Meet 10 of the top horses to watch in this weekend's Breeders' Cup

The 40^th annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships will feature some of the world’s top thoroughbreds this weekend at Santa Anita Park.

Fourteen races are on the Breeders’ Cup slate, with five scheduled for Friday (all for 2-year-olds) and nine more Saturday. The $6 million Classic is set for 6:40 p.m. Saturday.

Here’s a look at 10 of the top horses entered in this weekend’s races, listed alphabetically. All times are Eastern.

Arabian Knight

Race: Classic (6:40 p.m. Saturday)

Trainer/jockey: Bob Baffert/Flavien Prat

Age/breeding: 3/Uncle Mo-Borealis Night, by Astrology

What to know: The $2.3 million colt has won 3 of 4 career races and is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the Classic. After winning the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn Park in January, Arabian Knight was taken off the Triple Crown trail. He returned in July, finishing third in the Grade 1 Haskell and enters off a victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

Cody’s Wish

Race: Dirt Mile (2:30 p.m. Saturday)

Trainer/jockey: Bill Mott/Junior Alvarado

Age/breeding: 5/Curlin-Dance Card, by Tapit

What to know: The defending champion is the 9-5 favorite in the Dirt Mile. Cody’s Wish is 3 for 4 this year and enters off a victory in the Grade 2 Vosburgh on Oct. 1 at Aqueduct. He’s become one of America’s favorite horses because of the story surrounding his name. Cody’s Wish is named after Cody Dorman, who was born with a rare genetic disorder and developed a relationship with the horse through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Elite Power

Race: Sprint (8 p.m. Saturday)

Trainer/jockey: Bill Mott/Irad Ortiz Jr.

Age/breeding: 5/Curlin-Broadway’s Alibi, by Vindication

What to know: The defending champion is the 9-5 favorite in the Sprint after winning 3 of 4 races this season. He enters off a second-place finish to Gunite in the Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 26 at Saratoga. Elite Power is set to retire to Juddmonte Farm after the Breeders’ Cup.

Goodnight Olive

Race: Filly & Mare Sprint (3:50 p.m. Saturday)

Trainer/jockey: Chad Brown/Irad Ortiz Jr.

Age/breeding: 5/Ghostzapper-Salty Strike, by Smart Strike

What to know: The defending champion is the 6-5 favorite in the Filly & Mare Sprint after going 2-1-1 in four races this year. She enters off a runner-up finish to Echo Zulu in the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 26 at Saratoga. The Filly & Mare Sprint’s 7-furlong distance is Goodnight Olive’s favorite, as she’s 6-1-1 in eight career starts.

Idiomatic

Race: Distaff (5:10 p.m. Saturday)

Trainer/jockey: Brad Cox/Florent Geroux

Age/breeding: 4/Curlin-Lockdown, by First Defence

What to know: The 5-2 Distaff favorite has won 7 of 8 starts this year, most recently taking the Grade 1 Spinster on Oct. 8 at Keeneland. She’s won four straight races at four different tracks: Churchill Downs, Delaware Park, Saratoga and Keeneland. “She’s as good as she’s ever been right now,” Cox said.

Locked

Race: Juvenile (7 p.m. Friday)

Trainer/jockey: Todd Pletcher/Jose Ortiz  

Age/breeding: 2/Gun Runner-Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon

What to know: He’s the 7-2 favorite for the Juvenile and currently is the No. 1 choice in future wagering for the 2024 Kentucky Derby. Purchased for $425,000 at last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Locked broke his maiden at Saratoga on Sept. 1 and then won the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 7 at Keeneland. “We’ve been blessed with some very good 2-year-olds, and I think he’s right there with them,” Pletcher said.

Tamara

Race: Juvenile Fillies (5:40 p.m. Friday)

Trainer/jockey: Richard Mandella/Mike Smith

Age/breeding: 2/Bolt d’Oro/Beholder, by Henny Hughes

What to know: She’s the 4-5 favorite for the Juvenile Fillies and could be on a path toward the Kentucky Oaks in May at Churchill Downs. The Spendthrift Farm homebred is 2 for 2 in her young career at Del Mar, most recently winning the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante by 6 ¾ lengths. Mandella also trained Beholder, who is Tamara’s dam. “Tamara is very different from Beholder, and it’s difficult to really compare,” Mandella said. “However, I’d probably say at this stage in their careers, Tamara is probably a little ahead in her development. But the one thing they have in common is that they both liked to run.” 

Timberlake

Race: Juvenile (7 p.m. Friday)

Trainer/jockey: Brad Cox/Florent Geroux

Age/breeding: 2/Into Mischief/Pin Up, by Lookin At Lucky

What to know: He’s the 4-1 co-second choice in the Juvenile and currently is the No. 2 pick behind Locked in future wagering for the 2024 Kentucky Derby. Timberlake broke his maiden at Ellis Park on July 21 and then finished strong in a pair of Grade 1 races — taking second place in the Hopeful at Saratoga on Sept. 4 and winning the Champagne at Aqueduct on Oct. 7.

Ushba Tesoro

Race: Classic (6:40 p.m. Saturday)

Trainer/jockey: Noboru Takagi/Yuga Kawada

Age/breeding: 6/Orfevre/Millefeui Attach, by King Kamehameha

What to know: He’s the 4-1 co-second choice in the Classic and is considered the best dirt horse in Japan. He’s won 10 of 30 career starts and enters with a six-race winning streak. Included was a victory in the $12 million Dubai World Cup in March at Meydan. “Moving (from turf) to dirt helped him,” Takagi said through a translator. “The timing worked well, and he grew up both physically and mentally from it. He was a difficult horse to control, but with dirt racing everything matched him, I believe.”  

White Abarrio

Race: Classic (6:40 p.m. Saturday)

Trainer/jockey: Rick Dutrow Jr./Irad Ortiz Jr.

Age/breeding: 4/Race Day-Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief

What to know: You might remember White Abarrio as the 16^th-place finisher in the 2022 Kentucky Derby, but he’s now the co-second choice at 4-1 in the Classic. White Abarrio was moved from trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. to Dutrow in May and finished third in the Grade 1 Met Mile before winning the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 5 at Saratoga.

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Reach Jason Frakes at jfrakes@courier-journal.com and follow him on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.