Owner: Bruce Lunsford and Lansdon Robbins III of Louisville, Ky.
Breeder: John Gunther
Trainer: Frank Brothers (5-0-0-0 Breeders’ Cup, 1-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Jerry Bailey (95-14-11-12 Breeders’ Cup, 12-3-1-4 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Undefeated colt has a leg up in the race for Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old of 2005 as he has breezed to four consecutive victories to date.
• Winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful and Champagne Stakes in New York, scoring successive victories over rival Henny Hughes at seven furlongs and one mile.
• Opened his career July 9 at Churchill Downs with a powerful debut win in 1:10-3/5 for six furlongs, then followed with an easy, six-length allowance score in 1:10-1/5 at Saratoga a month later.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Giant’s Causeway, won 9 of 13 starts (second in the other four) for earnings just over $3 million. He was a Group 1 winner at ages 2 and 3, including the Irish Champion and Juddmonte International. He finished second by a neck to Tiznow in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
• From the second crop of Giant’s Causeway runners to race. He’s off to a brilliant stallion career with horses like European Group 1 winners Shamardal, Footstepsinthesand, Maid’s Causeway, as well as Grade 2 Oak Leaf winner Diamond Omi.
• Dam, Freddie Frisson, was a listed stakes winner of more than $260,000, capturing the Holiday Inaugural Stakes at Turfway.

Best Case For:

• First Samurai has won over the track at Belmont Park, and shown an ability to win on fast or wet racetracks. He’s dominated Henny Hughes in their two showdowns, and there’s nothing in his pedigree that suggests he won’t handle extra distances – in fact, First Samurai may be better the longer he goes in time. If he can harness his speed, like Jerry Bailey was able to do when pulling him back a bit in the Champagne, First Samurai will be tough to beat.

Biggest Knock Against:

• His stride was exceptionally short late in the Champagne if you go back and watch the tapes. And a glance at the stop watch shows a final quarter-mile time in an alarmingly slow :27.54, no matter how fast the early pace played. Everyone talks about Henny Hughes being lightening fast, but note that this guy was in front of him every step of the Hopeful, and sat right off his tail for a good portion of the Champagne.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• First Samurai will attempt to become the first horse in history to win the Hopeful, Champagne and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Owner: Darley Stable of Dubai, UAE.
Breeder: Liberation Farm, Trackside Farm and CHO, LLC
Trainer: Patrick Biancone (12-0-2-0 Breeders' Cup, 3-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Gary Stevens (93-8-15-10 Breeders' Cup, 14-2-2-1 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• First or second in all five career starts, Henny Hughes has been battling New York's toughest two-year-old stakes races all summer and fall.
• Comes into the Juvenile after back-to-back runner-up finishes to First Samurai in the Grade 1 Champagne and Grade 1 Hopeful.
• Began his career with three straight wins, including a 15-length demolition of the listed Tremont Stakes and a blowout score in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Hennessy, was a standout 2-year-old in 1995, his only season to race. He won the Grade 1 Hopeful, Grade 2 Hollywood Juvenile Championship and Grade 2 Sapling, while finishing second in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
• As a stallion, Hennessy best known for producing 2001 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and intercontinental Champion 2-Year-Old Johannesburg.
• Dam, Meadow Flyer (by Meadowlake), has produced eight foals of racing age with six winners. Henny Hughes is her first stakes winner.

Best Case For:

• The one-turn configuration of this year's Juvenile really keeps Henny Hughes in the ballgame. His future likely will be sprinting, but the long run down the backstretch before the only turn of the Juvenile gives a lightening speed horse like him a chance to gain some separation from the field. Granted, they did not finish with flair in the Champagne, but he did show guts to hold second behind First Samurai. And, if that rival doesn't fire for some reason in the Juvenile ...

Biggest Knock Against:

• He lost ground in the final furlong of the Hopeful and Champagne and will be asked for another 1-1/16^th of a mile in the Juvenile. Even if he can make an easy lead, he just may be too quick for his own good, failing to settle into slow fractions early in any of his races to date.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Henny Hughes will try to avoid becoming a third-generation Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up. His sire, Hennessy, was second to Unbridled's Song in 1995 at Belmont. Also, grandsire Storm Cat (sire of Hennessy) was second to Tasso in the 1985 Juvenile at Aqueduct.

