America's Best Racing. The Jockey Club.

My Miss Aurelia (outside) edged Questing (inside) to win the Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in September. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)

With three champions, two undefeated fillies, and eight Grade 1 winners: the Breeders’ Cup Ladies' Classic (G1) may be the most loaded of any of the 15 Breeders' Cup races.

Royal Delta, last year's runaway Ladies’ Classic winner, is back to defend her older female division title in what will be her first trip east of the Mississippi. The near-black daughter of Empire Maker has been simply stellar at the 1 1/8-mile distance. She has only finished out of the money once in her illustrious 14-race career.

However, history is not on Royal Delta’s side. Ginger Punch finished sixth in this race a year after winning in 2007, and Ashado was third in 2005 after winning the Ladies’ Classic (known then as the Distaff) in 2004. Both Paseana and Spain, winners of the race in 1992 and 2000, respectively, returned in the same event the following year to run second; and only one, Bayakoa, has repeated in victory, though that was a race marred by Go for Wand's breakdown late in the stretch. Zenyatta, who won the 2008 edition, came back to beat the boys in the Classic in 2009 and would finish a whisker shy of the same in 2010.

Like Royal Delta, My Miss Aurelia is a reigning champion after drawing away in last year's Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to cap an undefeated season. Sidelined for half the year by sore shins, the leggy bay has come back stronger than ever and still has yet to be headed at the wire. If there is a lone question remaining about Aurelia's resume, it's the distance: though bred to run for days, she has never stretched out this far.

On the other end of the spectrum (yet also undefeated) is Awesome Feather, who's two easiest victories have come at this distance. With a nagging tendon injury that has been managed perfectly by trainer Chad Brown (and Stanley Gold before him), this is not a filly who can race often. In fact, this will be just her fifth start since the end of 2010, when she won the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly.

Joining Awesome Feather on the lead will be Questing. The Godolphin-owned daughter of Hard Spun is a nose shy of perfection since switching to the dirt earlier this year, though her tendency to drift far off the rail in the stretch may pose a problem for those who do their best running later in the race.

QUESTING

In a race devoid of any true closers, Grace Hall and Include Me Out appear to be the most likely candidates to sit just off the pace. The former has caught the eye consistently as an outstanding talent and got a confidence-building win off the freshening last out in the Indiana Oaks (G2). Include Me Out has had a near perfect season, including two Grade 1 victories, but that doesn't mean she always gets her way. In her final workout at Hollywood Park, she was forced to split a team of workers that had broken ten lengths ahead of her when she made up that much ground on the turn. She finished the final quarter of her 49 2/5 seconds breeze in 23 3/5 seconds on my watch, a blisteringly fast time set with the greatest of ease, after which she bounced back to the barn as if to say, "can we go again?"

Rounding out the field is Love and Pride, who bested Royal Delta by a half-length in the Personal Ensign handicap (G1) over the summer and is another confirmed speedster who beat the talented juvenile filly Tara From the Cape in her final workout for the Ladies’ Classic; and Class Included, the talented Emerald Downs shipper who is taking a massive step up in class but has never been worse than second in a stellar career.

My Selections: 

My Miss Aurelia

Royal Delta

Include Me Out

Questing