Breeders’ Cup pre-enters fields for all 14 races. Eight could challenge Flightline in Classic.

A field of nine horses was pre-entered Wednesday for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic to be contested at Keeneland Race Course on Nov. 5.

The Classic is one of 14 World Championship races taking place in Lexington on Nov. 4-5, an event that will bring nearly 200 of the world’s best Thoroughbreds to Central Kentucky.

Keeneland is hosting the Breeders’ Cup for the third time, having also welcomed the globe in 2015 and 2020. Next week will invite a greater outpouring of opportunity for the state and its racing fans than two years ago, when activities were severely limited by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The nationally televised Breeders’ Cup Classic, scheduled to go to post at 5:40 p.m. on Nov. 5, is headlined by undefeated 4-year-old Flightline, who recently won the $1 million, Grade 1 Pacific Classic by an incredible 19 ¼ lengths.

“He just made mockery of everybody behind him,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who will send Olympiad against Flightline. “When you get these good horses all together, he’s going to have to face the best group he’s faced so far. That’s the true test.”

Flightline’s top challengers include 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike. The Classic field also includes Epicenter, who won the Grade 1 Travers Stakes in his most recent outing after runner-up finishes in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes this year.

“We know we have a really super horse,” trainer John Sadler said of Flightline on Wednesday. “The pressure is there because he’s going to be a heavy favorite, but I’ve trained quite a long time and this is the kind of pressure you want.”

The official fields for next week’s Breeders’ Cup races will be locked in Monday when the post-position draws are conducted from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will have two goes at Flightline in the Classic. Life Is Good, a 4-year-old on a three-race win streak, has won nine of his 11 career races including five Grade 1s. Life Is Good won the Dirt Mile at last year’s Breeders’ Cup. Pletcher has also pre-entered the 5-year-old Happy Saver.

Bob Baffert, the trainer who has won the Classic both times it has been held previously at Keeneland — American Pharoah (2015) and Authentic (2020) — has pre-entered the lightly raced but talented Taiba, winner of the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby most recently on Sept. 24.

The star-studded field pre-entered for the Classic also includes Doug O’Neill’s Hot Rod Charlie and Brad Cox’s Cyberknife, was cross-entered in the Dirt Mile.

The Classic is one of nine Breeders’ Cup races scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5, a lineup that also includes the Distaff, Turf, Mile, Sprint, Filly and Mare Turf, Dirt Mile, Turf Sprint and Filly and Mare Sprint.

Full fields of 14 horses were pre-entered Wednesday for the Turf, Mile, Sprint, Filly and Mare Turf, Turf Sprint and Filly and Mare Sprint.

The Distaff includes the smallest pre-entered field of any of the weekend’s 14 events with only eight combatants.

Friday’s five “Future Stars” races include three fully pre-entered fields of 14 in the Juvenile Turf, the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Juvenile Fillies. Pre-entries totaled 12 for the Juvenile and the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Baffert’s Cave Rock, undefeated in three starts and winner of two Grade 1 races as a 2-year-old, headlines the Juvenile, which offers fans an early look at some of the top contenders for next year’s Kentucky Derby. Baffert will also saddle National Treasure in the race. Post time for the Juvenile on Friday, Nov. 4 is set for 5 p.m.

Baffert has five horses pre-entered in the World Championships, his first major event since serving a 90-day suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission earlier this year. The penalty was the result of Medina Spirit testing positive for the medication betamethasone after the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Baffert can enter horses at Keeneland since the track is not owned by Churchill Downs. Besides Churchill Downs-owned tracks, he is banned at New York Racing Association tracks. Both entities suspended him separately from the KHRC penalty and he is suing both.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has two pre-entrants, which will add to his record of 167 career Breeders’ Cup starters. The 87-year-old Hall of Famer has the most Breeders’ Cup wins (20) and is third in money won.

New York-based trainer Chad Brown has 17 pre-entries. O’Brien, Pletcher and Steve Asmussen, who is North America’s all-time winningest trainer, have 10 each.

The 39th Breeders’ Cup, which totals $28 million in purses, will be televised or streamed nationally by NBC, USA, Peacock and FanDuel TV (formerly known as TVG).

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

2022 Breeders’ Cup

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

When: Nov. 4-5

Where: Keeneland Race Course in Lexington

The Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite has arrived at Keeneland. What’s next for Flightline?

A stake is for sale in one of racing’s hottest horses. Here’s how and when to bid.

2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships schedule at Keeneland with post times, TV

Post times announced for 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships weekend at Keeneland