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A huge purse and a fast track to Horse of the Year honors are at stake in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Saturday, November 2, the richest and most important race of the Breeders’ Cup! The race features the best two-turn dirt horses in the world going 1 ¼ miles on the dirt at Del Mar. With such an excellent field and such a deep history, no wonder every horseplayer looks forward to betting on the Breeders’ Cup!
The likely favorite will be City of Troy, the English Derby (G1) winner who tries dirt for the first time against the best. He’ll have to face top proven dirt horses like Fierceness, Forever Young, Sierra Leone, Ushba Tesoro, and Next.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic winners’ list reads like a who’s who of all-time greats: Sunday Silence, A. P. Indy, Curlin, Zenyatta, American Pharoah. Who will add their name to this list in 2024? Keep reading to find out, and to see the best places to bet the race online!
Where to Bet the Breeders’ Cup Classic
It matters to pick the winner, but before you even start handicapping you should choose the right place to bet horse racing online. There are many choices, making the decision seem hard at first. However, our experts can make that choice easy, since they know the best online sportsbooks for bettors of all kinds.
Every sportsbook we recommend offers market-leading odds and trusted payouts. Each site also offers different sportsbook bonuses such as horse racing rebates, referral benefits, deposit bonuses, and sign-up incentives. Taking a few minutes now to find out which bonuses suit you bet can help you build your Breeders’ Cup bankroll by hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
Breeders’ Cup Classic Horses and Odds
This is the official field for the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning lines:
- Forever Young (Yoshito Yahagi / Ryusei Sakai) – 6/1
- Highland Falls (Brad Cox / Luis Saez) – 20/1
- City of Troy (Aidan O’Brien / Ryan Moore) – 5/2
- Mixto (Doug O’Neill / Kyle Frey) – 30/1
- Senor Buscador (Todd Fincher / Joel Rosario) – 30/1
- Derma Sotogake (Hidetaka Otonashi / Christophe Lemaire) – 20/1
- Ushba Tesoro (Noboru Takagi / Yuga Kawada) – 12/1
- Pyrenees (Cherie DeVaux / Brian Hernandez, Jr) – 30/1
- Fierceness (Todd Pletcher / John Velazquez) – 3/1
- Tapit Trice (Todd Pletcher / Irad Ortiz, Jr.) – 30/1
- Sierra Leone (Chad Brown / Flavien Prat) – 12/1
- Arthur’s Ride (Bill Mott / Junior Alvarado) – 15/1
- Newgate (Bob Baffert / Frankie Dettori) – 20/1
- Next (Doug Cowans / Luan Machado) – 8/1
- Rattle N Roll (Kenny McPeek / Jose Ortiz) – 30/1 – ALSO ELIGIBLE
Remember that the morning line is only a forecast for race-day odds. If you play the race at the track, you won’t know the real prices until post time, making an overlay you spot before the race meaningless.
Your best bet is to play the Breeders’ Cup Classic at an online sportsbook. With fixed-odds wagering available on major races like the Breeders’ Cup Classic, you can lock in the best odds at the moment you bet. So, when you see an overlay, you can claim it and know you will be getting the best price when your horse wins!
These are the Breeders’ Cup Classic odds for horses at the top of the market.
 |  |  |
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| City of Troy | +200 | +220 | +190 |
| Fierceness | +350 | +400 | +400 |
| Forever Young | +550 | +500 | +550 |
| Sierra Leone | +1000 | +1200 | +1000 |
| Next | +1000 | +1400 | +1700 |
Free Breeders’ Cup Classic Picks
Now that you are ready to bet horse racing online, it is time to meet the leading contenders for the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic:
Breeders’ Cup Classic Top Contenders
The best bet in the Breeders’ Cup Classic is Forever Young. He is two noses away from being perfect, with that slim defeat happening in the Kentucky Derby where he was arguably the best horse. He always runs his race, he has proven 1 ¼-mile stamina, and he can thrive with multiple race shapes. The rail may be tricky, but he has the talent and adaptability to handle it.
Fierceness is another horse who must be respected in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Though he has had the odd flat effort, he is brilliant on his best. His last two starts have shown the best of him, and in the Travers he proved that he doesn’t actually need everything easy in order to get the job done. He peaked at Breeders’ Cup time last year and if he does this year as well, he could win the biggest race of the year.
Breeders’ Cup Classic Bet-Against
City of Troy is the morning-line favorite for trainer Aidan O’Brien. There’s an argument: though O’Brien has never won the Classic before he has had horses run very well, most recently Declaration of War about a decade ago. He is a proper Group 1 horse and a son of dirt runner Justify. But, he has never tried the dirt himself, and at a short price in a competitive Classic it’s an underlay to take an unproven dirt horse.
Breeders’ Cup Classic Exotics Horses
Newgate, the best of the West Coast hopes, comes into the Classic off of a tight third-place finish in the California Crown (G1). Now he stretches out to 1 ¼ miles, the distance at which he won the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) earlier this year. He has to prove he can beat this class of company, but he is tactical, he is on his home circuit, and his trainer has won this race four times before.
Ushba Tesoro hasn’t won yet in three starts this year, but he hasn’t run a bad race either: he has earned almost $6 million off of three second-place runs this year. He missed by a head in the Saudi Cup (G1) and was also second to runaway surprise Laurel River in the Dubai World Cup (G1). He is four-for-six at 1 ¼ miles, and he should be finishing well.
Sierra Leone is the epitome of a horse who runs to his company. He hasn’t won since the Blue Grass (G1) in the spring, but he has also never been out of the top three in eight starts, and was most recently third being Fierceness and Thorpedo Anna in the Travers. He’ll be an underlay in the win pool, but his consistency makes him a must-use in deeper exotic bets.
Breeders’ Cup Classic Free Picks
You’ve met the field, and now it is time to place your bets! These are the best bets for Saturday’s 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic:
- $20 to win – #1 Forever Young
- $10 each way – #13 Newgate
- $1 exacta box – #1 Forever Young, #9 Fierceness, #13 Newgate
- $0.50 trifecta key – #1 Forever Young with #7 Ushba Tesoro, #9 Fierceness, #13 Newgate
- $0.20 superfecta key – #1 Forever Young with #7 Ushba Tesoro, #9 Fierceness, #11 Sierra Leone, #13 Newgate
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