Breeders’ Cup post positions, odds add to this weekend’s intrigue at Del Mar

DEL MAR — The last time Fierceness raced at Del Mar, he broke from the rail and almost immediately made a left turn … nearly three furlongs before that was required.

The 4-year-old colt nearly veered into a temporary rail that leads horses out of the 1¼-mile chute at the head of the stretch. Jockey John Velazquez got him straightened out and Fierceness went on to win the Pacific Classic, but it wasn’t an experience anyone was eager to relive.

So it was that in the hours before Monday’s post-position draw for the 14 Breeders’ Cup races set for this weekend at Del Mar, one of which, the $7 million Classic, will feature Fierceness, trainer Todd Pletcher was asked about the prospect of again starting from the No. 1 post.

“I absolutely don’t want to draw the rail,” Pletcher told FanDuel TV with a laugh. “So I’m trying not to think about it at all. I’m trying to will it not to happen.”

Monday afternoon, sitting in the paddock at Del Mar watching it happen, as other horses were assigned other positions and the inside post had yet to be called, Pletcher said he began thinking about the chances of Fierceness getting the rail: “One out of six, one out of five, one out of … .”

Soon it was down to one out of two, either the 1 or the 6. The 6 was called, and then the name … “Sovereignty.”

The 6-5 early favorite, Sovereignty will start from the 6 post in the 10-horse field going 1¼ miles.

The Pacific Classic winner, the 4-1 second choice, will be in the spot no one wanted.

“I think the difference is now, I think they said there was going to be a longer temporary rail,” Pletcher said. “And now that he did that (veered inside), Johnny’s going to be more aware of it and possibly ready for it and hopefully can prevent it from happening altogether.

“Still, even without that being the case, ideally, he wouldn’t draw the rail in a field like that. Hopefully, he’s good enough to overcome it.”

Fierceness wasn’t the only top contender to have poor luck at the draw. Two other second choices face a similar inside issue: Kopion (7-2), a filly trying to beat 13 males in the Sprint, and Nitrogen (4-1), who will have 12 females to her outside in the Distaff.

Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has the opposite problem with two of his morning-line favorites – Precise (6-5) in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Gstaad (9-5) in the Juvenile Turf. Both drew the far outside post for their respective one-mile turf races, Precise No. 13 and Gstaad No. 14. Both face the potential of losing ground on one or both turns.

Also stuck outside is She Feels Pretty, who is No. 13 in the 14-horse Filly & Mare Turf. She is the 4-1 second choice behind the French filly Gezora (7-2).

O’Brien’s other two early favorites are True Love (7-2) in the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Minnie Hauk (8-5) in the Turf. The latter was made the choice over one of seven former champions racing Saturday, Rebel’s Romance (5-2), who could become the first horse to win the $5 million Turf three times and only the third horse ever to complete a Cup hat trick.

The other former champions: Fierceness, Sierra Leone (8-1, Classic), Straight No Chaser (8-1, Sprint) and three horses in the Dirt Mile – defending champion Full Serrano (7-2), last year’s Juvenile winner Citizen Bull (10-1) and the 2023 Classic winner White Abarrio (8-1).

Trainer Bob Baffert has three morning-line favorites – Explora (5-2) in Friday’s Juvenile Fillies, Seismic Beauty (8-5) in Saturday’s Distaff and Nysos (8-5) in Saturday’s Dirt Mile. Two other Southern California-based favorites are Sweet Azteca (2-1) in the Filly & Mare Sprint and Motorious (7-2) in the Turf Sprint, a race he lost by a neck a year ago.

Pletcher trains the heaviest favorite: Ted Noffey, the 4-5 choice in the Juvenile. The other favorites are Bentornato (5-2, Sprint) and Notable Speech (5-2, Mile).

At the end of the night, maybe everyone should keep in mind what Pletcher added: “Like I’ve said many times, you get good trips from bad posts and bad trips from good posts. Just because you’re drawn well doesn’t mean you’re going to get a good trip.”

Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar

Friday

First post: 11:35 a.m. (10 races)

Weather.com forecast: 72 degrees, mostly sunny

Cup races: Juvenile Turf Sprint (2:45 p.m.), Juvenile Fillies (3:25), Juvenile Fillies Turf (4:05), Juvenile (4:45), Juvenile Turf (5:25)

On the air: 1-5 p.m., USA Network; all races on FanDuel TV and breederscup.com; all Cup races streamed on Peacock

Saturday

First post: 10:05 a.m. (12 races)

Weather.com forecast: 71 degrees, sunny

Cup races: Filly & Mare Sprint (noon), Turf Sprint (12:41), Sprint (1:21), Distaff (2:01), Turf (2:41), Classic (3:25), Mile (4:05), Dirt Mile (4:45), Filly and Mare Turf (5:25)

On the air: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., USA Network; 12:30-4 p.m., NBC; 4-5 p.m., USA; all races on FanDuel TV and breederscup.com; all Cup races streamed on Peacock.