2024 Breeders' Cup undercard includes vulnerable favorites

Before the nine Breeders' Cup races commence on Saturday, Del Mar offers a trio of events.

The card kicks off early with a competitive first-level allowance on the grass, followed by the transplanted Bayakoa (G3) and then the Goldikova (G3), the latter a staple of Breeders' Cup weekends held in Southern California.

While on paper it appears the leading choices have an edge in the Bayakoa, early favorites in the other two races might be worth taking on.

Race 1: Allowance, 1:15 p.m. ET

A highly lukewarm morning-line favorite (4-1), #6 Canada Gate will be making his debut both on the grass and for trainer John Sadler. The colt was previously trained by Bob Baffert, who finally got the son of Constitution to graduate in his fifth career start going one mile on the dirt at Del Mar on Aug. 22.

A potentially more interesting play is #7 Invigorated (12-1), a former mainstay in the Todd Pletcher barn whom owner Mike Repole now has based in Southern California with trainer Michael McCarthy.

A winner at first asking in late March at Gulfstream, Invigorated last competed at Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week. He flopped, though, trailing the field of eight in an entry-level allowance.

The son of Street Sense might rebound. Although the long layoff and lack of previous turf experience are knocks against him, the latter is at least mitigated by his pedigree. Invigorated's dam, Cambiocorsa, was a Southern California star of turf sprints in the first decade of this century, much like her full brother, Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) winner California Flag.

Cambiocorsa has turned out to be a very productive broodmare. She's reared four stakes winners, including the Grade 2 scorers Schiaparelli and Moulin de Mougin. She's also the second dam of European champion Roaring Lion, a four-time Group 1 winner.

If Invigorated takes to the grass as well as his immediate family, he can contend at a nice price.

Race 3: Goldikova (G3), 2:15 p.m. ET

The morning-line favorite at 7-2 is three-year-old #9 Kathmandu, who has unremarkable European form. Her best run this season, albeit on soft ground, was her head second in the classic French 1000 Guineas (G1). However, her 45-1 price that day shows the performance was a bit of a shock.

She previously placed at another big price in the Nell Gwyn (G3) but could only manage fifth-place runs in the Prix Jean Prat (G1) against males and the Oak Tree (G3) following the Guineas. Neither race this season can necessarily be considered productive.

A more interesting contender at the early prices is the grizzled veteran #3 Fluffy Socks (10-1) for trainer Chad Brown. A mainstay at all graded levels over the past several seasons, she takes a notable drop in class here after chasing a couple of younger, more talented stablemates to the wire in the First Lady (G1) at Keeneland.

Although she's a closer in a race lacking much in the way of pace, she has run some of her best races at Del Mar. Winner of the Jimmy Durante (G3) at two and third in the Del Mar Oaks (G1) at three, her most recent visit last December resulted in a narrow loss to stablemate Surge Capacity in the one-mile Matriarch (G1).

The class drop and a fondness for the local sod might propel Fluffy Socks into Goldikova contention.