Of the many factors that go into picking the winner of a horse race, whether it’s a cheap sprint on a weekday or a multi-million-dollar test of stamina at the Breeders’ Cup, none is bigger than recent form.

Which horses ran best in the past few weeks? Who looks sharpest lately? Who seems to be tailing off?

This might present a problem for fans trying to pick the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the $7 million climactic event of the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar on Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1. Most of the contenders in the 1¼-mile race for 3-year-olds and up have no recent form in the sense that most of us grew up with.

Early favorites Sovereignty and Fierceness last competed in late August, winning impressively in major races at Saratoga and Del Mar. Defending Classic champion

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