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An unfortunate stumble at the start of the Gulfstream Park Handicap last month cost Fort Larned his seasonal debut, but the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic winner is back in action in the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap April 13.

Discreet Dancer picked up the pieces of an incident-marred running of the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap at when Breeders' Cup Classic winner Fort Larned stumbled at the start.

Janis Whitham's homebred Fort Larned, who has not started since his gutsy victory in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic, will face just five opponents when he makes his 5-year-old debut March 9 in the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap.

The Breeders Cup Classic or the Kentucky Derby serve as the best reference for everything that is great about the sport, the same way the Clasico del Caribe has the ingredients to bring to the limelight the best the Caribbean region has to offer.

The Breeders' Cup World Championship is a series of thoroughbred horse races that serves as the sport's season-ending championship. The Cup is one of the richest sporting events in the world, with purses up to $5 million in the Breeders' Cup Classic....

And so it went Saturday at the 2012 Breeders' Cup: speed, speed, speed. Late runners not named Groupie Doll had about as much chance as a marshmallow at a Boy Scout campout, writes Gary West.

Fort Larned won the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, the guy with the shock-white hair and a swagger of California cool, Game On Dude is the runner in the Classic with the home-track advantage.

Whose victory would cause a realignment of the planets? Well, here are some thoughts.

Fortunes will be made and lost -- reputations, too -- and greatness might be glimpsed, maybe even defined, all in the tradition of the Breeders' Cup, as it was envisioned 30 years ago.

The scariest sight at Santa Anita on this Halloween morning was Ron The Greek. Now, that's a monster.

There is no Zenyatta or Curlin in this year's Breeders' Cup Classic. In other words, there is no megastar to grab the attention of the general public.

Breeders' Cup Classic favorite Game On Dude, defending Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner Royal Delta, 2011 Kentucky Derby hero Animal Kingdom and grass course stars Wise Dan and Point of Entry lead the marquee among the 171 horses.

Multiple Grade 1 star Game On Dude shored up his early favoritism for the Breeders' Cup Classic with a strong seven-furlong drill in 1:25 over Santa Anita's fast main track Sunday morning.

Even though there recently has been talk that Royal Delta should tackle males in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the 4-year-old filly will try instead to win the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic for the second year in a row.

After falling behind the pack over the summer, the Pin Oak homebred will try and re-rally to catch up with the rest of the divisional heavyweights beginning with Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup.