Owner: Mr. and Mrs. Bill Warren of Tulsa, Okla.
Breeder: Edward Evans
Trainer: Rick Dutrow (2-0-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: Jerry Bailey (95-14-11-12 Breeders' Cup, 16-4-2-2 Classic)

Career Highlights:

Owner: Jon Kelly, Beau Greely, Brad Scott, Raleigh Ralls and Dennis Foster
Breeder: Jon Kelly, Beau Greely, Dr. Sam Bradley and Brad Scott
Trainer: Beau Greely (5-0-0-1 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: Garrett Gomez (8-0-1-1 Breeders' Cup, 1-0-1-0 BC Classic)

Career Highlights:

• Rallied wide to win the $1 million Grade 1 Pacific Classic Aug. 21, notching his first career stakes win after eight stakes placings.

• Runner-up to Lava Man in the 2005 Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup and third to Rock Hard Ten in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap this spring.

• Veteran of the 2004 Triple Crown trail, finishing 10^th in the Kentucky Derby and 7^th in the Preakness, well backed each time at 14-to-1 and 12-to-1 odds.

• Runner-up in the 2004 Louisiana Derby before his breakout performance when second to Smarty Jones in the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby.

• Began his career on turf in his first three starts, all in Southern California.

Owner: Eugene and Laura Melnyk of Barbados
Breeder: George Brunacini and Bona Terra Farms
Trainer: Todd Pletcher (16-2-1-1 Breeders’ Cup, 2-0-0-0 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: John Velazquez (47-6-4-4 Breeders’ Cup, 7-0-1-0 BC Classic)

Career Highlights:

Owner: Bob Bone of Shingle Springs, Cal.
Breeder: Loch Lea Farm Inc.
Trainer: Jeff Mullins (2-0-0-1 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: Alex Solis (47-3-7-4 Breeders' Cup, 9-1-0-0 BC Classic)

Career Highlights:

• Two-time winner of the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar (2004-'05), he's won 6 of his 12 lifetime starts.
• Exits a third-place finish to Rock Hard Ten and Roman Ruler in the Grade 2 Goodwood.
• Opened his career with 5 straight wins before finishing fourth in the 2004 Pacific Classic, ironically his same placing in the 2005 Pacific Classic as well.
• Made a strong move to contend for the top prize in the $6 million Dubai World Cup in March, but flattened out late to be third to Roses In May and Dynever.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Louis Quatorze, won the 1996 Preakness Stakes and was runner-up between Alphabet Soup and Cigar in that fall's Breeders' Cup Classic.
• As a stallion, Louis Quatorze best known for producing 2002 Louisiana Derby winner Repent, who was runner-up in the 2001 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and 2002 Travers.
• Dam, Melisma (by Well Decorated), won just once in her career but is half-sister to Grade 2 Beaumont winner Her Temper.

Best Case For:

• The best scenario for Choctaw Nation would be for a swift group of early speed horses to sign on for the race, but not be of the top-shelf quality that you would expect to be able to lead wire-to-wire. If the legion of early speed runners in the Classic is compromised of 20-to-1 and longer-type horses, he could be capable of mowing them down.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Despite his late-closing style, Choctaw Nation has been much more effective at 1-1/16 miles where the pace is stronger than he has been at 1-1/8 miles and 1-1/4 miles where the early pace is not as quick. All six wins have come at 1-1/16 miles or shorter, and in his longer races he's had a tendency to flatten out in the last sixteenth of a mile.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Choctaw Nation was claimed for $40,000 in his debut, but has gone on to earn more than $1.1 million since.

Owner: Jay Em Ess Stable (Siegel family) of Beverly Hills, Cal.
Breeder: Jay Em Ess Stable
Trainer: Paul McGee (3-0-0-2 Breeders’ Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: tbd

Career Highlights:

• Outstanding, but short, campaign in 2005 with two wins and a place from three starts.
• Recovered from a stumble at the gate to take the lead and wire the field Aug. 21 in the Grade 2 Saratoga Breeders’ Cup.
• Most recently was runner-up in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup to Borrego, saving ground and finishing clearly second-best.
• Won 2 of 11 starts as a sophomore in 2004, but managed to bankroll more than $400,000 on the season – winning the Grade 3 Northern Dancer and placing in the Illinois Derby, Indiana Derby and Swaps.

In the Genes:

• Sire, A.P. Indy, was 1992 Horse of the Year on the strength of his wins in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Belmont Stakes.
• Sire, A.P. Indy, produced 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Tempera, but is best known for siring the likes of multiple Grade 1 winner Aptitude, Grade 1-winning multi-millionaire Golden Missile et al. Those two colts combined to race in the Classic from 1999-2001.
• Dam, Urbane, earned more than $1 million, including a 10-furlong victory in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap.
• Third foal out of Urbane, the other two winners, but Suave is her first stakes winner.

Best Case For:

• Suave displays as good of a route pedigree as you’ll see in a racehorse. He ran strongly against likely Classic favorite Saint Liam last year in the Grade 2 Clark (beaten 2-1/2 lengths while gaining every step down the stretch), and Saint Liam’s form last fall was every bit as sharp as it this fall.

Biggest Knock Against:

• He got a perfect trip in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, saving ground and sitting fourth behind a speed duel that unfolded in front of him. To his credit, he accepted the gift and ran well enough to be a clear second-best to Borrego that day. The bigger concern, though, is that a nasty series of quarter cracks forced a halt in his training multiple times this year.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• The runner-up in the Jockey Club Gold Cup has contested the Breeders’ Cup Classic 15 times in the race’s 21-year history. Those runners own a combined 15: 0-2-2 mark in that year’s Classic, with such notable runners as Cigar, Genltemen (ARG), Turkoman and Gate Dancer among the list of disappointments.

Owner: Susan & John Magnier of County Cork, Ireland
Breeder: Barronstown Stud & Orpendale
Trainer: Aidan O’Brien (30-3-5-4 Breeders’ Cup, 4-2-1-1 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Kieren Fallon (10-2-1-2 Breeders’ Cup, 3-0-1-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Scored back-to-back, half-length victories in Group 1 company this summer, first in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown and then in the Irish Champion at Leopardstown.
• Defining victories both came at the expense of 2005 Epsom Derby winner Motivator, at 7-to-1 and 11-to-1 odds.
• Disappointed terribly in the Epsom Derby when tiring badly to be 10^th of 13, beaten more than 25 lengths in his first career attempt at 12 furlongs. He was co-fourth choice in the betting at 8-to-1.
• Long, seven-race campaign last year at age two, winning Group 2 and Group 3 races in his native Ireland before taking France’s Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp in October.

In the Genes:

• Late sire, Danehill (who passed in 2003), has produced such champion turf runners as 2001 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf queen Banks Hill and record-setting European miler Rock Of Gibraltar, an unlucky second in the 2002 BC Mile at Arlington.
• Sire, Danehill, is a son of route influence Danzig, but was one of Europe’s top sprinters of 1989, winning the Group 1 Ladbroke Sprint Cup.
• 10^th foal out of the American-bred mare Mahrah, who has produced one listed winner in addition to Oratorio, her only group or graded stakes-winning progeny.

Best Case For:

• Trainer Aidan O’Brien has a masterful record in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and has been very judicious in choosing to run only four horses here in his meteoric career. Oratorio’s mere presence would speak volumes, and this has been Europe’s top sophomore the second half of the summer at 10 furlongs.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Suffered a slight injury after the Coral Eclipse in July, as trainer O’Brien reported him to be “jammed up,” but returned to win the Irish Champion in September. Jockey Fallon has gone on the record in saying that Oratorio can be a lazy horse and not give the rider everything he has, which may be a concern considering he’s not a true 12-furlong runner.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Oratorio owns a 4: 2-1-0 record this year with Kieren Fallon aboard and 2: 0-0-0 mark when not ridden by the stable’s ace. Will Fallon be aboard this guy or Powerscourt at the World Thoroughbred Championships?

Owner: STD Racing Stable and Jason Wood
Breeder: Lonnie Arterburn and Eve and Kim Huhlmann
Trainer: Doug O’Neill (1-0-0-0 Breeders’ Cup, 2-0-0-0 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: Patrick Valenzuela (46-7-0-3 Breeders’ Cup, 4-0-0-0 BC Classic)

• Former claimer dominated the west coast scene this summer with blowout wins in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup and Grade 2 Californian. He set excruciating fractions in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar before the closers reeled him in by a half-length.
• Made his first major splash on the national scene last Dec. 26 in Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Malibu when he was a strong second by a half-length to Preakness runner-up Rock Hard Ten.
• Raced on turf for much of 2004 before being claimed by Doug O’Neill at Del Mar, immediately paying dividends by winning the listed Pomona Derby Trial at Fairplex is his unveiling for the new barn. 

In the Genes:

• Sire, Slew City Slew, won 11 of 42 races for $1.1 million. He was a two-time Grade 1 winner, capturing the Oaklawn Handicap and the 10-furlong Gulfstream Park handicap.
• Sire, Slew City Slew, was a pacesetter in the 1988 and 1989 Breeders’ Cup Classic renewals, finishing ninth and sixth in his two attempts.
• Sire, Slew City Slew, best known for producing Canadian Horse of the Year Win City.

Best Case For:

• He has the kind of early speed that runs other horses into the ground, and has shown an ability to kick on through the stretch despite that torrid early foot. He’ll avoid traffic trouble with a good post position draw and partners with the greatest front-end jockey of this generation, Patrick Valenzuela. 

