Victor Espinoza rode American Pharoah to the victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic last season from the No. 4 post position, and he'll get a chance to pull off that feat once again this weekend when he rides race favorite California Chrome at Santa Anita.
California Chrome drew the No. 4 post position on Monday and is the clear betting favorite over the field for the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday. The former Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner improved slightly on the odds from +105 to -120 over the weekend and has been dominant in 2016, finishing first in each of his six races including his most recent outing at the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita back at the beginning of October.
But while Espinoza looks for his second consecutive win in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert will be trying to pick up his third straight victory at the event with a pair of horses in the field for the 1 1/4-mile race – Arrogate and Hoppertunity.
Arrogate is the second-favorite behind California Chrome at +275, and drew the No. 10 post position in the 10-horse field. Hoppertunity is farther back at +2000 odds to win the race, down slightly from last week's +2500 betting line, and will start right beside Arrogate at the No. 9 post position. Along with American Pharoah, Baffert was also the trainer for the 2014 Breeders' Cup Classic champion Bayern.
A trio of horses will be back in the Breeders' Cup Classic field for the second year in a row on Saturday, with Frosted boasting the best odds of that group at +550 after turning in a seventh-place result in the race in 2015. Frosted drew the No. 2 post position, between Effinex (No. 1) and Keen Ice (No. 3). Effinex finished second behind American Pharoah in this race last year but is back at +4000 odds this time around. Keen Ice (+3300) ended up fourth last year.
Rounding out the field for Saturday's race are Shaman Ghost in the No. 8 post position at +2500 odds, Melatonin in the No. 6 post position at +2000 odds, War Story in the No. 7 post position at +10000 odds, and Win the Space in the No. 5 post position at +10000 odds. Gary Stevens will be on board Win the Space this weekend; he won the Breeders' Cup Classic with Mucho Macho Man back in 2013.
*Odds as of November 1, 2016