Owner: Mike McCarty of Austin, TX.
Breeder: Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds  
Trainer: Steve Asmussen (5-0-0-0 Breeders’ Cup, 1-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Jerry Bailey (95-14-11-12 Breeders’ Cup, 12-3-1-4 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Demolished the field by 9 lengths in the G2 Futurity at Belmont on Sept. 17 as the 4-to-5 favorite.
• Scored back-to-back wins during the Saratoga meeting, first a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint, followed by a commanding score at seven furlongs in an entry-level allowance.
• Troubled trip when he broke slowly from the inside and had to rally eight-wide in his career debut at Churchill Downs on July 3. Missed only by a half-length when closing for second.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Broken Vow, was a multiple graded stakes winner of $725,296 with victories in the G2 Iselin and G3 Ben Ali topping his achievements.
• From the first crop of sire Broken Vow, who is a son of 1990 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Unbridled.
• Second foal out of dam Smooth As Silk, who won two races in her career.
• Grand dam, Sacque, was a top grass runner who earned more than $200,000 and was a Grade 3 winner in the US.

Best Case For:

• He’s bred to run much farther than he has so far, and you’d expect with his bloodlines to perhaps be even better down the road. So the fact that Private Vow has been so brilliantly fast so early in his career means he could be something special. Trainer Steve Asmussen simply is one of the game’s best and one of these “major” wins are imminent.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Private Vow has never raced beyond seven furlongs and he’ll enter the Juvenile on a 42-day layoff. Neither of those factors will help him in the biggest race of his career. Jerry Bailey also is the regular rider of First Samurai, so pay attention to where he ends up (note Bailey’s stellar record in the Juvenile all-time, above).

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Only one horse has ever won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with a layoff greater than five weeks – 2002 winner Vindication, who had 42 days between the Kentucky Cup Juvenile and his championship performance.

Owner: Robert Shepard and Carrol Castille of Lafayette, LA.
Breeder: Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Patrick Byrne (7-3-0-0 Breeders’ Cup, 1-1-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Mark Guidry (6-0-0-1 Breeders’ Cup, 1-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Blitzed eight rivals in the Sept. 18 G3 Arlington-Washington Futurity, drawing away by more than eight lengths to improve his record to 3-for-3.
• Won his stakes debut easily in the listed Honest Pleasure at Arlington on July 31, pulling away late by almost three lengths.
• Debuted a half-length winner finishing up the rail July 3 in a Churchill Downs maiden dash.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Gulch, was 1998 Eclipse Champion Sprinter in a season which culminated in his Breeders’ Cup Sprint victory at Churchill Downs.
• Sire, Gulch, was a brilliant two-year-old, winning the G1 Hopeful and Futurity, and added the G1 Met Mile and Wood Memorial at three.
• As a stallion, Gulch best known for producing 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Thunder Gulch, English turf great Nayef and millionaire Wallenda.
• Dam, Magical Holiday, is half-sister to $2 million-earning, G1 winner Dramatic Gold.
• Sorceror’s Stone is a three-quarter brother to Holiday Thunder, runner-up in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club, G3 Kentucky Cup Juvenile and third-place finisher in the G2 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity.

Best Case For:

• His stakes record time of 1:35 flat in the Arlington-Washington Futurity was faster than major-league predecessors Spend A Buck (1:38), Bet Twice (1:37-1/5), Tejano (1:36-1/5), Hansel (1:36-2/5) and Gilded Time (1:37-4/5) among many others. Trainer Patrick Byrne has a brilliant Breeders’ Cup resume, and it’s hard to look past that :24 flat final quarter-mile in his last effort.

Biggest Knock Against:

• A 42-day layoff is pretty much uncharted territory when it comes to Juvenile winners, only Vindication has had that kind of respite between starts. The 1-1/16 miles distance will be the longest of Sorecer’s Stone’s career.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• The opening race July 3 at Churchill Downs produced not only the G3 Arlington-Washington Futurity winner in Sorcerer’s Stone, but also the G2 Futurity winner Private Vow.

Owner: Cecil Peacock of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Breeder: Mary Caldwell
Trainer: Dan Hendricks (1-0-0-0 Breeders’ Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Alex Solis (47-3-7-4 Breeders’ Cup, 11-0-2-0 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Led every step of the Oct. 2 G2 Norfolk at Oak Tree, stretching out around two turns for the first time and earning his first stakes victory.
• Broke poorly in the Cal-bred I’m Smokin Stakes on Sept. 5 at Del Mar, a race dominated in 1:08-2/5 by the flashy Bro Lo. Finished third, nearly nine lengths behind the since-injured Bro Lo.
• Debuted a half-length winner rallying from next-to-last May 14 at Hollywood going just 4-1/2 furlongs. Third-place finisher that day, Bashert, would come back to be graded stakes-placed.

In the Genes:

• Full brother to 2003 Champion Cal-bred 2-Year-Old Colt Don’tsellmeshort.
• Sire, Benchmark, raced from age two to seven, but made only 16 starts – winning 7 times, including four G2 stakes races from seven to nine furlongs (Goodwood et al).
• Sire, Benchmark, is best known for producing G1 Santa Anita Oaks winner Silent Sighs and multiple graded stakes-winning grass performer A to the Z.
• Dam, Miss Soft Cell, is an unraced daughter of Siyah Kalem).

Best Case For:

• Brother Derek has flashed versatility in his short, three-race career. He’s raced well over all there major Southern California tracks and has been able to win wire-to-wire routing and closing from the back of the back sprinting 4-1/2 furlongs.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Despite showing guts, he really crawled home in the Norfolk, getting the fourth quarter-mile in :26.57 and the final sixteenth in almost :07 even. His seven Norfolk rivals included three maidens and four horses who had single victories to their credit.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Tiznow is the only California-bred to win a Breeders’ Cup race, capturing the 2000 and 2001 Classic editions. Cal-breds Bertrando (second) and Nationalore (third) have placed in the Juvenile, however.

Owner: Ken and Sarah Ramsey of Louisville, Ky.
Breeder: Ken and Sarah Ramsey
Trainer: Dale Romans (2-0-2-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: John Jacinto (0-0-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

Shocked the field in the Grade 1 Lane's End Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland Oct. 8 with a wire-to-wire score at odds of more than 35-to-1.

Has never finished worse than second in six starts, including a listed stakes win in the Canterbury Park Juvenile in Minnesota and a runner-up finish in the listed Cradle Stakes at Ohio's River Downs.

Debuted for a $50,000 claiming tag on June 11 at Churchill Downs, finishing second.

In the Genes:

Sire, Catienus, raced for the breeder/owner Ken Ramsey, winning 5 of 22 starts for $370,386, including a minor stakes win and runner-up finishes in the Grade 2 Saratoga Breeders' Cup, Suburban, and a third-place effort in the Grade 1 Whitney.

From the second crop of Catienus runners to race, the first crop included 2005 Belmont Stakes third-place finisher Nolan's Cat.

Dam, Hillary Step (by Chimes Band), was a winner at age two and has produced two foals to race, both winners. Grand dam Cadillac Women finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in 1991.

Best Case For:

He'll be the only Juvenile starter in the gate with three two-turn races under his belt, and although the Juvenile will be a one-turn affair this year, the added endurance he's gained from his experiences will be a major feather in his cap. Plus, he defeated a full field of runners at Keeneland, something many of the inexperienced Juvenile top contenders have yet to face.

Biggest Knock Against:

The fact that he was a home-bred and offered for a claiming tag in his debut race tells you that even his owner/trainer are surprised at this horse's success…not just the betting public. But, he's not the first horse to out-produce expectations, so it wouldn't be a total shock if he moved forward again. He looks like he wants to be up on the pace, however, and that could be very crowded in the Juvenile.

