Three more weeks before the 2006 Breeders Cup, the creme of the crop of horse racing around the world.

Surely the most awaited race will be the Breeders Cup Classic, which now holds a $5 million purse. That’s enough for any race horse to retire, get himself a lofty stable, and earn the juice of his manhood some hundreds of thousands price tag.

Bernardini is the early favorite to win this jewel of a race. Recent history is on his side, heavy odds-on favorites the last 2 consecutive years both took home the BC Classic title: Ghostzappher in 2004 and Saint Liam in 2005.

Liam also bagged the Horse of the Year award, another fete Tom Albertrani’s trainee is gunning for.

You might want to hold on to your betting money, though, because Bernardini faces a tough competition from his co-BC Classic nominees. To help you out, I looked into the Top 3 horse contenders for the BC classic this year so you can ponder on your Breeders Cup racing and betting picks. Of course some handicappers helped me out on this.

Here we go:

Bernardini. Yeah, yeah. He’s getting all the buzz now. And he rightly deserves so. This top 3-year-old took the Preakness Stakes in May then raced on to win the coveted Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes. His latest achievement was the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup very recently held at Belmont’s fall run.

So he’s really the horse to beat on Nov. 4. If he goes all the way and win the BC Classic, he’ll surely get Horse of the Year. Handicappers expect him to go head-to-head with…

Lava Man. This tough dude has a record of 7-for-7 this year after winning in the Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Santa Anita on October 7. You read it right, this Doug O’Neill trained colt is undefeated! Thus, he’s also in the running for the 2006 Horse of the Year honors.

Lava Man has become a rags-to-riches story. He hasn’t lost since the 2005 Japan Cup, when he finished 11th due to a foot injury. Then, on January he started with another winning streak of seven races, when he won the Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita.

Invasor. Now who is this Invasor bloke? This 4-year-old is actually not eligible for the Breeders Cup but his owners at Shadwell Stable has paid the $250,000 nomination fee.

Invasor is unbeaten in three starts in the U.S. this year for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Last year, Invasor won all five of his starts in Uruguay and was named that country’s Horse of the Year. In March, Invasor suffered his only career defeat when he finished fourth in the UAE Derby (UAE-II) in Dubai.

There you are. The Top 3 contenders for the BC Classic. Of course our OJ boss is cautioning all horse bettors that long shots may have better chances. Since we really have no background info on them horses coming from Europe or wherever else.

So bet wisely folks.

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