LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AFP) — Unbeaten mare Zenyatta will try to defend her Breeders Cup Classic crown today, while mile-marvel Goldikova bids to be the first horse to win three times at the annual equine showdown.

Zenyatta, an 8-5 betting favourite to improve her perfect 19-0 record in the Cup’s feature race at Churchill Downs, pleased owners Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs in a Thursday morning workout at the famed track.

“She galloped beautifully,” Shirreffs said of Zenyatta’s 1.5-mile training run. “She’s very happy. On the second day of taking her to the track, you might think she’d be a little flat, but she was full of energy.

“That’s what you look for — the enthusiasm and good energy.”

The 14-race, two-day extravaganza features a total purse of more than US$25.5 million and bills itself as the world championships of racing.

French superstar Goldikova, who won the Mile on turf in 2008 and 2009, will be trying to become the first three-time winner in the Cup’s 27-year history.

The Freddy Head-trained mare drew the 10th post in a field of 11 and was priced at 6-5. Head, 63, has said Goldikova has faced tougher competition in her career than the mares Zenyatta has gone against.

“It’s hard to say. It’s different,” Head said. “All I can say is that Goldikova has been running against colts all her life. The best of our generation. Maybe it’s not the same with Zenyatta.”

Breeders Cup organisers have planned races for yesterday and today to be staged under floodlights, the rare evening session adding to the drama of Zenyatta’s quest on a track where she has never run, one where fans flocked to workouts.

“There’s a little bit of anticipation, but I think everybody is relaxed,” said Shirreffs. “So many people adore her. She’s the fantasy. She’s everything we ever could have wanted and to share her with everybody is just incredible.”

Zenyatta won the 2009 Breeders Cup Classic in dramatic style on the synthetic surface at Santa Anita last year and took the 2008 Ladies’ Classic.

The oldest horse in the 1 1/4-mile Classic, Zenyatta will be ridden by Mike Smith from the number eight starting gate against 11 rivals in the five million-dollar event.

Blame was second with oddsmakers in the Classic field at 9-2 followed by Quality Road at 5-1 and Preakness winner Lookin at Lucky at 6-1. No other foe was less than 10-1.

Lookin at Lucky trainer Bob Baffert said Zenyatta needs to win the Classic on Kentucky dirt for Horse of the Year honours.

“She has to win here on the dirt, only because they sort of stayed in California with her and didn’t really venture out,” Baffert said.

“She did it last year. She was phenomenal, but she did it on a synthetic track so there’s always going to be that question mark. If she does it here on dirt, on these grounds, that’s what it’s all about.”

Espoir City, who will make his first start outside Japan, is at 20-1 in the Classic after winning 11 of 20 races in his home country. The five-year-old has earned almost six million dollars in prize money.

“We wouldn’t have come this far, with all the expenses, if we weren’t thinking that we have a good chance,” Espoir City trainer Akio Adachi said.

Midday, winner of the 2009 Filly and Mare Turf, will defend her title in a field of 11 that also includes 2008 winner Forever Together.

Midday would bring yet another emotional triumph for 67-year-old Englishman Henry Cecil, who is in remission after battling stomach cancer in 2006 and who lost his twin brother David to cancer in 2000.

European horses were tabbed as the top two in a field of eight for the three million-dollar Turf.

Workforce, vying to become the first Prix d l’Arc de Triomphe winner to win a Breeders’ Cup event, will start from the sixth post in an eight-horse field at 7-5 odds, although the firmness of the track could be an issue for the Epsom Derby champion. Behkabad was made the second choice at 9-5.

Barbados-born England-based handler Sir Michael Stoute, 64, seeks his fifth Turf title with Workforce and his third Turf in a row after Conduit’s 2008 and 2009 triumphs.