ARCADIA, Calif. – He was well beaten last year in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont, and following four straight losses to end the year was put away, given time to ripen. This year’s vintage has the floral notes of a Grade 1 win, a nice finish – perfect for 1 1/4 miles races – very soothing to the palate. He may have been a cut below last year, but now Vino Rosso ranks with the best older horses in the country. He’s aged like a fine red wine. Just how far he’s come could be on display Saturday, when Vino Rosso tries to avenge a controversial decision in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and takes on Gold Cup winner Code of Honor, top West Coast runners Higher Power and McKinzie, Preakness winner War of Will, the mare Elate, and five others in a highly competitive running of the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. The Classic is the last of 12 races Saturday. There is no standout, and the favorite is perceived as being vulnerable. It could flop several ways, making it one of the best betting races of the weekend if you have the right opinion. “I don’t think there’s a dominant horse in there,” said John Sadler, who sends out Higher Power. “A lot of horses have chances.” “It’s a competitive race,” said Bill Mott, who takes two shots, with Elate and Yoshida. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2019: See DRF’s special section with fields, odds, comments, and more Vino Rosso is one of eight horses shipping in from out of town for the race, but this isn’t his first rodeo. He came here in May to win the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, also at 1 1/4 miles, the ideal dress rehearsal for the Classic. “We thought the distance would suit him, he’d get a race over the track, and it would give us more information regarding the Breeders’ Cup,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Vino Rosso. Vino Rosso had two starts since then. He was third behind McKinzie and Yoshida in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney, then crossed the wire first in the Jockey Club Gold Cup – earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 106 – only to lose the race in the stewards’ stand. His progress this year is what Pletcher and owners Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola hoped would materialize at age 4. “His races and his works have been more consistent,” Pletcher said. Code of Honor, who won the Travers prior to the Jockey Club Gold Cup, is seeking his fourth straight win, third straight at 1 1/4 miles, second straight against elders. He has been molded through the year by Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, working in concert with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. “We learned that he needed to be trained more than I was training him, and Johnny learned to be patient with him,” McGaughey said. McKinzie is the lukewarm favorite. He has finished first or second in 12 of 13 starts, with seven wins. But with two wins and four seconds this year, Mike Smith is out as his jockey and Joel Rosario is in. “He should have more W’s on his résumé,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert, who said McKinzie “just needs to be ridden a different way.” Look for him to be prominent from the start. “It’s tough, especially when they’re your friends,” Baffert said of the switch. “I’ve just got to go by my instinct. I was very frustrated. I felt like we had to make a change. It’s like a manager taking the ball from his star pitcher.” Smith wound up on Yoshida, fourth in this race last year at Churchill Downs. “He got beat a length and a half for it all last year, and was a nose away from third,” Mott said. Elate takes on males for the first time, a year later than Mott first hoped. “We wanted to do this last year,” he said. “We just didn’t make it. “There’s a lot of upside to running in the Classic. She’s 3 for 3 at the distance. We’re willing to take on the challenge of racing against the boys, particularly at that distance.” Elate measures up physically against her male rivals. “There’s nothing dainty about her,” Mott said. Higher Power won the Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles, then was third last time out behind Classic rivals Mongolian Groom and McKinzie in the 1 1/8-mile Awesome Again after stumbling at the start. He can rebound, and at a price. War of Will has lost three straight since the Preakness. He was third most recently behind Classic entrant Math Wizard in the Pennsylvania Derby. Owendale, third in the Preakness, has won three of his last five starts and was caught on a dead rail when fifth in the Travers. “His numbers stack up,” said his trainer, Brad Cox. “He’s a 3-year-old who seems to be improving.” Seeking the Soul, a Churchill Downs specialist, was seventh in the Pacific Classic and fourth in the Awesome Again in his last two starts.