The day racing fans and horseplayers wait for all year for is almost here. The Breeders’ Cup Saturday program will feature the international equine and human stars of horse racing, all ready to square off in nine championship races on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

The event will be headlined by the richest horse race in North America, the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Television coverage on NBC and Peacock will feature 2 1/2 hours of live programming from 3:30 - 6 p.m. ET / 12:30 - 3 p.m. PT featuring four Breeders’ Cup races ending with the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. Peacock will provide continued coverage of the final four Breeders’ Cup races starting at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT. These races will also stream live on BreedersCup.com and Breeders’ Cup social media channels. USA Network will televise live coverage from 2 - 3:30 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT covering one undercard race and the first Breeders’ Cup race. FanDuel TV will televise the first three undercard races and all of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races, except the Classic.

Here are some of the details you need to know about Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races.

$1 million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint

Distance: 7 furlongs on dirt

Post time: 3 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3, Pick 5

Ways and Means winning Test Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: The Filly & Mare Sprint debuted in 2007 when the Breeders’ Cup expanded past eight races for the first time. In 17 prior editions of the Filly & Mare Sprint, no horse has won the race wire-to-wire. After no 3-year-old won the race during its first decade of existence, sophomore fillies won three in a row in 2018, 2019, and 2020. This is relevant for 2024, a race very likely to feature a 3-year-old favorite.

Favorites: Top 3-year-old filly sprinter Ways and Means owns three big wins in a row, including the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, and looks like the real deal. Another 3-year-old — Southern California-based stakes winner One Magic Philly — is also a leading contender. Society, who will need to buck this race’s bias against front-runners, has made only two starts in 2024 but will be one of the favorites based on her win in the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap at Saratoga.

Interesting Storylines:  The horse in this race ridden by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. is often the horse to beat. Irad has won four of the last seven editions of the Filly & Mare Sprint with wins in 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023. The Filly & Mare Sprint will have a new champion in 2024 after the race was ruled the past two years by Goodnight Olive.

$1 million Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint

Distance: 5 furlongs on turf

Post time: 3:41 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3, Pick 4, All-turf Pick 4

Top U.S. turf sprinter Cogburn. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: First held in 2008, seven of the first 10 runnings of this race were held at about 6 ½ furlongs on the downhill turf course at Santa Anita until the race morphed into a 5 or 5 ½-furlong dash the last seven years. At Del Mar, it is always run at the distance of five furlongs. Southern California-based trainers once ruled this race, but no SoCal stable has won it since Peter Miller’s most recent of three wins in 2019.

Favorites: There will be plenty of really fast horses in the 2024 Turf Sprint, but the race should come down to a power match-up between America’s best and Europe’s finest. Cogburn has lit up U.S. competition this year with a perfect 3-for-3 record, while Bradsell has been first or second in top-level Group 1 turf sprints in England, Ireland, and France at five furlongs in his last three races.

Interesting Storylines: Last year’s Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Big Evs will attempt to become a Breeders’ Cup winner in two different divisions, a feat that’s only been accomplished by seven horses in history. Golden Pal pulled off the Juvenile Turf Sprint/Turf Sprint double back-to-back in 2020-’21.

$2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff

Distance: 1 1/8 miles on dirt

Post time: 4:21 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3, Pick 4, All-dirt Pick 4, Distaff - Classic Daily Double

Rising star 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: The Distaff, which for a brief time in its history was also referred to as the Ladies’ Classic, has a long list of Hall of Fame-caliber fillies and mares among its winners, including champion females like Princess Rooney, Lady’s Secret, Personal Ensign, Bayakoa, Paseana, Ashado, Zenyatta, Beholder, Monomoy Girl, and many more all the way up to last year’s winner, 2023 champion older dirt female Idiomatic.

Favorites: Thorpedo Anna is the clear leader of the 3-year-old filly division based on multiple wins including the Longines Kentucky Oaks and Saratoga’s Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. She will square-off against undefeated Japanese invader Awesome Result, who comes in with a 7-for-7 record and looks to follow in the footsteps of Japan’s Marche Lorraine, who scored an upset in the Distaff in 2021.

Interesting Storylines: Throughout its history, the Distaff has been a race defined by its memorable 3-year-old versus older female headline matchups, but in recent years the 3-year-olds have lost a bit of traction. A 3-year-old filly has won the race only four times the last 19 years. This would seem to indicate that star 3-year-olds seem to have their work cut out for them unless there’s a truly special one in the bunch, like Thorpedo Anna appears to be.

