Tagg changes course with Nobiz Like Shobiz.

In the end, they came out of the woodwork for the Breeders' Cup Mile.

All the horse expected to enter, plus several mild surprises, were among the 18 pre-entries for the Mile. But though the starting gate can accommodate only 14 horses, it's possible that no one who truly wants to run will be left out this year. Three horses have first preference in another BC race - Icy Atlantic (Turf), Lewis Michael (Dirt Mile), and George Washington (Classic), and if all go to their first choice, only Rabatash will be left out of the mix. Rabatash, a European import now based with Barclay Tagg, was entered in a Belmont Park allowance race for Friday.

Tagg, it turns out, will have one of the favorites for the Mile in Nobiz Like Shobiz, who earned a BC trip with a four-length win in the Jamaica Handicap on Oct. 6 at Belmont. Tagg initially said he was pointing Nobiz Like Shobiz for the Hollywood Derby, but changed course after weighing his options.

"I think he fits," Tagg said.

The Mile also includes the one-two finishers from the Kelso Handicap, Trippi's Storm and After Market, as well as the top two from the Shadwell Mile, Purim and Cosmonaut. Kip Deville, who finished second last out in the Woodbine Mile, also will start, as will the fourth-place finisher from that race, Remarkable News. Both those horses have to be supplemented to the race at 15 percent of the $2 million purse, while Irish invader Excellent Art will be supplemented at the 9 percent level, meaning the 2007 mile will boast a purse of $2,780,000.

Excellent Art was one of two horses entered in the Mile by trainer Aidan O'Brien, but figures to be O'Brien's lone representative, with George Washington likely to go in the Classic. Excellent Art has strong European form, and should be among the favorites. His big win this year came in the St. James's Palace Stakes for 3-year-olds, but Excellent Art also turned in impressive performances finishing second in the Sept. 29 Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Aug. 1 Sussex Stakes. Jeremy, who disappointed last out in the Prix de la Foret in France, was the only other European entered.

Precious Kitten and My Typhoon will bid to become the fifth female to win the Mile. Both, however, are based in the U.S., and the only previous female winners came from overseas.

- additional reporting by David Grening