To spread out the three Triple Crown races.

The Kentucky Derby leads off the first Triple Crown season in decades without the chance of Bob Baffert officially winning one or more of the three races.

Essential Quality has been set as a 2-1 favorite for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

Robin Smullen, left, and Juan Barajas Saldana walk Belmont Stakes hopeful Tiz the Law around the paddock at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., Thursday, June 18, 2020. Now, the ownership group that buys just one or two New York-bred colts a year is back to try again with Tiz the Law. Tiz The Law has been the best 3-year-old since January basically, and he remains that, retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey said. Knowlton hasnt seen Tiz the Law race in person since Feb. 3 in Florida because of the pandemic. With all the changes for horses and humans, Tiz the Law remains a calming presence.

The climax to the 14-race showpiece is Saturday's $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, a one-and-a-quarter-mile dirt dash which often decides the best of a generation. If you've never been to Santa Anita and you sit in the grandstand and you have those beautiful mountains in the background, it's like a painting. Another highlight is the $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf over one-and-a-half miles on grass, which has become a successful hunting ground for the cream of European talent. Winning a Breeders' Cup race is the pinnacle, according to Smith, who became only the 13th jockey to clinch the Triple Crown when he rode Justify for Baffert in 2018. "The Stronach Group and Santa Anita safety measures put horse and rider safety above all else," it said in a statement last month.