Bet You Didn't Know:

Kentucky-based horses won the Juvenile from 1996-'98 in successive, but have not scored since Answer Lively's win at Churchill Downs. Others during that string were Boston Harbor and Favorite Trick.

Owner: Stan Fulton of Las Vegas, NV.
Breeder: Jim Fleming
Trainer: Eoin Harty (6-1-1-1 Breeders’ Cup, 3-0-0-1 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Patrick Valenzuela (46-7-0-3 Breeders’ Cup, 9-1-0-0 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Bit of an adventurous trip when second to Brother Derek in the Oct. 2 G2 Norfolk Stakes at Oak Tree. Drew widest and was four-wide on the first turn and down the backstretch, but was able to save ground on the far turn before steadying a bit at the quarter-pole in traffic.
• Tired to be sixth in the G2 Del Mar Futurity, beaten more than six lengths by Stevie Wonderboy, after setting wicked fractions of :21-4/5 and :44-1/5.
• Debuted an impressive, four-length winner at Hollywood Park in mid-July.

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.
• First foal out of the dam, Warrior Queen, who was a listed stakes winner at two and a G3-placed sprinter in England.
• Dam, Warrior Queen, has turned out to be a goldmine for Aussie breeder “Grocer Jim” Fleming. Her second foal, by Storm Cat, sold at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for a staggering $3.8 million.

Best Case For:

• The two-turn experience in the Norfolk should give him a stamina edge and he showed great promise in the Norfolk in that he relaxed off the pace vs. the suicidal sprint he attempted at Del Mar. He’s bred to be a good one, and trained by a good one – so there’s plenty to like.

Biggest Knock Against:

• The Norfolk field was noticeably weaker than most years in 2005, and those who take good trip notes probably won’t find the journey to be as bad as some are making it to be. He had every chance to get to Brother Derek and drifted out through the final sixteenth.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• All six of trainer Eoin Harty’s career Breeders’ Cup starters have been with two-year-olds, including a one-two sweep of the Juvenile Fillies exacta in 2001 – the last time the event was held at Belmont.

Owner: John Oxley of Tulsa, Okla.
Breeder: John Oxley
Trainer: John Ward (4-1-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Edgar Prado (41-0-4-4 Breeders' Cup, 6-0-2-1 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Runner-up in Belmont Park's listed Cowdin Stakes earlier this month to He's Got Grit while making his stakes debut.
• Opened his career with an impressive, 7-1/4 length victory at Saratoga Sept. 2 in a maiden special weight sprint.

In the Genes:

• Dam, Beautiful Pleasure, was named 1999 Eclipse Champion Older Mare after winning the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Gulfstream Park. She earned $2.7 million in her brilliant career.
• First foal out of Beautiful Pleasure, who also has a yearling on the ground by Oxley's Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos and a weanling by Oxley's Grade 1 Hopeful winner Sky Mesa.
• Sire, Thunder Gulch, was 1995 Horse of the Year following victories in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Travers.
• As a sire, Thunder Gulch best known for producing 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given, winner of the Preakness, Belmont, Haskell and Travers. Point Given also finished second in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a nose.
• Other famous offspring by Thunder Gulch include 2000 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Spain.

Best Case For:

• Certainly pedigree players will find plenty of reasons to embrace Dr. Pleasure. His mother won the Breeders' Cup Distaff and his sire has produced a Distaff winner and a horse within a whisker of winning the Juvenile. Normally conservative trainer John Ward is going for the gusto here, a sign that cannot be underestimated.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Dr. Pleasure lacks experience at the top levels and at a distance of ground. Both starts have been at six-and-one-half furlongs, and he raced extremely green in the Cowdin Stakes before getting in gear late in the stretch run.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Dr. Pleasure will try to become the fourth Breeders' Cup winner out of a previous Breeders' Cup champion, joining War Chant (son of Distaff winner Hollywood Wildcat), Storm Flag Flying (out of Juvenile Fillies winner My Flag) and My Flag (out of Distaff winner Personal Ensign).

