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St Nicholas Abbey has been drawn well in stall three for the defence of his Breeders' Cup Turf title on Saturday.
The five-year-old won 12 months ago as his trainer Aidan's son Joseph became the youngest jockey, at 18, to win a race at the meeting.
Stablemate Excelebration goes from gate six in the Breeders' Cup Mile (2340 GMT) on the same card at Santa Anita.
Fifteen races, worth a total of over £15m, will be run with six contests on Friday and nine on Saturday.
St Nicholas Abbey won the Coronation Cup at Epsom in June and was then placed in three consecutive top-level events before finishing down the field in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp earlier this month.
The main American challenger in the Turf race (2218 GMT) is Point of Entry, drawn in stall one.
Excelebration, who has been placed five times behind the world's top-rated horse Frankel, triumphed in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on 20 October.
His opponents include French star Moonlight Cloud, drawn in nine, for trainer Freddie Head who is aiming to win the race for the sixth time in all, having ridden Miesque to two wins in 1980s before saddling Goldikova to three victories.
Last year's runner-up Game on Dude is among the leading contenders for the concluding Breeders' Cup Classic, which has no European entries.
The Bob Baffert-trained gelding was leading the race a year ago but was caught by Drosselmeyer in the final strides at Churchill Downs and finished second.
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