With nine starters, the Classic field will...

With nine starters, the Classic field will be the smallest since 1989 when Sunday Silence beat Easy Goer and six others at Gulfstream Park in Florida.

To be honest, though, only four horses really matter in the climax to Breeders’ Cup XIV.

The day’s richest race boils down to Behrens, Touch Gold, Skip Away and Deputy Commander. One of them will win and the five others are merely filling the field.

This is a far cry from the Classic Hollywood Park could have had. Imagine if Gentlemen, Silver Charm, Free House, Formal Gold, Siphon and Captain Bodgit were all fit and willing to go, supplementary fee or no supplementary fee.

Add them to the four mentioned above and it would have been a race for the ages, a true showdown for horse of the year.

Taiki Blizzard, Whiskey Wisdom, Honor Glide, Savinio and Dowty are hardly suitable replacements for those missing.

Among the elite left standing, Behrens has a lot going for him. He is lightly raced and improving, and he has jockey Jerry Bailey, who has been a Classic specialist in the ‘90s. Bailey has won the race four times since 1991 and won it three times in succession with Arcangues, Concern and, in 1995, Cigar.

Trained by Jim Bond, the 3-year-old son of Pleasant Colony got his first feel of Hollywood Park’s main track Thursday morning.

“He bounced on the track and he bounced off it,” said Bond, who saw his L’Carriere finish second to Cigar in the ’95 Classic as a 51-1 shot. “If looks could tell . . . well, he looks fantastic.

“Everyone has worked hard and we’re fortunate to be here, still standing. It’s going to be an interesting race. Behrens has really peaked over the past two months--he’s a very exciting horse to train and I’m looking forward to [the Classic].

“I don’t think Skip Away is the horse to beat. I had thought Formal Gold was the one, but Deputy Commander looks fantastic. Touch Gold’s Pegasus [in which he finished last], I throw it out and go back to the Haskell. I think it was a little overrated. When you have three horses battling on the lead like that, it sets up for him. If you go out and catch a horse alone on the lead, that’s a good horse.”

Even if there is some doubt in one trainer’s mind, Touch Gold is more than a good horse. He proved that in the Preakness, Belmont and Haskell, and despite persistent rumors that all is not well with him and the foot problem that has plagued him since he stumbled at the start of the Preakness, trainer Dave Hofmans says he is fine.

“The foot is 100%,” Hofmans said. “Somebody told me the other day that he pulled a patch off and was scratched. So, you’ll hear anything you want around here. Everything’s good. He’s ready to go.”

* KEYS TO THE RACE: The pace doesn’t figure to be overly fast and Skip Away will be breaking from the rail, a post he has won from three of the last four times he has drawn there. The top four will separate themselves from the field in the final quarter-mile and the finish should be close.

THE HORSES

* Skip Away is here after it was decided, to the surprise of many, to fork over $480,000 to supplement him to the race. The decision was probably easier made because there was no Gentlemen to deal with on his home track, and on the strength of this colt’s performance in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He won for only the third time in 10 starts that day, but did it easily. A win today and his connections will be campaigning for horse of the year, but the facts are, he didn’t beat Gentlemen when they raced, and Formal Gold finished ahead of him in three of their five meetings this year.

* Honor Glide would have been a longshot in the Mile and he will be an even bigger price in a race he has no chance of winning. The 3-year-old son of Honor Grades is making his first start on the dirt. Let’s hope he doesn’t get in anybody’s way.

* Deputy Commander has won three of his last four--at three tracks. He returns to his home course, where he was second in the Swaps and a winner of the Affirmed in his two races over this surface. He also is unbeaten--two for two--at 1 1/4 miles.

* Taiki Blizzard is in this race instead of the Mile. He has won two of three on the main track, but not against this kind of opposition. He was beaten by only half a length in the Oak Tree Mile, but that wasn’t much of a barometer. He finished last in the 1996 Classic.

* Touch Gold hated the track at the Meadowlands when he was beaten by more than 16 lengths in the Pegasus Handicap, but Hofmans said all is well now. If he runs as he did in the Preakness, Belmont Stakes and Haskell Invitational, he can beat any horse in the country. Hofmans will be trying to win this race for the second consecutive year after Alphabet Soup shocked the world at Woodbine.

* Whiskey Wisdom is pushed into Grade I company after earning his first stakes victory in a Grade III at Keeneland. He won by a dozen lengths but got to set a slow pace. The only thing he has going for him is that his jockey, Pat Day, scored a big upset in the first Classic at Hollywood Park in 1984, winning with 31-1 shot Wild Again.

* Savinio hasn’t won a stakes race since the 1996 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar and the drought isn’t going to end today. The best he could hope for is a check for passing some tired horses late, but 10 furlongs might not be his best distance, either.

* Behrens dominated Anet in the Pegasus and looks to be approaching this race in peak form. He has won four of his last six starts and has trained well. Four 3-year-olds have won the Classic, Concern the most recent in 1994. The others were Proud Truth in 1985, Sunday Silence in ‘89, and Unbridled in 1990.

* Dowty will be running on dirt for the first time since he broke his maiden in his debut as a 2-year-old at Del Mar in 1994. Trainer Bill Mott and owner Allen Paulson were supposed to win this race the last two years with Cigar, but nobody expects them to win today. And guess what? They won’t.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE CLASSIC

* Post: 2:35 p.m.

* Distance: 1 1/4 miles on dirt.

* Purse: $4.4 million.

THE FIELD

Horse: 1. Skip Away

Wt.: 126

Jockey: M. Smith

Trainer: S. Hine

Owner: C. Hine

Odds: 9-5

*

Horse: 2. Honor Glide

Wt.: 122

Jockey: S. Sellers

Trainer: J. Day

Owner: R. Schaedle

Odds: 30-1

*

Horse: 3. Deputy Commander

Wt.: 122

Jockey: C. Nakatani

Trainer: W. Dollase

Owner: Horizon Stable

Odds: 9-2

*

Horse: 4. Taiki Blizzard

Wt.: 126

Jockey: Y. Okabe

Trainer: K. Fujisawa

Owner: Taiki Farm Ltd.

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 5. Touch Gold

Wt.: 122

Jockey: C. McCarron

Trainer: D. Hofmans

Owner: Stonerside Stable & Stronach

Odds: 5-2

*

Horse: 6. Whiskey Wisdom

Wt.: 126

Jockey: P. Day

Trainer: R. Attfield

Owner: Kinghaven Farms

Odds: 15-1

*

Horse: 7. Savinio

Wt.: 126

Jockey: A. Solis

Trainer: W. Greenman

Owner: Cobra Farm Inc.

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 8. Behrens

Wt.: 122

Jockey: J. Bailey

Trainer: H. James Bond

Owner: Clifton Stable & Rudlein Stable

Odds: 4-1

*

Horse: 9. Dowty

Wt.: 126

Jockey: G. Stevens

Trainer: B. Mott

Owner: A. Paulson

Odds: 20-1