LEXINGTON, Ky. – It looks as though it will be Cave Rock’s early speed versus Forte’s late foot in Friday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland. Combined, Cave Rock and Forte have won six of seven starts, including four Grade 1 stakes, in their brief careers. Cave Rock, a son of Arrogate, has been nothing short of sensational winning his first three starts by a combined 16 1/2 lengths for trainer Bob Baffert, a five-time winner of this Juvenile, including last year with Corniche. Cave Rock utilized his speed to record a front-running victory in the Del Mar Futurity going seven furlongs, then showed the ability to carry that speed around two turns, taking the American Pharoah at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita. The Juvenile also is run at 1 1/16 miles. “He’s a big, powerful horse,” said Baffert, who trains Cave Rock for longtime clients Michael Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. “He’s very mature-looking. He looks like a fullback, but he handles himself well. He handled the two turns pretty easily, even going as fast as he did.” Juan Hernandez, the regular rider of Cave Rock, will be aboard from post 3. At 4-5, he is the shortest morning-line price on the Friday Breeders’ Cup card. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2022: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division Forte, a son of Violence trained by two-time Juvenile winner Todd Pletcher, has won three of four starts, including the Grade 1 Hopeful and Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity. He has already shown the ability to reel in lone speed as he caught the front-running Loggins to win the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 8. “Got a really good education along the way,” said Pletcher, who trains Forte for Mike Repole and the St. Elias Stable of Vinnie and Teresa Viola. “He was inside of horses, taking some kickback, worked his way through traffic. I thought it was a very seasoned, professional effort for a young horse.” Both Baffert and Pletcher have a second horse in the Juvenile and both of those are in with at least a chance to hit the board. National Treasure, trained by Baffert for SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Racing, Stonestreet Racing, and Robert Masterson, won his debut at Del Mar going 6 1/2 furlongs. He then chased Cave Rock around the track but had to settle for second in the Grade 1 American Pharoah. National Treasure wore blinkers for his first start, but Baffert took them off for the American Pharoah. He is putting them back on for the Juvenile, hoping to have the horse a bit sharper. “It’s just a little blinker,” Baffert said. John Velazquez rides National Treasure from the outside post in this 10-horse field. Pletcher’s second horse in the Juvenile is Lost Ark, a half-brother to probable Distaff favorite Nest owned by Harrell Ventures. Lost Ark won his first two starts, including the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park by 7 1/2 lengths. He too ran in the Breeders’ Futurity but encountered multiple traffic issues early and finished sixth, beaten 10 lengths. “What I did like, despite all of that early trouble, he still finished with his legs underneath him and still was making some impact late,” Pletcher said. Pletcher said his biggest concern entering the Juvenile is if there’s anybody in the field with enough speed to apply early pressure on Cave Rock. Luis Saez rides Lost Ark from post 8. Flavien Prat had ridden Lost Ark in two of his first three starts. On Friday, Prat will ride Blazing Sevens, who he guided to an off-the-pace victory in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont on Oct 1. :: Bet the Breeders' Cup with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs. Join DRF Bets. The Champagne was run over an extremely sloppy surface at Aqueduct. Blazing Sevens, owned by Rodeo Creek Racing and a son of trainer Chad Brown’s 2017 Juvenile winner Good Magic, won his maiden over a fast surface. “I’m more comfortable with a fast track,” Brown said. “He surprised me that he handled Aqueduct as well as he did.” Brown is also confident that Blazing Sevens will handle stretching out in the Juvenile. “I think he’s going to love two turns,” Brown said. “It’s a really strong edition of this race, no doubt. There are some very talented horses in there. We’ll see what kind of trip he can work out and see how he stacks up with them.” Verifying, a half-brother to Midnight Bisou owned by Jonathan Poulin and the Coolmore connections, finished second in the Champagne following a debut victory on Travers Day at Saratoga. Verifying is trained by Brad Cox, who won the 2020 Juvenile at Keeneland with Essential Quality. Curly Jack, who finished right behind Forte when the two were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes, is coming off a one-length victory in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes on Sept. 17. Tom Amoss trains Curly Jack for Michael McLoughlin. Congruent, Hurricane J, and Wound Up figure to be longshots in the Juvenile. :: Breeders' Cup Friday and Saturday Past Performances are available now! Save up to 36% on BC essentials with a DRF Package!  Congruent, a son of Tapit trained by Antonio Sano for Tami Bobo and Luis Gavignano, is 2 for 4, including a victory in the off-the-turf Laurel Futurity, a one-turn mile race. Hurricane J, a son of Nyquist trained by Paulo Lobo for Kia Joorabchian’s AMO Racing, is 2 for 2 with both wins coming at six furlongs. Joe Talamo rides. Wound Up, a son of Mendelssohn trained by Michael McCarthy for Paul Reddam, has one win from three starts, all on turf. He was pre-entered for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, but was too far down on the preference list to make it into the field so he ends up here. In addition to likely deciding the division champion, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile offers the top five finishers qualifying points toward the 2023 Kentucky Derby on a 30-12-9-6-3. Owing to the suspension of Baffert through the 2023 Kentucky Derby by Churchill Downs, neither Cave Rock nor National Treasure are eligible to earn any Derby points in this race. The Juvenile goes as race 9 on a 10-race program that begins at 11:55 a.m. USA Network and FanDuel TV will provide coverage of all five of Friday’s Breeders’ Cup races from 2-6 p.m. Eastern. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.