SHEPHERDSTOWN — Thoroughbred racing’s Days in the Sports Spotlight will be here on Nov. 1 and 2 this year.

Two days for grabbing (and holding) the public’s attention. Sun and hedonistic pleasure for the racing world.

By the Pacific Ocean at the Del Mar Race Course. Two days with classic-looking thoroughbreds from Japan, France, England, Ireland, Venezuela and the United States.

The most publicized race of the two-day spectacular is the Breeders Cup Classic. The star-studded field features long-limbed and visually perfect horses from the world over.

One of the more interesting entries on Breeders Cup weekend will be the consistently competitive Skippylongstocking, who has been a fixture at the Charles Town Races where he won the 2023 Charles Town Classic and the 2024 Charles Town Classic for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. He also won the 2022 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park in the Northern Panhandle of the state.

“Skippy” will probably run in the Dirt Mile at Del Mar, but there is some backstretch talk he could be entered in the “Classic” itself.

A long and lean chocolate brown thoroughbred with tractable speed and a willing spirit, “Skippy” only comes to Charles Town for that track’s Classic and has also won at Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs.

This year’s Breeders Cup Classic has a bountiful field that should delight the betting public with its array of wagering possibilities.

A robust Japanese chestnut is Forever Young, a winner of the United Arab Emirates Derby and Saudi Derby in Dubai. The visually dazzling chestnut was third in this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Second in the 2024 Kentucky Derby was Sierra Leone, always a betting choice because of his consistency. Those who want the horses of famed trainers will move close to Tapit Trice of Todd Pletcher, Newgate of Bob Baffert and Arthur’s Ride, the grey stalker of Bill Mott.

If they are entered in the large and complex field, Crupi, Next, Mixto and City of Troy will force their ways on to the tote board.

The most enigmatic horse in the field is Fierceness, sometimes dismal and sometimes emphatic. He’s been next-to-last in a large field and was a bust when running in his Kentucky Derby try. But, at other times, he’s been able to do well.

Highland Falls and Japan’s Ushba Tesora could also be entered.

Breeders Cup day. Picturesque Del Mar with its warmth, visual beauty and the hypnotic lure of the best of Thoroughbreds.

But then it’s gone again. And the grandeur of the horses won’t be back again until the famous Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.