Overview
- Fierceness was installed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite from post 1 for Saturday’s $7 million, 1¼-mile Classic, with defending champion Sierra Leone among chief rivals.
- Trainer Chad Brown entered Contrary Thinking as a designated pace horse to ensure an honest tempo for late-running stablemate Sierra Leone, potentially pressuring front-runner Fierceness.
- Journalism, winner of the Preakness and Haskell and runner-up in the Derby and Belmont, gets Jose Ortiz up in a notable jockey change that could affect race tactics.
- Jockey Ryan Moore is out with a broken leg, leaving Aidan O’Brien’s Breeders’ Cup mounts to alternate riders and adding uncertainty to several turf races.
- The two-day, 14-race championships began Friday at Del Mar; Saturday’s card features the Classic at 6:25 p.m. ET on NBC and the $5 million Turf, where Rebel’s Romance bids for an unprecedented third win in the race.