Known as the fourth leg of the horse racing’s Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing, the 2022 Breeders’ Cup is the final leg of the year for the top jockeys and horses. The Breeders’ Cup begins on Friday, November 4th, and ends on Saturday, November 5th. The event bounces from a different racetrack to racetrack each year, returning to Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, for this year’s Cup.
The winning team will earn $3.12 million dollars of the $6 million dollar purse. Thoroughbreds three years older and up are eligible to participate in the historical horse racing event. The upcoming event will be the 39th Breeders’ Cup Classic in the race’s history.
Below we detail the race history and which horses are Breeders’ Cup favorites, and who has the best Breeders’ Cup odds.
Breeders’ Cup Classic History
The first Breeders’ Cup Classic race was run in 1984 at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California. Wild Again was the inaugural winner, jockeyed by Pat Day and under the training of Vincent Timphony. The purse that year was $3,000,000 million dollars.
Since the inaugural race, the Breeders’ Cup Classic has grown into the premier thoroughbred horse race in the United States. There has been just one horse winning the race two times, and that was done by Tiznow in 2000 and 2001.
Given the reputation and quality of the horses at the event, it is very difficult to handicap the race and predict who is going to win.
Last Year’s Classic
The 38th Breeders Cup Classic took place at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. It took place on November 6th, running on a dirt track at one mile and one-quarter.
The winner of the event was top-ranked Knicks Go, who’d go on to garner American Horse of the Year honors following his victory. Knicks Go was commanded by jockey Joel Rosario and trained by Brad Cox. The gray horse won five of seven starts, including the Whitney Stakes and Pegasus World Cup.
Medina Spirit and Essential Quality finished two and three in the race. Medina Spirit caused uproar in the horse racing community after being disqualified from the Kentucky Derby after testing positive for a banned substance.
2022 Breeders’ Cup Favorites
The race is in a few weeks, but the contenders have already emerged for the race. Flightline, a bay colt, is one of the Breeders’ Cup favorites at -150. Flightline has some impressive horse racing stats as an undefeated thoroughbred with wins at the Grade I Malibu Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap, and Pacific Classic earlier this year.
Epicenter (+500) trails right behind Flightline, according to handicappers. The bay colt also owns an impressive resume and was the favorite at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, finishing second in both. The three-year-old horse has won the Risen Star, Jim Dandy, Louisiana Derby, and Travers Stakes.
Life is Good and Taiba are currently both at +800 odds heading into the race. Life is Good is a bay colt with multiple Grade 1 victories, including the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and Pegasus World Cup. Taiba also has multiple wins, finishing at the top in three of five races and one second place showing.
Rounding out the Top 5 tournament favorites is Olympiad (+1200). Olympiad’s horse racing stats include multiple grade stakes wins with one Grade I and two Grade II triumphs.
Conclusion
The Breeders’ Cup Classic is always difficult to predict with the strength of the field line up to compete. Flightline comes to Keeneland as one of the Breeders’ Cup favorites, but in reality, this is any horse’s race to win.
With such a strong field and each horse having past horse racing success, we are going to make our horse racing picks on the thoroughbreds that have elevated their racing ability on dirt tracks.
Epicenter’s racing profile stands out with four wins and three second-place finishes in seven races. The three-year-old comes to Keeneland off the heels of back-to-back victories in Saratoga earlier this year, both wins coming on dirt surfaces.
Epicenter at +500 is our early play to win the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
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