The day racing fans and horseplayers wait for all year for is almost here. The Breeders’ Cup Championship Saturday program will feature the international equine and human stars of horse racing, all ready to square off in nine championship races on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park. The event will be headlined by the richest horse race in North America, the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Television coverage will begin on USA Network and Peacock on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT followed by an extended 3 ½ hours of live programming on NBC and Peacock from 3:30-7 p.m. ET / 12:30-4 p.m. PT featuring five World Championship races, including an exclusive broadcast of the Longines Classic. NBC Sports will provide continued coverage of the final two Breeders’ Cup races on Peacock starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. These races will also stream live on BreedersCup.com and Breeders’ Cup social media channels. FanDuel TV will televise eight of the nine Breeders’ Cup World Championships races on Saturday.

Here are some of the details you need to know about Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races.

Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

Distance: One mile on dirt

Post time: 2:30 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 5

Cody's Wish (Janet Garaguso/NYRA)

Background: This race was first held in 2007. It either tends to attract milers/routers that don’t want to stretch out to 1 ¼ miles, or sprinters who don’t want to face the fastest of the fast in the richer Qatar Racing Sprint. The Dirt Mile has since gained in stature the last few years with the help of marquee winners like Knicks Go in 2020, Life Is Good in 2021, and Cody’s Wish in 2022. One-mile dirt races at Santa Anita are run around two turns.

Favorites: The toughest customer in the field is defending Dirt Mile winner Cody’s Wish who won three of four races since then in 2023 with the lone loss coming in a failed stretch-out attempt when contesting the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. Cody’s Wish is a remarkable 7-for-7 in his career at this one-mile distance. Practical Move has won four races in a row including the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby this spring and was victorious last time when returning from a six-month layoff in a Santa Anita allowance. Three-year-olds have won the Dirt Mile three of the last six years. Zozos has been specializing in races at or near a mile all year (3-for-3 at the distance) and has won four of five outings including a victory last time in the Grade 3 Ack Ack Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Interesting Storylines: The Dirt Mile story is all about the repeat bid of Cody’s Wish, the fan favorite who not only won the 2022 Dirt Mile but also owns three other Grade 1 wins in his career including the 2022 Forego Stakes, the 2023 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford, and the 2023 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap. Cody’s Wish was named after Cody Dorman, a youth suffering from a rare genetic disorder, after the human Cody was acquainted with the future equine Cody when the latter was a yearling in a meeting set up by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Keeneland Race Course. Since then, the pair have formed a bond in subsequent meetings when Cody Dorman has been able to visit the horse and attend his races. 

Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf

Distance: 1 1/4 miles on turf

Post time: 3:10 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, jackpot super hi-5, Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, All-turf Pick 4

Inspiral (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: First held in 1999, the Filly and Mare Turf marked the Breeders’ Cup’s first expansion from its original seven-race program. For more than a decade, the Filly and Mare Turf has been dominated by two groups of horses: 1) Foreigners, which have won seven of the last 11 including the last four in a row; or 2) Horses trained by Chad Brown, which have won this race the other four times in that 11-year span. The last North American horse not trained by Chad Brown to win the Filly and Mare Turf was Perfect Shirl in 2011.

Favorites: No hyperbole, the 2023 running of the Filly and Mare Turf might be the most loaded running in the installment of the race. Charlie Appleby (representing Godolphin) and Aidan O’Brien (representing Coolmore) will renew their global rivalry with Appleby sending out E. P. Taylor Stakes runner-up With the Moonlight to face O’Brien’s Warm Heart, who won back-to-back Group 1 races last summer. Plus, those two might not even be the best Europeans coming over for the race. Inspiral, trained by John and Thady Gosden, won two of Europe’s biggest races in the division this year, the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois and the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes. The foreign invaders will have to beat a trio of Chad Brown trainees including Gina Romantica, McKulick, and In Italian, who was second in the Filly and Mare Turf last year and has seven straight exacta finishes in Grade 1 races dating back to last year. Also in the field is E. P. Taylor winner Fev Rover, 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year Moira, and Didia, an Argentinian-bred road warrior who has finished first or second in five straight stakes at five different racetracks.

