Lethal Heat may enter two BC races

Lethal Heat is pre-entered in both the Ladies' Classic on Nov. 6 and the Turf Sprint on Nov. 7, and as far as trainer and co-owner Barry Abrams is concerned, he would like to enter in both next Tuesday. That doesn't necessarily mean she will run in both races. And, because of Breeders' Cup rules, he might not even get the chance.

Breeders' Cup rules read that a horse cannot be entered in two races if doing so will deny a horse a spot in a race. Lethal Heat is in the main body of the Turf Sprint because of graded stakes points she accumulated during the year. But that race drew 22 pre-entries, so there is the very real possibility that her entering that race would keep someone out.

If that is the case on Tuesday, Abrams will have to pick one race or the other, according to Tom Robbins, who heads the international panel of racing officials employed by the Breeders' Cup to rank fields in oversubscribed races.

"Right now, if they let me, I'm going to enter both races," Abrams said Wednesday. "She loves coming down the hill and she loves synthetic surfaces. But if we decide to run Friday, I doubt she'd run back Saturday."

There are no issues regarding field size in the Ladies' Classic. Only nine were pre-entered the 1 1/8-mile race, including Zenyatta, who is expected to run Nov. 7 in the Classic.

"If Zenyatta goes on Friday, I'd run Saturday," Abrams said. "I'm hoping Zenyatta runs Saturday. We can't beat Zenyatta. There's no BS about it. We'd be running for second if she runs Friday. If I believe my best chance is to run Saturday, I'll go Saturday."

Rainbow View also is cross-entered in two races, but she is expected to run in the Ladies' Classic and not the Filly and Mare Turf.