year, and this year's Classic will once again have ramifications on the coveted year-end title.

The depth and quality of the 2020 Classic makes the favorite tough to decipher, but Sackatoga Stable's 3-year-old Tiz the Law could emerge as a tepid public choice off his overall body of work, which includes dominant Grade 1 wins in the Belmont Stakes (G1) in June, and the Travers (G1) at Saratoga in August. The son of Constitution was second at odds-on in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on Sept. 5 for trainer Barclay Tagg.

Authentic (Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse, Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing Stables) upset Tiz the Law in the Kentucky Derby, and is part of a three-pronged attack, with Improbable and Maximum Security, that will attempt to give trainer Bob Baffert his fourth Classic win.

The son of Into Mischief earned a berth into the race when he won Monmouth Park's "Win and You're In" Haskell (G1) in July and was second, beaten a neck, by Swiss Skydiver in the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes (G1), also a "Win and You're In" for the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

Baffert's Classic victories all have been by 3-year-olds, including 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who captured the race at Keeneland, along with Bayern in 2014 and Arrogate in 2016.

Peter Callahan's 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver defeated Authentic by a head in the Preakness Stakes. Trained by Kenny McPeek, she has been pre-entered for both the Classic and for the $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), into which the daughter of Daredevil earned an automatic bid by winning the Alabama (G1) at Saratoga in August.

Swiss Skydiver, who has won five races in nine starts this year, finished second against males in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland in July. Should Swiss Skydiver run in the Classic, it would mark the first time that the race would feature three different Triple Crown race winners from the same year.

Swiss Skydiver has a first preference for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). In 2009, Zenyatta became the only female to win the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Improbable (WinStar Farm, CHC Inc., and SF Racing) leads an outstanding group of older horses. The 4-year-old son of City Zip was voted the No. 1 horse in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings this year, bolstered by two Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race victories, taking Saratoga's Whitney (G1) and the Awesome Again (G1) at Santa Anita Park on Sept. 26. He began his climb to the top of the division with a victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) at Santa Anita earlier in the year.

Maximum Security (Gary and Mary West, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Mrs. John Magnier) earned a free berth into the Classic when he won Del Mar's "Win and You're In" TVG Pacific Classic (G1) in August. The 4-year-old son of 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner New Year's Day has won three of four starts this year, suffering his only defeat when finishing second to Improbable in the Awesome Again.

G M B Racing's Tom's d'Etat, who captured the "Win and You're In" Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs in June, could also be a major factor in the Classic. The 7-year-old son of Smart Strike has not run since finishing third in the Whitney at even money, after having his chances severely compromised because of a disastrous start. Tom's d'Etat, who also won the Oaklawn Mile in April, is trained by Al Stall Jr., who saddled Blame to win the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic over Zenyatta.

Allied Racing Stable's By My Standards has been consistent all year, finishing first or second in his six starts, which includes victories in the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at the Fair Grounds, the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and the Alysheba Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs on Sept. 4.

"We are delighted with the overall quality and depth of all the Breeders' Cup fields and thank horsemen here in the U.S. and from around the world for pre-entering," said Drew Fleming, Breeders' Cup President and CEO. "It's a true testament to the interest and excitement of participating in the World Championships and the resiliency of the Thoroughbred industry. Equally important, despite a challenging year for everyone, we are pleased to keep our purse levels at $31 million, the same as last year. This would not be possible without the help and support of many, especially our breeders and nominators who we sincerely thank for their continued support."

2024 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE