Beaten a neck in the 2014 renewal here, CALIFORNIA CHROME has won all six starts this year including the Dubai World Cup and is currently ranked the best horse in the world. Art Sherman’s charge has made all from inside draws in Grade 1 contests more recently but is equally effective stalking the pace. With a $1 million bonus up for grabs for winning his last two races plus today’s Classic, the five-year-old looks set for a bumper payday. Arrogate has the potential to cause an upset given he broke the track record at Saratoga when winning the Grade 1 Travers and returning a colossal speed figure in the process. But it remains to be seen if Bob Baffert’s colt can repeat that here given Godolphin’s Frosted also recorded a huge speed figure when scoring at Belmont in June having never run anywhere near the same mark either before or since. The latter and Keen Ice were both behind the selection in Dubai and Hoppertunity, Win the Space and War Story have also found the likely favourite too good this year. Melatonin returns from an absence having won a couple of Grade 1 contests at the track but was behind last year’s runner-up Effinex back in April and the latter also beat Shaman Ghost at Belmont in July.
Effinex (USA) 5-4fav (9-0) Bobble st,3w 1st,2p 2d, 2nd of 5, 1/2l behind Hoppertunity (9-0) at Belmont Park 1m 2f stks fst in Oct.
Frosted (USA) 2-5fav (8-12) Awkward st, outgamed, 3rd of 9, nk behind Shaman Ghost (8-8) at Saratoga 1m 1f stks fst in Sep.
Keen Ice (USA) Evensfav (8-7) 4w upper, late foot, 3rd of 8, 4l behind Wake Up In Malibu (8-9) at Belmont Park 1m fst in Oct.
California Chrome (USA) 2-5fav (8-13) Inside,clear,handily, won at Santa Anita 1m 1f stks fst in Oct beating Dortmund (8-9) by 2 1/4l, 5 ran.
Win The Space (USA) 25-1 (8-9) Off rail,best rest, 3rd of 5, 6 3/4l behind California Chrome (8-13) at Santa Anita 1m 1f stks fst in Oct.
Melatonin (USA) 9-5fav (8-12) Re-bid,led,clear late, won at Santa Anita 1m 2f fst in Jun beating Win The Space (8-8) by 1 1/2l, 8 ran.
War Story (USA) 15-2 (8-7) Hesitate st, ang wide, 2nd of 7, hd behind Cyrus Alexander (8-9) at Philadelphia Park 1m stks fst in Sep.
Hoppertunity (USA) 19-5 (9-0) Slip 2p 5/16,4w into, won at Belmont Park 1m 2f stks fst in Oct beating Effinex (9-0) by 1/2l, 5 ran.
Arrogate (USA) 11-1 (9-0) Brushed gate, went clr, won at Saratoga 1m 2f stks fst in Aug beating American Freedom (9-0) by 13 1/2l, 13 ran.
Shaman Ghost (USA) 9-1 (8-8) 4-5w upper, gamely, won at Saratoga 1m 1f stks fst in Sep beating Mubtaahij (8-6) by hd, 9 ran.
