OTB Breeders' Cup Marathon

The 2013 Breeders’ Cup World Championships kicks off on Friday, November 1 from Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Fourteen races make up the weekend of action, with five races on Friday, and nine more on Saturday.  First up is the longest race of the weekend, the 1 3/4 miles $500,000 Marathon, for three-year-olds and up on the dirt track. Last year’s winner, Calidoscopio became the first Argentine-bred to win a Breeders’ Cup race, rallying from last by open lengths at the halfway point to win by 4 1/2 lengths as an 8-1 longshot.

Sky Kingdom has faced tough competition before

In what is shaping up to be a fairly wide-open race, the top early contender is Sky Kingdom, who has finished in the money in three of four graded stakes races this season, including third in the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup. He also has a win this year in the Grade III Tokyo City Cup stakes run at 1 1/2 miles, where he defeated a field that included Calidoscopio. It was his third win at Santa Anita of four lifetime, so it’s obviously where he does his best running.

Indian Jones looks for big forward move

Stepping up in class to take his shot at a BC title will be Indian Jones, a veteran six-year-old with 34 starts on his resume who seems to be improving with age. He’s been in the money in eight of nine starts this year, including a second in his only graded stakes event, the 1 1/2 miles Grade III Greenwood Cup, where he finished ahead of likely Marathon rivals Pool Play and Suns Out Guns Out. Although not yet official, last year’s Marathon favorite Atigun. He was third in the 2012 race, the same spot he claimed in the 2012 Belmont Stakes.

Post time for the 2013 Breeders' Cup Marathon is 1:45 PM PDT.