Biggest Knock Against:

• Lava Man was vanned off following the Pacific Classic, and originally thought to have suffered a leg injury but later reported by trainer Doug O’Neill to have been heat-related. You have to think those three superb summertime races took some starch out of him. 

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Lava Man began his career losing three consecutive maiden claiming races on the Northern California state fair circuit in 2003.

Owner: Tracy Farmer of Lexington, KY
Breeder: Cambridge Farm and James Conway
Trainer: Nick Zito (23-1-4-3 Breeders’ Cup, 9-0-1-2 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: Rafael Bejarano (4-0-0-1 Breeders’ Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Classic)

• Despite a difficult post position 14 in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 5, colt toyed with a decent field to win by nearly five lengths.
• Rebounded nicely from Triple Crown travails to win the Grade 3 Leonard Richards and finish second in the Grade 1 Haskell.
• Disappointed when 15^th in the 2005 Kentucky Derby and 4^th in the Preakness.
• Burst onto the national scene in 2004 when finishing third in the Grade 1 Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Grade 1 Champagne.

In the Genes:

• Son of 1999 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Charismatic, that year’s Horse of the Year.
• Sire, Charismatic, was sold to Japanese breeding interests in 2002.
• Dam, Clever But Costly, is by sprint sire Clever Trick. She won 2 of 11 starts (both sprinting).
• Dam, Clever But Costly, has produced 4 stakes winners from 9 foals including Sun King, G1 Futurity winner Traitor, listed Keeneland winner Ocean Drive and Risen Star champ Beavers Nose. Also produced unraced Clever Bertie, whose offspring include G2 winners Hurricane Bertie and Allamerican Bertie, who was second in the 1-1/4 miles Alabama.

Best Case For:

• Well-composed runner will handle the big-race atmosphere, having run well at Lone Star in last year’s Breeders’ Cup hubbub and gaining further crowd exposure in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He’s got a versatile running style that should help him iron out a great trip if he’s improved enough to have a major say.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Sun King has lost ground to the winner in the final eighth of a mile in all six of his career Grade 1 starts. He’s never beaten top competition, and the Classic will be his first test against older horses.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Only two Classic winners in history ever raced in the Juvenile at age two – both finished third as babies. Sun King will try to emulate Cat Thief, who finished third in the 1998 Juvenile before winning the Classic in 1999, and Alysheba, who was third in the 1986 Juvenile before finishing second in the 1987 Classic and winning it all in 1988.

Owner: Millennium Farms (Ro Parra) of San Antonio, Texas.
Breeder: Cherokee Farms Inc.
Trainer: Vladimir Cerin (1-0-0-0 Breeders’ Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Classic)
Regular Jockey: Victor Espinoza (19-1-2-0 Breeders’ Cup, 2-0-0-0 BC Classic)

Career Highlights:

• Defeated multi-millionaire Perfect Drift and others in a sloppy Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup last month, registering his first win since being privately purchased by new owner Ro Parra.
• Pressed a wicked pace in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 21, finishing fifth by five lengths in his debut for trainer Vladimir Cerin.
• Multiple listed stakes winner in middle-distance races in South Florida when with trainer Milt Wolfson, earning nearly $400,000 under his tutelage.
• A winner in 3 of 7 starts this year while racing for 3 different trainers – Cerin, Wolfson and Howard Wolfendale during his summer stint in Delaware.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Pine Bluff, won the 1992 Preakness after storming through Oaklawn with wins in the Rebel and Arkansas Derby. He finished third in the Belmont Stakes over this track.
• Sire, Pine Bluff, won 6 of 13 starts for $2.2 million.
• As a stallion, Pine Bluff best known for producing 1998 top sophomore LIl’s Lad, multiple Grade 1 winner I Ain’t Bluffing and star sprint mare Bear Fan.
• Dam, Lindsay Frolic, won 11 of 24 starts including seven Calder stakes races. She is a daughter of Grade 1 Test winner Cherokee Frolic. Lindsay Froilc has produced four other top stakes performers on the Calder circuit in addition to Super Frolic.

Best Case For:

• The Pacific Classic has turned out to be quite a race, considering that winner Borrego came back to thrash eastern rivals in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont. He raced into the teeth of a fleet pace that day (:45-4/5 opening half-mile for a 10-furlong race), yet only was defeated five lengths for all the money. He’s run well over the deep, tiring Delaware Park track and handled a deep, tiring muddy track at Hawthorne, both of which should help his stamina and ability to handle “Big Sandy” at Belmont.

Biggest Knock Against:

• His measuring stick is defeating Perfect Drift, a consistent and rugged sort, but a horse who has yet to seriously factor in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Super Frolic will have to run the best race of his life – which he has done in his last two starts – for yet another time to be a factor. That’s a lot to ask.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Trainer Vladimir Cerin’s occupation before that of trainer was sports medicine, and the UCLA graduate with a  degree in kinesiology worked with such athletes as basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton and tennis great Tracy Austin.