$5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf

Distance: 1 ½ miles on turf

Post time: 5:01 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3, Pick 4, mandatory payout Pick 6

Rebel's Romance winning 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: The $5 million grass feature of the Breeders’ Cup card always attracts an international field of turf aces, and this year will be no exception with more than half of the pre-entered horses hailing from overseas, including as many as five from the barn of Aidan O’Brien. Since English Channel won in 2007, only three U.S.-based horses have won the Turf: Little Mike in 2012, Main Sequence in 2014, and Bricks and Mortar in 2019.

Favorites: The Turf will feature plenty of overseas talent including a very familiar face, 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance. He had a sub-par season in 2023 but is back with a vengeance this year with three Group 1 wins to his credit. He will try to become only the third two-time winner of the Turf and first since Conduit in 2008-’09. British-based trainer Brian Meehan will seek his third career Breeders’ Cup Turf win with improving 3-year-old Jayarebe. American hopes rest mainly on the shoulders of Far Bridge, who comes into this race off consecutive Grade 1 wins in the Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes at Belmont at the Big A.

Interesting Storylines: Trainer Aidan O’Brien ended a six-year drought in this race when he won with Auguste Rodin last year to give him seven career wins in the Turf plus six seconds and five third-place finishes. If O’Brien wins the Turf again, he’d build upon his record to be the first trainer ever to win a Breeders’ Cup race eight times. He can accomplish that with any one of his entrants, Illinois, Luxembourg, and Continuous, plus Content and Wingspan, who both are cross-entered in the Maker’s Mark Filly & Mare Turf.

$7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic

Distance: 1 1/4 miles on the dirt

Post time: 5:41 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3, mandatory payout Pick 5

Fierceness with owner Mike Repole. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: The Classic is the showcase race of the day. With a purse of $7 million, the Classic is one of the world’s richest races and will have the highest purse of any race run in North America. The world’s best dirt horses compete at the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles in a race that impacts several Eclipse Award divisions, including older dirt male, 3-year-old male, and Horse of the Year. A who’s who of American greats from the past 40 years have won this race including Sunday Silence (1989), Cigar (1995), Tiznow (2000-’01), Curlin (2007), Zenyatta (2009), American Pharoah (2015), Gun Runner (2017), and Flightline (2022) just to name a few.

Favorites: The field of contenders in 2024 is deep and diverse. The Classic will feature the winners of so many of the year’s top dirt races for older horses, including Arthur’s Ride (won the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes), Highland Falls (Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes), and Senor Buscador ($20 million Saudi Cup). The most talented horse in the race may be 3-year-old DraftKings Travers Stakes winner Fierceness, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner who got his career back on the winning track this summer at Saratoga capped-off by his victory in the Grade 1 Travers.

Interesting Storylines: Many foreign-based horses have attempted to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic through the years and, with a couple of notable exceptions, they have been unsuccessful. The last horse to do it was Raven’s Pass in 2008 when that year’s Classic was run on an all-weather surface. The only foreign winner of this race on a dirt track was back in 1993 when Arcangues posted the biggest upset in Breeders’ Cup history, paying $269.20 to win on a $2 bet. Despite all of that, some of the top 2024 Classic contenders will be shipping in from overseas, including City of Troy, who has been one of Europe’s top horses this year and could be tough to beat if he handles his first-ever assignment on a dirt track. Japan-based Derma Sotogake, Ushba Tesoro, and Forever Young also are all considered serious contenders. Forever Young just missed winning the 2024 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve by a head.

$2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf

Distance: 1 3/8 miles on turf

Post time: 6:25 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3, Pick 4

U.S.-based contender War Like Goddess (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: First held in 1999, the Filly & Mare Turf marked the Breeders’ Cup’s first expansion from its original seven-race program. For more than a decade, this race has been dominated by two groups of horses: 1) foreigners, which have won seven of the last eight including last year’s winner, Inspiral, or 2) horses trained by Chad Brown, which have won the race four of the last 12 years. Brown will be without an entrant in 2024. The last North American horse not trained by Brown to win the Filly & Mare Turf was Perfect Shirl for Roger Attfield way back in 2011.

Favorites: Content does not enter the Filly and Mare Turf with the kind of form that you would expect to make her the favorite in this race since both of her last two races resulted in big defeats, but both of those races were on soft turf. Content won her most recent race on firmer ground in the Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks and will get strong support on Del Mar’s firm turf course. Trainer Charles Appleby will have 3-year-old Cinderella’s Dream ready after two wins in New York this summer.

Interesting Storylines: Full Count Felicia beat the last two Canadian Horses of the Year, Fev Rover and Moira, in her big wire-to-wire win last time out at Woodbine when she opened up a 19-length lead on the field at one point in the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor Stakes and never looked back. She could employ similar tactics in this spot. Veteran 7-year-old mare War Like Goddess, who owns 12 career wins and finished third versus males in the Breeders’ Cup Turf in 2022, will push her career earnings past the $3-million mark with a finish of sixth or better.

$2 million Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint

Distance: 6 furlongs on dirt

Post time: 7:05 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double, Pick 3

Mullikin winning Forego Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: The Sprint is an “original seven” Breeders’ Cup race that has always been held at its current six-furlong distance. Jockeys Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr. have had a monopoly on this race in the 2020s, with Irad winning in 2023-’24 aboard Elite Power and in 2020 aboard Whitmore. Jose won in 2021 aboard Aloha West. In two prior editions of the Sprint at Del Mar, the winners were Aloha West and Roy H (2017). Aloha West was based in the Midwest and was exiting a second-place finish in his final prep in the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland while SoCal-based Roy H exited a win in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes.

Favorites: The 2024 Sprint is loaded with contenders and is a race any of the principals can win based on their best effort. Mullikin is 4-for-4 this year and exiting a Grade 1 win in Saratoga’s Forego Stakes. Skelly has been at or near the top of the division all year, but he’s settled for second in three in a row, including in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga, where he lost to Nakatomi, who is back in the Sprint this year after a solid third-place Sprint finish in 2023. Federal Judge and Raging Torrent both have surging form and can’t be ignored.

Interesting Storylines: The Sprint in the decade of the 2010s was a race mostly ruled by speed horses that raced on or close to the lead (no more than 3 ½ lengths back at any time). The last four runnings of the Sprint, however, have been won by late runners including Elite Power, who closed from seventh to win in both of the last two editions. Whitmore came from seven lengths out of it to win in 2020, and Aloha West was victorious in 2021 after getting off to a tardy beginning and needing to rally from mid-pack. Several of this year’s top challengers are speed horses expected to contest the pace. Will the Sprint set up for another off-the-pace runner in 2024? Nakatomi sure hopes so.

$2 million Fanduel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF

Distance: 1 mile on turf

Post time: 7:45 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5, double

Trainer Charles Appleby will send out Notable Speech. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: As one of the original seven Breeders’ Cup events, and with a $2 million purse, the Mile is guaranteed to draw an international all-star field. It seems that the North American horses used to hold their own in this race much more frequently than they have recently as European connections have won five of the last six years. Trainer Charles Appleby and Godolphin won the last three years with jockey William Buick aboard all three winners: Master of The Seas in 2023, Modern Games in 2022, and Space Blues in 2021. You can hardly cross out the Americans when scoping out the Mile winner, however, because horses based in North America have won the race 22 times with a list of winners that includes some of American middle-distance turf legends like Lure, Da Hoss, War Chant, and Wise Dan.

Favorites: Chances for a fourth straight win for Appleby in 2024 will rest with Notable Speech, a multiple Group 1 stakes winner this year who should appreciate Del Mar’s firm turf. The big-name American contender in the field will be Chad Brown’s Carl Spackler, who topped the turf mile division with wins in the Grade 1 FanDuel Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga this summer and in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes at Keeneland this fall. The Southern California home team will be well represented by Johannes, who is a perfect 4-for-4 this year.

Interesting Storylines: The front-runner or any horse involved in the early pace almost never wins the Breeders’ Cup Mile. With the exception of Hall of Famer Lure in 1992-’93, no other pacesetter has ever won the Mile down through its long history. Tepin in 2015 was as close to the pace as any horse since Lure when she pressed the pace just a length behind the early leader. She joined Kip Deville in 2007 and Goldikova in 2008 as Mile winners who’ve employed the pace-pressing running style. When you look at the history of the Mile, you will notice that the overwhelming majority of the winners used a late-closing or a stalking running style en route to victory. In the last 15 editions of the Mile since 2009, only Tepin and World Approval in 2017 were within three lengths of the front at the first call. Last year’s winner Master of The Seas closed from 12th in a 13-horse field.

$1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

Distance: 1 mile on dirt

Post time: 8:25 p.m. ET

Wagering Menu: Win/place/show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, super hi-5

National Treasure winning Met Mile. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Background: This race was first held at the 2007 Breeders’ Cup, but the Dirt Mile has more recently gained in stature the last few years to truly become one of the headline events of the Breeders’ Cup program thanks to marquee winners like City of Light in 2018, Knicks Go in 2020, Life Is Good in 2021, and especially Cody’s Wish back-to-back in 2022-’23.

Favorites: Perhaps not the favorite, but the horse to beat may turn out to be Domestic Product, who exits a win for trainer Chad Brown in Saratoga’s seven-furlong, Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes and also has won this season around two turns.

Interesting Storylines: Seize the Grey, the winner of the 2024 Preakness Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby, will try to put his name into contention for the 3-year-old Eclipse Award if he can add a third Grade 1 victory in the Dirt Mile.