Interesting Storylines: Frankie Dettori is leading top European-based rider in the history of the Breeders’ Cup, and he undertook a global farewell tour for most of 2023 after announcing his retirement early in the year. Dettori recently decided to postpone his retirement, however, and will join the southern California jockey colony in 2024. Dettori has won 14 races from 118 Breeders’ Cup mounts dating all the way to his first Breeders’ Cup winner in 1994 and ranks fourth by purse earnings on the all-time Breeders’ Cup jockey list with $25,801,862. Dettori’s most recent Breeders’ Cup winner came all the way back in 2018, but he’ll have a tremendous chance to get back into the winner’s circle, and show-off his patented flying dismount, aboard probable favorite Inspiral.

PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint

Distance: Seven furlongs on dirt

Post time: 3:50 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, All-dirt Pick 4

Society (Coady Photography)

Background: The Filly and Mare Sprint debuted in 2007 when the Breeders’ Cup expanded past eight races for the first time. In 16 prior runnings of the race, no horse has ever been able to win wire-to-wire. After no 3-year-old won the race during its first decade of existence, sophomore fillies won three in a row in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has won three of the last six editions of the Filly and Mare Sprint in 2017, 2018, and 2022.

Favorites: Last year’s winner, Goodnight Olive, is likely to be a strong post-time favorite. Top challengers will include the Steve Asmussen-trained Society, a former Grade 1 winner of the 2022 Cotillion Stakes who is 3-for-4 at this seven-furlong distance with back-to-back wins including the Grade 3 Chicago Stakes at Ellis Park. Locally-based horses will have a big say in the results at Santa Anita. Kirstenbosch just won the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes on this track in September. Eda, trained by Bob Baffert, had a seven-race winning streak snapped when third in the Chillingworth, and she has a big chance at a rebound performance in the Filly and Mare Sprint.

Interesting Storylines: Goodnight Olive is looking to become the second horse ever to score a repeat victory in this race after delivering last year as the 1.85-1 favorite. The 2021 winner, Ce Ce, fell short in her repeat bid in 2022 when she finished fourth. The only prior repeat winner in the history of the Filly and Mare Sprint was the popular Groupie Doll, who won back-to-back in 2012 and 2013.

FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund

Distance: One mile on turf

Post time: 4:30 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 6

Master of The Seas (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: As one of the original seven Breeders’ Cup events, and with a $2 million purse, the Mile is guaranteed to draw an international all-star field. It seems that the North American horses used to hold their own in this race much more than they have recently as European shippers have won four of the last five years. Trainer Charlie Appleby has won two consecutive editions of the Mile with jockey William Buick aboard both the winners, Modern Games (2022) and Space Blues (2021). Horses coming in from Europe have won 18 of the 39 runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a 46 percent rate. One of those – the Hall of Fame mare Goldikova – won the Mile three consecutive years (2008-10).

Favorites: Charlie Appleby goes for his third straight win in the Mile with Master of The Seas, a horse that won the Grade 1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes and was game in a nose loss last time in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes. The other favorites are likely to be foreign invaders who have not yet raced in North America including Songline, a mare that makes a strong case for being the best miler in Japan. The top American contender entered with first preference in the Mile is Casa Creed, who won two graded stakes at Saratoga this summer including the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap at one mile.

Interesting Storylines: Any horse involved in the early pace almost never wins the Breeders’ Cup Mile. With the exception of Hall of Famer Lure in 1992-93, no other pacesetter has won the Mile down through its long history. Another Hall of Famer, Tepin, was as close to the early lead as any horse since Lure when she pressed the pace just a length behind the early leader before taking over to win the 2015 Mile. She joined Kip Deville in 2007 and the aforementioned Goldikova as Mile winners who’ve employed a pace-pressing running style. When you look at the history of the Mile, you will notice that the overwhelming majority of the winners used a late-closing or a stalking running style en route to victory. In the last 14 runnings of the Mile since 2009, no winner except Tepin was within three lengths of the front at the first call, and nine out of the 14 were at least five lengths off the lead after the first quarter-mile.

Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff

Distance: 1 1/8 miles on dirt

Post time: 5:10 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 5, Distaff – Classic Daily Double

Idiomatic (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: The Distaff returned to formfulness in 2022 – just barely – when Malathaat nosed out 24.02-1 longshot Blue Stripe to win. A year before, the Distaff featured a giant upset as Japanese-based closer Marche Lorraine took advantage of a blazing pace that cooked the speedy favorites. The Distaff has a long list of champions among its winners including Monomoy Girl, who capped off a perfect 4-for-4 season in 2020 with a dominant Distaff win en route to her second career Eclipse Award. Monomoy Girl was a non-consecutive winner of this race, also winning as a 3-year-old in 2018. The winners of this race have included a long and impressive list of champion females including Beholder, Zenyatta, Ashado, Paseana, Bayakoa, Personal Ensign, Lady’s Secret, Princess Rooney, and many more.

Favorites: The favorites in this year’s Distaff represent a classic East vs. West matchup as Idiomatic, trained by Kentucky-based Brad Cox, takes on California-stabled Adare Manor, trained by Bob Baffert. Idiomatic has been nearly unbeatable in 2023 with a 7-for-8 record this season including wins in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes and the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes. Adare Manor, meanwhile, has won 5-of-6 this season including a Grade 1 win in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes and a win more recently in the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes at this track. The home-field advantage goes to Adare Manor.

Interesting Storylines: Down through its history, the Distaff has been a race defined by its memorable 3-year-old versus older headline matchups, but in recent years the 3-year-olds have lost a bit of traction, winning the race only four times the last 18 years. This would seem to indicate that star 3-year-olds in the field like Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous, Alabama Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales and Beldame Stakes winner Randomized, and Coaching Club American Oaks winner Wet Paint may all have their work cut out for them.

Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf

Distance: 1 ½ miles on turf

Post time: 5:50 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4

Up to the Mark (Coady Photography)

Background: The grass feature of the Breeders’ Cup card usually attracts an international field of turf aces, and this year is no exception. Since 2007, only three American-based horses have won the Turf: Little Mike in 2012, Main Sequence in 2014, and Bricks and Mortar in 2019. The 2022 winner was Charlie Appleby-trained Rebel’s Romance, who closed from far back in the field to win by 2 ¼ lengths.

Favorites: The 2023 Turf is attracting some horses on the European “A team,” and that’s bad news for the Americans. The favorite is likely to be Auguste Rodin from the all-time winningest trainer in the history of the Turf, Aidan O’Brien. Auguste Rodin is a 3-year-old that won three Group 1 races this season including the English Derby, the Irish Derby and the Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes. He will be challenged for favoritism by Mostahdaf, a 5-year-old trained by John and Thady Gosden who enters off of back-to-back high-profile group 1 victories in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and most recently in the Juddmonte International Stakes.

American hopes at this level rest mainly on the shoulders of Up to the Mark, who comes into this race off three consecutive Grade 1 wins but has never gone as far as the 1 ½-mile distance of the Turf. His last win was at one mile in the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes at Keeneland and his longest win came at 1 ¼ miles two races ago in the Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park.

Interesting Storylines: Trainer Aidan O’Brien has won the Turf six times, and also has placed six times and showed five times. If O’Brien wins the Turf this year, he’d be the first trainer ever to win a Breeders’ Cup race seven times. He can accomplish that with any one of his three entrants: Auguste Rodin, Bolshoi Ballet, who came over in August to win the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes by 4 ½ lengths, or Broome, a stayer who earlier this year won the two-mile Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors and who finished second in the 2021 Longines Turf at Del Mar.

Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic

Distance: 1 ¼ miles on dirt

Post time: 6:40 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, Double, Pick 3, Pick 4

Arabian Knight (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: The Classic is the showcase race of the day and serves as the season-ending championship race in North American racing. With a purse of $6 million, the Classic is one of the world’s richest races and will have by far the highest purse of any race run in North America this year. The world’s best dirt horses compete at the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles in a race that impacts several Eclipse Award divisions, including outstanding older male, outstanding 3-year-old male, and Horse of the Year. Last year’s winner was the sensational superstar Flightline, who capped-off a perfect 6-for-6 career with a runaway 8 ¼-length victory, the largest winning margin in the history of the race.

