Fourteen amped-up 2-year-olds, short run to the first bend, two relatively tight turns – seems like the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf could turn into a battleground. How appropriate. Battleground is the name of Aidan O’Brien’s entrant in the one-mile Juvenile Turf, and the Juvenile Turf already bears O’Brien’s indelible mark. Four times in 13 renewals the Juvenile Turf has been won by an O’Brien-trained horse, a quartet that includes Hit It a Bomb, who stormed home from 14th place at the half-mile pole to win the 2015 Juvenile Turf over the Keeneland course. Another O’Brien winner that Breeders’ Cup: Found, whose first foal is the one who will line up Friday in post 9 under Ryan Moore. “He’s a big powerfully built colt,” O’Brien said. “He’s a good traveler, likes fast ground.” Battleground debuted in a straight-course sprint June 8 at Naas, a mere tune-up on the way to Royal Ascot, where he won the listed Chesham Stakes over a straight seven furlongs. On July 28, Battleground stretched to a turning mile, the Group 2 Vintage at Goodwood, melded easily to Moore’s requests dropping into a midpack position, and came with a smooth run to win going away. :: Play the Breeders’ Cup with DRF! Visit our Breeders’ Cup shop for Packages, PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more The Vintage has produced many fine winners, including European champion Pinatubo in 2019, a colt who also won the Chesham. It also marks the last time Battleground started. Pointed to the National Stakes in September, he coughed leading into the race and missed it. Battleground, as O’Brien said, prefers fast ground, and there was none of that this fall in Europe. Thus, the decision to await this start. “We think his fitness level is good and high,” O’Brien said. Battleground is one of six Europeans in the main body of the Juvenile Turf (which has Barrister Tom and Harlan Estate on the also-eligible list) and three might’ve wished they stayed home after the post position draw: Go Athletico drew 12, Devilwala 13, and The Lir Jet 14. Those are terrible places to start, especially for horses unfamiliar with races where a turn comes so quickly after the start. Devilwala and The Lir Jet have speed, and if nothing else they could dart toward the front and influence the race shape. Go Athletico tries hard and never has been worse than second in his five starts, but one mile could prove to be farther than ideal, and a second horse from France, Sealiway, holds more appeal. Sealiway, drawn in post 1, looked about the same class as Go Athletico until the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 3. Gliding over a heavy course as his four foes flailed, Sealiway drew steadily clear to win by eight lengths, among the best single performance by a European 2-year-old this season. “Sealiway was regarded as a fast horse, a six-furlong horse, but then I realized that was maybe not the case,” said first-time Breeders’ Cup trainer Frederic Rossi. “Though he’s fast, he needs some time to find his momentum.” Mickael Barzalona, aboard for the last two starts, rides Sealiway. Next to them in the starting gate, breaking from post 2, is another capable European, New Mandate, and jockey Frankie Dettori. New Mandate has improved dramatically for trainer Ralph Beckett since he launched his career July 11, and though he’s wont to pull hard early in a race, New Mandate willingly goes between horses, finishes strongly, and enters on a three-race win streak capped by victory over a straight mile Sept. 26 in the Group 2 Royal Lodge. Cadillac, well drawn in post 5, could prove Battleground’s strongest rival from the east side of the Atlantic. Cadillac is 2 for 2 racing on the relatively flat, left-handed course of Leopardstown in Ireland, winning the Group 2 Champions Juvenile there by 3 1/2 lengths over Van Gogh, a smashing Group 1 winner late last month in France. Cadillac, by the excellent sire Lope de Vega, seems to prefer turning races to those on a straightaway, though the only horse better than him Aug. 22 in the Futurity Stakes, a straight race at The Curragh, was Mac Swiney, yet another subsequent Group 1 winner. In the Oct. 10 Dewhurst, Cadillac caught soft ground he didn’t love while racing down a straight seven furlongs and encountering traffic twice while trying to find a seam under regular rider Shane Foley, who made his Breeders’ Cup debut last year. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2020: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division Mutasaabeq, apparently, heads the North American segment of the race, though the ratio of illusion to substance in his win Oct. 4 in the Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland remains uncertain. Making his turf debut after a distant third-place finish in the Grade 1 Hopeful, Mutasaabeq came from last of 11 to win the Bourbon going away, a visually impressive performance that the clock didn’t love. Mutasaabeq ran his last 2 1/2 furlongs in 29.68 seconds, good but not great, and got a modest 75 Beyer Speed Figure. Abarta, also a part of this field, rallied from far behind a collapsing pace to finish second after going all out to win his Ellis Park career debut by a nose with a 54 Beyer. Of the October prep races on the coasts, the Pilgrim in New York looked stronger (and nearly always is) than the Zuma Beach in California, though the Pilgrim’s tempo beat more funereal than furious. Fire At Will strolled through a half-mile, uncontested, in 50 seconds and change, and had too much energy left for favored Public Sector to come close to catching him. Public Sector, based on that race flow, could be the more popular play Friday, but Fire At Will might simply be better, at least right now. Fire At Will had compromising homestretch trouble in his career debut, a Saratoga turf route, and graduated on dirt, likely his secondary surface. He almost certainly can race as effectively from off the pace as on it. Unbeaten Outadore tries a route trip for the first time. Trainer Wesley Ward said this week the colt has something of a fiery temperament, and he will need to settle and finish to have any chance. Gretzky the Great has won three in a row and blitzed the Grade 1 Summer Stakes, which came up soft this year, by 3 1/2 lengths. Trainer Mark Casse said he expects Gretzky the Great to perform even better in this two-turn mile than the Summer’s one-turn mile configuration. He had better – it is going to be a battle out there.