Owner: Fab Oak Stable, Bobby Hurley et al
Breeder: Matthews Breeding and Racing
Trainer: Patrick Biancone (12-0-2-0 Breeders’ Cup, 3-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Gary Stevens (93-8-15-10 Breeders’ Cup, 14-2-2-1 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Two-time stakes winner of the listed With Anticipation on grass at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Juvenile on Polytrack at Turfway Park.
• Exits a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland behind Dawn of War, failing to close ground on the winner through the lane.
• Debuted Aug. 13 at Saratoga with a fifth-place finish sprinting as the 2-to-1 favorite.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Black Minnaloushe, won 4 of 11 starts for $490,945, including the 2001 Group 1 Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St. James’s Palace. He was a listed stakes winner in Ireland at age two. He is a half-brother to Grade 1 Strub winner and $1.1 million earner Nasr El Arab.
• From the first crop of Black Minnaloushe runners to race.
• Dam, Water Course (an unraced daughter of Irish River), has produced seven winners from nine foals, with Stream Cat her first stakes winner.

Best Case For:

• Stream Cat certainly comes into the Juvenile as the most race-tested runner of the 2005 class, given the fact he’s now had three consecutive stakes attempts around two turns. The cut-back to a one-turn race at Belmont should aid his endurance even more in a field dominated by fast, early speed horses.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Stream Cat’s Kentucky Cup Juvenile win did not hold up form-wise as runner-up Rungius and third-place finisher Cab both turned in poor performances in their next stakes engagements. It’s difficult to measure just how classy he is based on his company lines, and in that same vein, it’s hard to know if he’ll be able to pass top-class horses.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Stream Cat’s co-owner Bobby Hurley owns the NCAA men’s basketball all-time record for career assists (1,076), set during his heyday as point guard for the Duke University Blue Devils.

Owner: J. Paul Reddam and Mark Schlesinger of Laguna Beach, Cal. and Los Angeles
Breeder: Harold Plumley
Trainer: Doug O'Neill (2-0-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Corey Nakatani (56-6-7-7 Breeders' Cup, 6-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Florida-bred found a new home in Southern California in late summer, responding to his new owner and trainer with solid placings in two of the west's best Juvenile prep races despite still being a maiden.
• Rallied from last to fishing third in the Grade 2 Del Mar Futurity behind Stevie Wonderboy on Sept. 7. Also finished third most recently in the Oct. 3 Grade 2 Norfolk behind Brother Derek and A.P. Warrior.
• Deuted second Aug. 20 at Calder while under the care of trainer Joe Catanese III.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Trippi, won 7 of 14 starts for $666,220, including the Grade 1 Vosburgh, Grade 2 Riva Ridge and Grade 2 Tom Fool – all sprinting. Trippi is half-brother to Breeders' Cup Sprint alumnus Appealing Skier.
• From the first crop of Trippi runners to race, one that includes the stakes-placed Cab.
• Dam, Fast Profit, is an unraced daughter of millionaire 1987 Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity winner Tejano.
• Fourth foal out of the dam, Fast Profit, who seeks her first stakes winner.

Best Case For:

• Jealous Profit's pedigree and running style suggest he may be best as a closing sprinter. And while the Juvenile is 1-1/16 miles in distance, its one-turn configuration makes it more an extended sprint than a true route race. He closed much better at Del Mar around one turn than he did at Oak Tree around two, so the return to a one-turn race may be his best chance.  

Biggest Knock Against:

• Stevie Wonderboy clearly outkicked him in the Del Mar Futurity, and he was no threat to Brother Derek and A.P. Warrior in the Norfolk – both of whom figure to be longer prices if they make the gate in the Juvenile. None of his races yet look like they stack up with the tops in the Midwest and east, so he needs to move far forward to contend at Belmont.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Maidens own an 8: 0-0-1 all-time record in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, with 1997 third-place finisher Nationalore the only to hit the board.

