New Jersey’s Monmouth Park hosts its first-ever Breeders’ Cup later this month. Any Given Saturday won the Grade I Haskell Invitational there in August, proving that he has what it takes to win on that track.

But what does it take? The Monmouth tracks don’t have any obvious quirks that should affect the Cup races. The turf track, although only a year old, is reportedly in excellent running condition after the summer session, thanks in part to the portable rail that can be brought out 12, 24 or 36 feet. That spreads out the wear and tear.

The dirt might be more of a question mark by the time the Classic is run on Oct. 27. Having all those other races run in such a short period of time this late in the year will probably produce a slow track. That’s bad news for frontrunners, so Hard Spun trainer J. Larry Jones might want to tailor his strategy accordingly.