2024 Breeders’ Cup pre-entries set. After Derby misfire, Pletcher has Classic headliner.

An opportunity for redemption awaits at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Those who follow thoroughbred racing day in and day out would say Fierceness has little left to prove.

Those who only check in on horse racing’s two most popular weekends — the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup — would say there’s a score to settle for Todd Pletcher’s 3-year-old colt.

Fierceness was propelled to stardom by winning last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita — so much so that he went to post as the 3-1 favorite in the 150th Kentucky Derby last May at Churchill Downs.

Fierceness charged immediately to the front of the 20-horse field. And the roses still remained within reach at the top of the stretch. At that point, Fierceness started to feel the effects of his rapid start and ultimately faded to a shocking 15th-place finish.

Fierceness, owned by Mike Repole, was one of 16 horses pre-entered Wednesday for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar (California) Thoroughbred Club.

“I think the Derby was just a really hard race on him,” Pletcher told the Thoroughbred Daily News this past summer. “He was close to a hot pace and he was tired after the race. It took us a couple of weeks to get him back going.”

Since his return to the track, Fierceness has been dominant. A winner of $2,666,350 in purses and five of his eight career starts, Fierceness won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes on July 27 and the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on Aug. 24, both at Saratoga.

With order restored, Fierceness heads to Del Mar as the probable favorite for the Classic, to be contested at a mile and a quarter.

“I think he’s shown his versatility now,” Pletcher said after the Travers win. “In the Jim Dandy, he was able to kind of stalk and that allowed (jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) to have confidence that he could do that, and he could ride him accordingly in the Travers. I think all of that is just experience on his part and continuing to physically and mentally develop.”

The Classic is one of 14 Grade 1 World Championship races taking place at Del Mar on Nov. 1-2, an event that will bring 212 of the world’s best thoroughbreds together in pursuit of year-end awards and more than $34 million in purses.

Fields were pre-entered for all 14 races Wednesday. That included horses from five continents — Asia, Europe, North America, South Africa, and South America — a total that counted a record 80 international contenders. The previous record was 60, set in 2023.

Del Mar is hosting the Breeders’ Cup for the third time, having previously welcomed the racing world in 2021 and 2017.

The nationally televised Breeders’ Cup Classic, scheduled to go to post at 5:41 p.m. EDT on Nov. 2, is headlined by Fierceness but is also expected to include several other Grade 1 winners from 2024.

The top challengers to Fierceness in the Classic are expected to include 2024 Blue Grass Stakes champion and Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone, international superstar City of Troy, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Highland Falls and 2024 UAE Derby winner and Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Forever Young from Japan. Tapit Trice, who won the 2023 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, comes in off a victory in the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes on Sept. 28. Mixto won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 31 but boasts only two wins among 14 career starts.

Last year’s Classic winner absent

There will be no repeat winner in the Classic as last year’s champion White Abarrio is recharging after a rough start to 2024.

“The Breeders’ Cup Classic is not in our plans,” co-owner Mark Cornett told the Thoroughbred Daily News last month. “We’re not going in that direction. There’s no way he can be ready for that and we want to get a good race in him off this layoff. We’ll start looking for a race, and races we will consider are the Harlan’s Holiday and the Pegasus.”

White Abarrio, a 5-year-old with more than $5 million in career earnings, opened his 2024 campaign with a 10th-place finish in the Saudi Cup on Feb. 24 then ran fifth in the Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 8 and has not raced since.

Post-position draws Monday

The official fields for the Breeders’ Cup races will be locked in Monday when the post-position draws are conducted beginning at 7:15 p.m. EDT at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (FanDuel TV, BreedersCup.com).

The Classic is one of nine Breeders’ Cup races scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 2, a lineup that also includes the Distaff, Turf, Mile, Sprint, Filly and Mare Turf, Dirt Mile, Turf Sprint, and Filly and Mare Sprint. Seven of those nine races attracted fully pre-entered fields of 14 (plus also-eligibles) on Wednesday. Pre-entries totaled 12 for the Distaff and 11 for the Filly and Mare Sprint.

The five “Future Stars” races scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1 include three fully pre-entered fields of 14 (plus also-eligibles) in the Juvenile Turf, the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Pre-entries totaled 13 for the Juvenile and 11 for the Juvenile Fillies. The list for the Juvenile, an early look ahead at next year’s top Kentucky Derby contenders, includes three horses trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who is eligible to compete in the 2025 Run for the Roses after serving a three-year suspension from Churchill Downs.

Fierceness is one of four Breeders’ Cup champions back for this year’s event. Idiomatic will defend her 2023 title in the Distaff. Rebel’s Romance will try again in the Turf after winning that race in 2022 at Keeneland. Last year’s Juvenile Turf Sprint winner, Big Evs, will race in this year’s Turf Sprint.

The 41st Breeders’ Cup, which totals $34 million in purses, will be televised or streamed nationally by NBC, USA, Peacock and FanDuel TV.

2024 Breeders’ Cup

What: World championships of thoroughbred horse racing, including 14 races over two days.

When: Nov. 1-2

Where: Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California

Breeders’ Cup Classic pre-entries

Horses pre-entered Wednesday for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2, 2024:

▪ Arthur’s Ride

▪ City of Troy

▪ Derma Sotogake

▪ Fierceness

▪ Forever Young

▪ Highland Falls

▪ Mixto

▪ Newgate

▪ Next

▪ Senor Buscador

▪ Sierra Leone

▪ Skippylongstocking

▪ Tapit Trice

▪ Ushba Tesoro

Also eligible

▪ Pyrenees

▪ Rattle N Roll

Breeders’ Cup schedule

All times Eastern

Friday, Nov. 1

Juvenile Turf Sprint: 5:45 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Juvenile Fillies: 6:25 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Juvenile Fillies Turf: 7:05 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Juvenile: 7:45 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Juvenile Turf: 6:25 p.m. (FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Saturday, Nov. 2

Filly and Mare Sprint: 3 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Turf Sprint: 3:41 p.m. (NBC, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Distaff: 4:21 p.m. (NBC, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Turf: 5:01 p.m. (NBC, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Classic: 5:41 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)

Filly and Mare Turf: 6:25 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Sprint: 7:05 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Mile: 7:45 p.m. (USA, FanDuel TV, Peacock)

Dirt Mile: 8:25 p.m. (FanDuel TV, Peacock)