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 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic will be held on Saturday, November 4 at Santa Anita Park. Bet & watch the race with OffTrackBetting.com (OTB) - US Legal Online Wagering.

The 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious two-day global event, consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $28 million, will be held at Keeneland, on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5. 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.

OCT 30 - A top-class international field of 13 contenders was entered Oct. 30 for the 40th running of the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) to be run Nov. 4 as the Breeders' Cup World Championships return to Santa Anita Park for a record 11th time.

The 1 1/4-mile Longines Breeders' Cup Classic is topped by morning-line favorite Arabian Knight (3-1), campaigned by Zedan Racing Stables Inc. and trainer Bob Baffert, with Blue Rose Farm's Arcangelo (7-2) the second choice on the morning line. Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co. Ltd.'s Dubai World Cup (G1) winner Ushba Tesoro (JPN) (4-1) opposes in his United States debut in the richest of 14 Championship races worth more than $31 million in purses and awards to be run over two days Nov. 3-4.

The Breeders' Cup World Championships will be televised live by NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and FanDuel TV. Five Championship races will be run on "Future Stars Friday," all for 2-year-olds, while the Saturday card features nine Championship races anchored by the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

A total of 175 horses were entered including five defending Champions: Caravel, Cody's Wish, Elite Power, Goodnight Olive, and Twilight Gleaming. There are 48 international contenders from five countries who traveled to the United States to prove their mettle in the global showcase.

Arabian Knight, a 3-year-old winner of three of four career starts and most recently victorious over older horses in the FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic (G1), will be ridden by Flavien Prat from post 12.

"It's a long run to the turn. I would have liked to have been in the middle; you always like to be in the middle in Breeders' Cup races. Whatever. We're there," said Baffert, adding he was surprised about the favorite's role. "It's a good field. We got it. You know, I don't worry about anything that is not in my control. I have won races out of horrible post positions I didn't like and I have lost from some good ones. At least I didn't get the rail!"

Trained by Jena Antonucci, Arcangelo has won his past four starts that includes victories in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers (G1). Javier Castellano has the mount from post 1.

Co-third choice on the morning line at 4-1 is Ushba Tesoro, runaway winner of the Dubai World Cup in March at the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic distance of 1 1/4 miles. Freshened for six months after that victory by trainer Noboru Takagi, Ushba Tesoro easily won his comeback race Sept. 27 in Japan under Yuga Kawada, who has the mount Saturday from post position 8.

Also at 4-1 on the morning line is C2 Racing Stable LLC and La Milagrosa Stable LLC's White Abarrio. Trained by Richard Dutrow Jr., White Abarrio enters off a 6 1/4-length victory in the Whitney Stakes (G1) under Irad Ortiz Jr., who retains the mount Saturday from post 3.

Completing the field are Bright Future (post 11, 10-1), Clapton (post 7, 20-1), Derma Sotogake (JPN) (post 5, 20-1), Dreamlike (post 10, 30-1), Missed the Cut (post 4, 30-1), Proxy (post 13, 12-1), Saudi Crown (post 6, 12-1), Senor Buscador (post 9, 30-1), and Zandon (post 2, 12-1).

UPDATE: OCT 31 - Arcangelo scratches from Breeders' Cup Classic, retired from racing

Arcangelo, the Belmont Stakes and Travers winner, will scratch from Saturday's $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic due to an issue with his left hind foot, trainer Jena Antonucci said Tuesday.

Further, Arcangelo will be retired from racing and stand at stud at Lane's End Farm in 2024, owner Jon Ebbert said Tuesday. A deal to have him stand at Lane's End upon his retirement was announced about two weeks ago.

OCT 10 - Blue Rose Farm's Arcangelo, winner of the Belmont Stakes (G1) and the Travers Stakes (G1), has finished first in the final poll of the 2023 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. This year's Breeders' Cup Classic will be run Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

Trained by Jena Antonucci, the 3-year-old son of Breeders' Cup Classic winner Arrogate took the top spot in the rankings following his victory in the Aug. 26 Travers at Saratoga, and held the lead for the next seven weeks. Arcangelo received 312 votes in the final poll, registering 23 first-place votes.

Three-year-olds also secured the next two spots in the rankings. Pin Oak Stud LLC's Geaux Rocket Ride, winner of the Haskell Stakes (G1) and runner-up in the FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic (G1), finished second with 261 votes. Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.'s Arabian Knight, the Pacific Classic winner, finished third with 245 votes.

C2 Racing Stable, LLC and La Milagrosa Stable, LLC's White Abarrio, who won Saratoga's Whitney Stakes (G1), finished fourth, accumulating 222 votes. Jeff Drown's 4-year-old Zandon, winner of the Woodward (G2) at Aqueduct, finished fifth with 136 votes. Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's 4-year-old Bright Future, winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), finished sixth with 116 votes.

Kenji Ryotokuji's 6-year-old Ushba Tesoro (JPN), who won the Dubai World Cup (G1), rose from 11th place to seventh with 103 votes. Godolphin's 5-year-old Proxy, runner-up in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, finished eighth with 101 votes. FMQ Stable's 3-year-old Saudi Crown, winner of the Pennsylvania Derby (G1), finished in ninth place with 97 votes. Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte, second in the Belmont Stakes and winner of the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), finished 10th with 90 votes.

The 2023 Longines Breeders' Cup Rankings began on July 18 and concluded today after 13 weeks of voting. Forte grabbed the lead in the rankings in the fourth week, following the defeat by White Abarrio of Cody's Wish in the Aug. 5 Whitney. However, Forte relinquished the top rating to Arcangelo after finishing fourth in the Travers.

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings were determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel.

2023 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE

Recent Breeders' Cup Classic Winners