Breeders’ Cup Juvenile could serve as both a Kentucky Derby rematch and preview

Nearly six months to the day after Justify repelled Good Magic in the Kentucky Derby, a rematch of sorts could play out over the same Churchill Downs track Friday evening.

This one will also set the early buzz for next year’s Derby.

Trainers Bob Baffert and Chad Brown have the top two contenders in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Friday, the headline event on the first of two days of championship racing from Louisville.

Brown saddled Good Magic to a victory in last year’s Juvenile — with Baffert’s Solomini finishing second — but six months later it was Justify who turned away Good Magic in the stretch to take the roses (and later the Triple Crown) for Baffert.

Fast forward another six months and Baffert’s Game Winner and Brown’s Complexity come to Churchill Downs for the Juvenile as top two morning-line choices and the only undefeated contenders in the 14-horse field.

Game Winner, who is 3-for-3 in California this year and coming off a victory in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes, arrived in Kentucky on Tuesday and galloped a mile over the Churchill Downs track Wednesday morning.

“He’s pretty good out of the gate,” Baffert said. “He has a lot of speed, tactical speed. I’m excited about him. He’s been working up a storm.”

Game Winner is the morning-line favorite at 8-5 and will be ridden by Joel Rosario. His victory in the American Pharoah Stakes came at 1 1/16 miles, the same distance as Friday’s Juvenile.

Complexity, 2-for-2 in New York this fall, most recently won the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes and checks in at 5-2 on the morning line. He’ll be ridden by Jose Ortiz, who was aboard Good Magic for his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory and his runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby.

“He’s one of the best 2-year-old dirt horses we’ve had, that’s for sure,” Brown said. “He’s an incredible talent. He’s got a lot of natural speed that I believe he can carry a distance of ground. How far, we’ll find out on Friday.”

Complexity won the 1-mile Champagne Stakes by 3 lengths over Code of Honor, who stumbled badly at the start of that race before rallying from the back of the 10-horse field to finish second.

Code of Honor is trained by Lexington native Shug McGaughey, who has a starter in the Juvenile for the first time in 17 years and has spoken highly of his 2-year-old colt in recent weeks. John Velazquez returns to the saddle after riding Code of Honor (5-1) to victory in his first start. Velazquez was not aboard for the Champagne Stakes.

“In the Champagne, he had a lot of trouble for a young horse but he came out of it good and since then he is very good,” McGaughey said. “If he gets a clean trip in the Juvenile, we will see what happens.”

The field also features four colts who ran in last month’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, including Knicks Go (who won that race at 70-1 odds) and Derby Date, a Calumet Farm homebred trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the Juvenile a record five times.

Both of those contenders are 30-1 shots.

Street Sense in 2006 and Nyquist in 2015 remain the only two Juvenile winners to go on to win the Kentucky Derby, though the victors in this race are still often saddled with high expectations going into their 3-year-old seasons.

“I always get excited about my young ones,” Baffert said. “We know what the other ones can do already. You’re just hoping for him to take the next step to the next level. There might be something in there that’s getting ready to explode, too. That’s what the Breeders’ Cup is all about. You hope that you’re the guy that’s exploding.”

Breeders’ Cup