2020 Breeders' Cup odds: Maximum Security jockey Luis Saez eyes career-defining victory in Classic

Luis Saez has been a very successful jockey for years in the thoroughbred racing circuit but somehow is 0-for-22 all-time in Breeders' Cup races. The native of Panama has a pretty good chance of finally breaking through this weekend (Friday-Saturday) at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., as he is scheduled to ride in 13 of the 14 events, including aboard one of the Classic betting favorites in Maximum Security on Saturday.

Entering the Breeders' Cup, Saez has made 1,201 starts in 2020 with 233 first-place finishes and earnings of nearly $13 million. He has numerous Grade I stakes wins, including aboard Global Companion in the Woodward Handicap, in the Breeders' Futurity with Essential Quality, and in the Woody Stephens Stakes on No Parole. Saez also will ride Essential Quality in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Friday.

Saez, who contracted COVID-19 in July, has yet to win a Triple Crown race, either, with a best finish of second in the 2018 Preakness Stakes aboard Bravazo, who finished a half-length behind eventual Triple Crown winner Justify. Bravazo was closing fast at the end and had the race been the longer Belmont Stakes, Saez may have won.

Of course, Maximum Security originally won the 2019 Kentucky Derby with Saez aboard, but the colt was disqualified to a 17th-place finish because Maximum Security was judged to have made contact earlier in the race with War of Will, who ran into Country House – Country House originally finished second but then was awarded the victory. It marked the first time in Kentucky Derby history that the horse who finished first was disqualified. Saez was suspended for 15 days for "failure to control his mount."

Since the 2019 Run for the Roses, Maximum Security, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, has six wins and two second-place finishes in his eight races. Maximum Security comes off a runner-up to Improbable in the Grade I Awesome Again Stakes in late September with Saez back aboard after missing a couple of races on the horse due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Improbable is in the Classic and also trained by Baffert, who has a third horse in the 1¼-mile race Saturday in 2020 Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Authentic. Baffert's three Classic wins have all come with 3-year-olds (it's open to 3-year-olds and up): Arrogate in 2016 at Santa Anita, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015 at Keeneland and in 2014 with Bayern at Santa Anita. Baffert's three Classic wins are the most by any trainer.

The past three Classic winners have all been at least 4 years old -- Maximum Security is 4.

2020 Breeders' Cup Classic Post Positions & Odds

• 1. Tacitus (20-1)
• 2. Tiz The Law (3-1)
• 3. By My Standards (10-1)
• 4. Tom's d'Etat (6-1)
• 5. Title Ready (30-1)
• 6. Higher Power (20-1)
• 7. Global Campaign (20-1)
• 8. Improbable (5-2)
• 9. Authentic (6-1)
• 10. Maximum Security (7-2)

Before making any 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic picks, you NEED to see how handicapping champion Jonathon Kinchen has broken down the race. Kinchen is one of the nation's most successful and recognizable horseplayers. He won the National Horseplayers Championship Tour in 2015, a demanding, yearlong series of handicapping events across the country.