Five winners of Breeders’ Cup races in 2024, three other previous Breeders’ Cup winners, and a group of 53 internationally based runners are among the 191 individual horses pre-entered for this year’s Breeders Cup World Championships, a two-day event featuring 14 races worth $30 million in purse money to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar in Southern California.

Few things are certain in horse racing. One of the virtual certainties is that the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, which leads off the Friday slate as the newest race in the club, will have a full starting gate.

The Juvenile Turf Sprint has gone with the maximum number of starters each year since its addition to the program in 2018, and each year also has had multiple horses excluded. At Del Mar on Oct. 31, the race will be limited to 12 starters. There were 22 pre-entrants for the race that were revealed Wednesday.

Tommy Jo will attempt to nail down a championship in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, which drew nine pre-entries for its Oct. 31 renewal at Del Mar.

“We just want her to settle and get a good trip, and hopefully, she can take care of business,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.

The majority of the nine horses pre-entered in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile were purchased at auction, either as a yearling last fall or at a 2-year-old-in-training sale during the spring.

The connections of Mr. A. P. got their Juvenile prospect out of a high-priced maiden-claiming race in the summer at Del Mar. On Oct. 31, 18 days after winning a one-mile maiden race at Santa Anita, Mr. A. P. will be taking on division heavyweights Ted Noffey and Brant in the 1 1/16-mile Juvenile at Del Mar.

Thirteen days after the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, a Grade 1 turf route for 3-year-old fillies, the Grade 2, $400,000 Valley View Stakes in the same division headlines the Friday card at Keeneland.

The junior varsity, it turns out, is pretty good and very plentiful.

A dozen can start in the 1 1/16-mile Valley View, and if any of those in the field’s main body come out, three also-eligibles stand poised to run. Just last weekend, Kappa Kappa drew into the Raven Run Stakes from the also-eligible list and won it.

The 2024 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, was the third of a record-equaling seven Group 1 wins for Via Sistina in the country’s 2024-25 racing season.

For those achievements, Via Sistina was named Australia’s Horse of the Year.

To stay in the discussions for this award, Via Sistina needs a win in Friday’s Group 1 Cox Plate at about 1 1/4 miles, Australia’s leading weight-for-age race.

So far this year, Via Sistina has won once in three starts, in the Group 1 Winx Stakes at seven furlongs in August

ARCADIA, Calif. – While anticipation builds toward the Breeders’ Cup next weekend at Del Mar, the Santa Anita autumn meet is quietly winding down. The meet ends Sunday.

Friday at Santa Anita, the focus is turf maidens and entry-level allowances. Race 3 is a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-old maiden fillies, while race 5 is a route for maiden fillies and mares. Race 7 is an allowance turf route with a standout, and race 8 is a California-bred sprint allowance with a live contender listed at 6-1.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Toronto will be in a tizzy Friday night when the beloved Blue Jays host the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of Major League Baseball’s World Series.

With a 4:30 p.m. post time, Woodbine’s seven-race Friday card will end shortly before the baseball game starts. A field of 15 was drawn for the fourth race, a $25,000 claimer scheduled for a mile on the inner turf that is part of both the pick four and pick five.