Favorites: The field of challengers for the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic is an exceptional one and includes the winners of many American Grade 1 races run all year including Arabian Knight (FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic Stakes), Bright Future (Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes), Saudi Crown (Pennsylvania Derby), and White Abarrio (Whitney Stakes).

Interesting Storylines: The Breeders’ Cup Classic often comes down to a battle between the top 3-year-olds versus the top older horses, and this year is no exception. A 3-year-old has won the Classic 13 times in the history of the race, and there are several live 3-year-olds in the field in 2023 seeking to up that number to 14. The 3-year-olds in the 2023 Classic include Arabian Knight, Derma Sotogake, Dreamlike, and Saudi Crown. Bob Baffert is the all-time winningest trainer in the history of the Classic with four wins, and they’ve all come in the last decade (Bayern in 2014, American Pharoah in 2015, Arrogate in 2016, Authentic in 2020). Baffert will be represented in the 2023 field by Arabian Knight. 

Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint

Distance: Five furlongs on turf

Post time: 7:25 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3

Motorious (BENOIT photo)

Background: First held in 2008, this race has been run several times at Santa Anita – but only once at Santa Anita at the distance of five furlongs in 2019, when Belvoir Bay won for trainer Peter Miller. Previous Turf Sprints run at Santa Anita were run on a downhill turf course at 6 ½ furlongs. Miller won this race three times in a row from 2017-2019. Southern California-based trainers and horses have almost always won the Turf Sprint when it’s been held at Santa Anita, winning six of the previous seven runnings (Desert Code in 2008, California Flag in 2009, Mizdirection in 2012-13, Obviously in 2016, and Belvoir Bay).

Favorites: The mare Caravel won this race last year and will be back to defend her title as one of the favorites. Trainer Phil D’Amato won this race in 2016 with Obviously and he has this year’s top locally-based contender with Motorious, who has been first and second in all five starts in 2023 with a win last time out in the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap. This year’s top European contender is Live In The Dream, an English Group 1 winner who came over for a U.S prep race and finished fourth in October’s Woodford Stakes Presented by FanDuel at Keeneland.

Interesting Storylines: Two horses have won two consecutive Turf Sprints, Mizdirection in 2012-2013 and Stormy Liberal in 2017-2018. Defending Turf Sprint champ Caravel attempts to join that elite company. Can she rebound from two losses in her last two starts?

Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint

Distance: Six furlongs on dirt

Post time: 8 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, Daily Double

Gunite (Walter Wlodarczyk/NYRA)

Background: The Sprint is an “original seven” Breeders Cup race. The Sprint in the decade of the 2010s was a race mostly ruled by speed horses that raced on or close to the lead (no more than 3 ½ lengths back at any time). The last three runnings of the Sprint, however, have been won by late runners. Elite Power closed from seventh in an 11-horse field to win last year. Whitmore came from seven lengths out of it to win in 2020, and Aloha West was victorious in 2021 after getting off to a tardy beginning and needing to rally from midpack.

Favorites: Defending Sprint winner Elite Power is back again this year and is a likely favorite, but his aura of invincibility is gone after he lost his last race to Gunite in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes to end his eight-race winning streak. Elite Power and Gunite appear ready to renew their rivalry, but that matchup will not be the only game in town. They will need to beat several serious southern California sprinters on their own track in order to win. The Chosen Vron is a California-bred that comes in sporting an eight-race winning streak, including the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes last time when he overcame a tough trip and successfully stepped out to win against open company as much the best that day.

Interesting Storylines: Dr. Schivel finished second in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Sprint when he lost what trainer Mark Glatt (and all those who bet the horse) called “a dirty rotten head bob.” Since then, Dr. Schivel missed 15 months between races from March 2022 to May 2023, but he recently came on strong and appeared to be his old self based on a win last time in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes Presented by Estrella Jalisco. The winningest trainer in the history of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Bob Baffert, has not won it since Drefong scored in 2016. The five-time Sprint-winning trainer will send out Speed Boat Beach, who is coming off a second-place finish by a head last time behind Dr. Schivel in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship.