It is a rite of fall, like the leaves changing colors, jackets getting dusted off for use as the wind picks up and temperatures drop. This is the time of year in racing when 3-year-olds see if they can step up and beat their elders in championship races, none more significant than the Breeders’ Cup Classic. In the 36 previous runnings of the Classic, to be renewed Saturday at Keeneland, a 3-year-old has won the race 12 times, a batting average that would lead the majors. This year, the Kentucky Derby winner Authentic and the Belmont winner Tiz the Law will represent their brethren as both face older horses for the first time. This will be the first time since the Breeders’ Cup began in 1984, though, that warriors from the Triple Crown were not put through a five-week grind by early June. Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Triple Crown did not commence until June 20, had 11 weeks between the first and second legs, took 15 weeks in total, and was run out of order, beginning with the Belmont at an abbreviated distance. All those factors allowed Authentic and Tiz the Law to progress and mature in a less-frenetic timeframe, and likely have left them fresher for the battle at hand Saturday. “He’s definitely more mature,” trainer Barclay Tagg said of Tiz the Law earlier this week. “I don’t know if that makes him faster or not. But he’s doing awfully well.” Illustrative of how the usual Triple Crown schedule impacts 3-year-olds in fall, only five of the 12 3-year-olds who have won the Classic have won Triple Crown races. Tiz the Law is seeking to become only the third horse to win the Belmont and return in the fall to win the Classic, and it’s hardly a fair comparison, being as this year’s Belmont kicked off the Triple Crown and was run at 1 1/8 miles. The only two who have done it are A.P. Indy, in 1992, and American Pharoah, the Triple Crown winner of 2015. That’s it. American Pharoah is one of just three horses who have won the Derby and the Classic in the same year, and the only one since Sunday Silence (1989) and Unbridled (1990) did it back-to-back 30 years ago. Those three, along with Curlin – who won the Preakness in 2007 – are the only 3-year-olds who have competed in all three Triple Crown races and won the Classic that year. Authentic, this year’s Derby winner, may have benefitted from the 2020 schedule more than any top-level 3-year-old. The original date of the Derby was May 2, which was three days before Authentic’s actual third birthday of May 5. Owing to the Derby’s postponement, he ended up running 1 1/4 miles for the first time a full four months later, giving him more time to mature mentally and physically. He then had four weeks instead of the usual two between the Derby and Preakness, in which he lost a narrow decision to the filly Swiss Skydiver. “He’s maturing,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert. “He’s a late foal. I was disappointed in the Preakness. He’s still a little green. He’s tough to ride sometimes. He’s talented, but quirky.” :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2020: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division The extra time has given Authentic “a great foundation” heading into the Classic, Baffert said. “He looks a lot better,” Baffert said. “He’s starting to fill out. By this time, top 3-year-olds can run with older horses. He’s ready for that.” He should know. Baffert has won the Classic three times, all with 3-year-olds, all in consecutive years, with Bayern (2014), American Pharoah, and Arrogate (2016). Bayern’s only Triple Crown experience was the Preakness, and Arrogate didn’t run in any of the Triple Crown races, having debuted on April 17 of his 3-year-old year. Arrogate is one of three 3-year-olds who won the Classic without having competed in any of the Triple Crown races. The others are the European invader Raven’s Pass (2008) and Tiznow, who was 3 in 2000 when he scored the first of his consecutive Classic victories. Tiznow is the damsire of Tiz the Law. The only meeting between Authentic and Tiz the Law was in the Derby, in which they ran one-two. Authentic bypassed the Belmont and competed in the Santa Anita Derby on June 6 instead. And Tiz the Law did not come back in the Preakness, with Tagg choosing to go straight into the Classic. “When he got beat in the Derby, I didn’t think there was any sense jumping back a month later in the Preakness, and then a month later for the Breeders’ Cup,” Tagg said. “That would have been an awful lot to ask. He’s grown more since the Derby. He looks like a million, jillion dollars.”