THE show must go on. A fever knocked the best horse out of the Breeders’ Cup and knocked the Breeders’ Cup for a loop.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Sovereignty flew to California as the favorite in one of the most contentious Breeders’ Cup Classics in history.

Godolphin’s home-bred son of Into Mischief will ship home early next week. No Del Mar denouement for him, hopefully a four-year-old season for the dynamic colt and the desperate sport. Here’s hoping.

Trainers live in the glassiest glass houses. Rival trainers felt Mott’s pain, the sport’s pain.

“Ah, I’m just really sorry about that,” said John Shirreffs, trainer of Baeza. “I was really looking forward to the race with Sovereignty in it. It’s a little disappointing that he’s not in it.”

“I don’t think it’s good. I don’t think it’s ever good when a horse scratches,” said Michael McCarthy, trainer of Journalism.

“It’s unfortunate for the fans. It’s unfortunate for the connections.

“On big days like this, all you want is everybody to get the starting gate doing as well as they could possibly be doing and let them figure it out on the racetrack.”

“I feel bad for the connections and the racing public that was looking forward to seeing him run. It’s just one of those things as a trainer you hate to see that happen,” said Todd Pletcher, trainer of Fierceness.

“You put so much thought and effort into what you’re going to do training-wise, where you’re going to do your preparations, when you’re going to ship, when you’re going to have your last breeze and you try to cover every base and try to do everything just right and things like this can still happen.”

The horse of the year in the race of the year to decide the Horse of the Year. Poof.

But, indeed, the show does go on.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships return to Del Mar for the second consecutive year.

A two-day, 14-race bender of turf talent and dirt decadence. Let’s go.

9.41 Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (Grade 1) 1m 4f

Well, hello old friend(s).

Rebel’s Romance returns in pursuit of his 21st win in his 30th start. Let that sink in for a minute. The seven-year-old drew the rail in his defence of the $5 million race.

There are just two American-bred horses in the race and those are longshots Tawny Port and Hill Road.

The international arsenal goes deep. German-bred Goliath for French scion Francis Graffard. British-bred Amiloc for Ralph Beckett. Nashville Derby winner Wimbledon Hawkeye. Irish-bred, Irish-based Minnie Hauk who just missed in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for Aidan O’Brien and Christophe Soumillon.

And, hey, you’re not at Cheltenham any more, Willie Mullins continues his world-wide scourge with Ethical Diamond, who drew the outside stall in the field of 14 runners.

What a roster. What a race.

Selection: 1 Minnie Hauk, 2 Rebel’s Romance, 3 Amiloc

10.25 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade 1) 1m 2f

So, who’s left?

In one of the rare instances, the race lost its star but certainly not its power. Chasing Sovereignty all year, Journalism and Baeza now have the microphone in one hand and the guitar in the other. What will they play?

Trained by old-school horsemen looking at the end game, the second and third best three-year-olds are certainly primed to step up and out of Sovereignty’s indelible shadow. Can they? Will they?

The best older horses stayed in training this year and have made the long journey to Del Mar. How often do you get the 1-2-3 from the race of the year back a year later?

Not often, but this year it happens with Sierra Leone, Fierceness and Forever Young returning to the scene.

All three look as good or better than last year.

Trainer Chad Brown, like plenty of trainers on the day, will say goodbye to $7 million-earner Sierra Leone.

One as good

“You hate to retire a horse that’s the best you’ve ever trained, of course, and as they leave your barn, you worry you may never get another one as good as this one,” Brown said.

“As a trainer, that’s something you have to get your head around. You hope that another Sierra Leone comes along, but there’s certainly no guarantee on that. He’s certainly a very rare horse - that’s the bitter part of this.

“The sweet part is that he’s going to the top breeding operation in the world and he’s getting a much-deserved pampered retirement, where he’s going to have every chance to excel in his second career.”

And then there’s Nevada Beach, a once-beaten three-year-old for Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and Mike Smith. How good is this race? The son of Omaha Beach is 20/1 on the morning line, a race after beating older horses in the Grade 1 Goodwood. And don’t forget Grade 1 winners Mindframe and Antiquarian.

Selection: 1 Fierceness, 2 Forever Young, 3 Baeza