Breeders' Cup 2015: Odds and Predictions for All Entries in Classic Race

With just two days left between us and the big day, things are really starting to take shape in this, the 32nd running of the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Several runners have gotten in their final workouts, and we're getting our last real glimpse at what to expect in this year's race. Given the crop of competitors, and their current workout tabs, we should expect nothing less than an all-time-great showing.

With the field set, and odds settling in, the time has come for some predictions. So, to get you going, I've provided my finishing-order predictions, along with some things to consider for each of my predicted top-three finishers.

Breeders' Cup Entries with Predicted Order of Finish:

Post Position	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds	Projected Finish
1	Tonalist	Christophe Clement	John Velazquez	13-2	7th
2	Keen Ice	Dale Romans	Irad Ortiz	12-1	6th
3	Frosted	Kiaran McLaughlin	Joel Rosario	16-1	2nd
4	American Pharoah	Bob Baffert	Victor Espinoza	5-4	1st
5	Gleneagles	Aidan O'Brien	Ryan Moore	16-1	8th
6	Effinex	James Jerkens	Mike Smith	50-1	5th
7	Smooth Roller	Victor Garcia	Tyler Baze	16-1	9th
8	Hard Aces	John Sadler	Joe Talamo	50-1	10th
9	Honor Code	Claude McGaughey III	Javier Castellano	6-1	4th
10	Beholder	Richard Mandella	Gary Stevens	4-1	3rd

American Pharoah

Hop back on the American Pharoah bandwagon. The three-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile is the best horse in this field, and he's going to show it on Saturday.

Pharoah is already on the grounds at Keeneland, and he looks great.

More important than the way he looks is the fact that he's working up a storm. Pharoah logged the final workout of his racing career, and he did so in true AP fashion.

The Triple Crown champion breezed through four furlongs in 46.60 seconds. That would be a solid, if not impressive, four-furlong time in a Grade 1 race, and Pharoah's doing that in a workout.

He appears to be in top form, better than he was prior to his disappointing loss in the Travers, and for every other horse in the field, that's a proverbial death sentence. 

Beholder

Beholder is the best filly in the world. Period.

The five-year-old daughter of Henny Hughes has been on a tear, winning six straight races and 10 of her last 11. Her win last month in the Zenyatta was impressive but go back two contests, and her win against the boys in the Pacific Classic is easily the crown jewel of her resume.

The field in the Pacific Classic zoomed through quarter-mile fractions of 22.36, 23.09, 25.14 and 24.65 seconds, respectively, and finished in a time of 1:59.77—just .66 seconds off the race record.

The issue here is the absence of runners with a desire to bolt straight to the front of the pack.

Last time out, Bayern and Midnight Storm set a ridiculous, unsustainable pace, leading to a total pace breakdown. By the one-mile mark, those two were so depleted that Beholder was able to swoop in and grab an easy, three-length lead.

From there, the veteran filly drew away and won by eight lengths while gearing down over the line.

It was impressive but not an effort she can duplicate with the kind of methodical pace that she'll experience in the Classic.

Frosted

American Pharoah and his nemesis, Frosted, will square off one more time in the Classic and once again, AP will get the best of the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained colt.

If not for AP and all his accomplishments, we could very well be talking about Frosted and how great he is. The three-year-old son of Tapit finished fourth in the Derby—he was the only horse closing into Pharoah's lead—and then finished second and third behind him in the Belmont Stakes and Travers, respectively.

Frosted likes to hang around in the middle of the pack, just off the pace—he pushed Pharoah around the track in the Travers, but that was an anomaly. A great example of this comes from Frosted's most recent victory in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby.

Unfortunately, Frosted tends to occupy the same space as Pharoah on the track, and that generally doesn't work well in his favor.

Trying to imitate the running style of the best horse in several generations is not the best strategy, but it's the only one Frosted knows. 

A second-place finish for Pharoah seems a fitting end to a great rivalry.

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