Owner: Robert LaPenta of New York, NY
Breeder: Barnett Enterprises
Trainer: Nick Zito (23-1-4-3 Breeders' Cup, 7-0-1-1 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: tbd

Career Highlights:

• Wire-to-wire winner of the listed Whirling Ash Stakes at Delaware Park in September.
• Distant third to First Samurai and Henny Hughes while making his graded stakes debut Oct. 8 in the Grade 1 Champagne.
• Twice placed in Saratoga maiden special weight sprints this summer before stretching out to win at Delaware.

In the Genes:

• Full brother to 2005 Tampa Bay Derby winner Andromeda's Hero, who placed in the Arkansas Derby and Jim Dandy.
• Sire, Fusaichi Pegasus, won the 2000 Kentucky Derby and Wood Memorial, the first Derby-winning favorite since 1979. He finished sixth as the 6-to-5 favorite in that fall's Breeders' Cup Classic, his final career start.
• From the second crop of Fusaichi Pegasus runners to race, his first crop included Grade 1 Blue Grass winner Bandini and Grade 1 Haskell winner Roman Ruler.
• Dam, Marozia (by Storm Bird), has produced six foals in all and Superfly is her second stakes winner.

Best Case For:

• Trainer Nick Zito's two-year-olds often get better with experience, and even though it's become clichéd to say in racing circles, it does hold some truth. Superfly has a magnificent pedigree to improve as well, and he ran a strange race in the Champagne, chasing that scorching pace, dropping far out of it, and then seeming to find a little something in the stretch once eliminated from any top contention, galloping out well.

Biggest Knock Against:

• He hasn't been able to relax and harness his energy to date in his races. He was neck-and-neck through a :45-and-change half-mile twice at Saratoga, went wire-to-wire at Delaware, and chased far too close to faster runners in the Champagne. If he can relax early, it looks like there's some ability. But will the Juvenile be the time to do something new?

Bet You Didn't Know:

• None of trainer Nick Zito's Triple Crown race winners all-time had raced in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (Strike The Gold, Go For Gin, Louis Quatroze, Birdstone).

Owner: Merv Griffin of Carmel Valley, Cal.
Breeder: John Gunther
Trainer: Doug O’Neill (2-0-0-0  Breeders’ Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)
Regular Jockey: Garrett Gomez (8-0-1-1 Breeders’ Cup, 2-0-0-0 BC Juvenile)

Career Highlights:

• Stepped clear to a five-length, powerhouse performance in the Sept. 7 G2 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs.
• Broke his maiden in his third start, a four-length romp at Del Mar on Aug. 6 in maiden special weight company.
• Despite lugging out on the turn, finished a strong third as a maiden in the July 16 G3 Hollywood Juvenile Championship behind the ill-fated What A Song.
• Debuted second to eventual G3 Hollywood Juvenile Championship winner What A Song in a June 16 Hollywood Park maiden race.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Stephen Got Even, won 5 of 11 starts for just over $1 million in a career that saw him win the Grade 2 Spiral at three and the Grade 1 Donn Handicap in his only start at age four.
• From the second crop of Stephen Got Even runners to hit the track. His first crop included G2 Indiana Derby winner and Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Don’t Get Mad.
• Dam, Heat Lightning, never won but is a half-sister to Irish G2 winner Fair Judgment.
• Grand dam, Mystical Mood, was a precocious 2-year-old, winning the G3 Schuylerville and was placed in the G1 Frizette and G1 Matron.

Best Case For:

• He was, without a doubt, the best two-year-old at Del Mar this summer after the heart-breaking loss of archrival What A Summer. Trainer Doug O’Neill has dominated the west coast in recent years and jockey Garrett Gomez is riding with the utmost of confidence the past several months. The extra distance should not be a problem based on pedigree.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Stevie Wonderboy had been mentioned for the Norfolk Stakes, but then was pulled out at the eleventh-hour when trainer O’Neill went on the record to say he wanted to train up to the Juvenile for tactical reasons. The two-turn Norfolk was cited as the reason, but a 52-day layoff going into the Juvenile is unprecedented compared to the past 21 winners.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Television icon Merv Griffin, Stevie Wonderboy’s owner, not only created the legendary game show “Jeopardy!,” but he still writes some of the questions as the show’s executive producer.