Getty
After an entertaining “Future Stars Friday,” the 2018 Breeders’ Cup continues Saturday at Churchill Downs with the big boys: There are nine $1 million-plus races on the schedule, concluding with the highly prestigious $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The Filly & Mare Sprint (Noon ET), Turf Sprint (12:38 p.m. ET), Dirt Mile (1:16 p.m. ET), Filly & Mare Turf (2:04 p.m. ET) and Twinspires Sprint (2:46 p.m. ET) will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network, while the Mile (3:36 p.m. ET), Longines Distaff (4:16 p.m. ET), Longines Turf (4:56 p.m. ET) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (5:44 p.m. ET) will all be on NBC.
If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of all of Saturday’s races (or DVR them) on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device by signing up for one of the cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
NBC (available live in select markets, which you can find here) and NBC Sports Network are both included in the main Fubo package, which has 85 channels and is largely tailored towards sports. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Breeders’ Cup on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which will allow you to watch coverage up to three days after it airs even if you forgot to record it.
In addition to their extensive Netflix-like streaming library, Hulu now also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including NBC (available live in select markets, which you can find here) and NBC Sports Network. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Breeders’ Cup on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
NBC (available live in select markets, which you can find here) and NBC Sports Network are included in the “Sling Blue” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial of both, and you can then watch a live stream of the Breeders’ Cup on your computer via the Sling website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Preview
With a $6 million purse and a list of past champions that includes A.P. Indy, Curlin, American Pharoah, Arrogate and other all-time greats, it’s easy to see why the Breeders’ Cup Classic is arguably the biggest non-Triple Crown race of the year.
The oddsmakers’ favorite is Accelerate, a John Sadler-trained five-year-old who has won each of his last three races, all of which were Grade-1 stakes.
Of course, no lucrative race like this one is complete without a handful of contenders from Bob Baffert. The legendary trainer’s top-two favorites, McKinzie and West Coast, will enter having each raced just once in the last six months, but that worked pretty well for Baffert with Justify, who had just one Grade-1 prep race before the Kentucky Derby and then went on to win the Triple Crown.
“It’s not ideal, but you can get away with it if they’re really good horses,” he said, “and they’re both really outstanding horses.”
McKinzie won the Grade-1 Pennsylvania Derby in September, while West Coast–who is used to lucrative races such as this one with starts in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic (third), 2018 Pegasus World Cup (second) and 2018 Dubai World Cup (second)–finished second to Accelerate at Santa Anita Park a week later.
“The way he ran against Accelerate, he gave it his heart,” Baffert said. “He just got beat that day. He got tired. The one thing about him: He always shows up, and a mile and a quarter, he likes it. I think he’s going to get a lot of action. I think he looks good. I really like him coming into this race. He’s doing really, really well, so I expect a big race from him.”
Other strong contenders include Catholic Boy, who won the Grade-1 Belmont Derby in July and the Grade-1 Travers Stakes in August, and Mind Your Biscuits, who won the Grade-3 Lukas Classic Stakes in September.