Another spot in 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland up for grabs Saturday

The 39th annual Breeders’ Cup is three months from this weekend at Keeneland Race Course.

If you’ve been slow out of the gate familiarizing yourself with this year’s World Championships of Thoroughbred racing, this would be the time to engage as the stretch run approaches.

Saturday’s offering on the road to Lexington is the $1 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Grade 1 race for 4-year-olds and up is the fourth of this year’s eight Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” races for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the $6 million headliner of World Championships weekend at Keeneland Nov. 4-5.

The loaded six-horse field for the 1 1/8-mile Whitney includes one contender who has already punched his ticket to the Classic. Olympiad, trained by Bill Mott, achieved that feat by winning the Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on July 2 in his most recent outing. That Grade 2 victory was Olympiad’s fifth in a row and seventh from 10 career starts. Olympiad, Saturday’s 2-1 second choice on the morning line for the Whitney, will be looking for his first career Grade 1 win.

Life Is Good, like Olympiad a 4-year-old, was installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite. Life Is Good, one of three Whitney contenders trained by Todd Pletcher, has won seven of his nine career races, including two Grade 1 events.

Life Is Good comes in off a 5-length romp in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud Stakes at Belmont Park on July 2.

In two previous outings in 2022, Life Is Good finished fourth in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (March 26) and won the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Jan. 29). Those outcomes followed his victory in last year’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Life Is Good has tallied more than $3.5 million in career earnings as a result of his Grade 1 successes.

Completing the field for the Whitney are Hot Rod Charlie (9-2), Americanrevolution (5-1), Happy Saver (8-1) and Zoomer (30-1).

Hot Rod Charlie, trained by Doug O’Neill, was runner-up in this year’s Dubai World Cup and boasts a formidable bankroll himself with more than $5 million in career earnings.

Americanrevolution ran second to Olympiad by 2 ¼ lengths in the Stephen Foster in his most recent race.

Happy Saver won his first five career races and has finished second in his most recent four, including the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont on June 11. In that race, Happy Saver came in 6 lengths behind Flightline, the current No. 1 horse in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings.

Americanrevolution and Happy Saver are both trained by Pletcher.

Zoomer is the oldest horse in the Whitney at age 6. He’s won 11 races from 37 career starts, most recently a claiming event at Saratoga on July 17. The Whitney will be only his second-ever graded stakes and his first Grade 1 attempt.

In addition to Olympiad, two others have claimed spots in this year’s Classic through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. Café Pharoah won the February Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse on Feb. 20, Cyberknife captured the Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 23.

After Saturday’s Whitney Stakes, upcoming “Win and You’re In” opportunities for the Breeders’ Cup Classic include the Juddmonte International at York Racecourse (England) on Aug. 17, the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga on Sept. 3, the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sept. 3 and the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 1.

Future wager odds

Undefeated 4-year-old Flightline is the 3-1 favorite in this year’s first Breeders’ Cup Classic Future Wager.

Betting was to open Friday at noon and close Sunday at 6:30 p.m. for the first of this year’s two future wagers. The second one runs Sept. 2-5.

Bettors may pick from 24 wagering interests in the future wager, placing win-only bets.

Here’s the full list of betting choices, with odds entering wagering on Friday:

Flightline (3-1)

Life Is Good (7-2)

Olympiad (9-2)

Charge It (15-1)

American Revolution (20-1)

Country Grammer (20-1)

Early Voting (20-1)

Epicenter (20-1)

Hot Rod Charlie (20-1)

Nest (20-1)

Zandon (20-1)

Corniche (30-1)

Cyberknife (30-1)

Dynamic One (30-1)

Emblem Road (30-1)

Express Train (30-1)

First Captain (30-1)

Mandaloun (30-1)

Rich Strike (30-1)

Royal Ship (30-1)

Stilleto Boy (30-1)

Taiba (30-1)

Tawny Port (30-1)

All other entrants (30-1)

Saturday

Whitney Stakes

What: Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race for 4-year-olds and up

Where: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

When: 5:43 p.m.

TV: NBC-18

Purse: $1 million (Grade 1)

Distance: 1 1/8 miles

Favorite: Life Is Good (6-5)