DEL MAR, Calif. – Howard Wolowitz was only a maiden race winner when trainer Jose D’Angelo nominated the colt to the Grade 1 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs in August.

The decision was met with skepticism.

“People thought: Are you crazy,” D’Angelo recalled Monday on the Del Mar backstretch. “I knew what I was doing.”

Howard Wolowitz won the $1.84 million Franklin-Simpson Stakes on Sept. 7 at 6 1/2 furlongs for 3-year-olds as the 3-1 favorite after a troubled fourth in the Mahony Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 11.

DEL MAR, Calif. – In Thorpedo Anna, trainer Kenny McPeek will have one of the biggest favorites on the card in the $2 million Distaff.

In Rattle N Roll, McPeek would have one of the longer shots on the board in the $7 million Classic. If he gets to run.

McPeek entered Rattle N Roll in the Classic, but as of Monday morning he was relegated to the also-eligible list. He would need one scratch to get into the field.

DEL MAR, Calif. – After giving some thought to running Domestic Product in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint, the connections of the Grade 1-winning 3-year-old ultimately opted to enter their horse in the $1 million Dirt Mile.

Chad Brown, who trains Domestic Product for Seth Klarman, believes the six furlongs of the Sprint would likely be too short for Domestic Product, especially over a track that favors speed types, whereas his horse would be coming from well off the pace.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Dr. Venkman, who was pre-entered in both the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and Breeders’ Cup Sprint, was not entered Monday for either race, trainer Mark Glatt said.

Glatt said the horse had “a little hiccup” about a month ago and, despite having several recent workouts, the trainer didn’t feel he was where he needs to be to compete in a Breeders’ Cup race.

Dylan Davis followed his sensational summer with a fabulous fall and now finds himself at the Breeders’ Cup for the third time in his career with what he feels are two strong contenders on Friday’s card at Del Mar.

Davis, 29, will ride Quickick for trainer Tom Amoss in the $2 million Juvenile Fillies and Abientot for Mark Casse in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf. They will be the third and fourth career Breeders’ Cup mounts for Davis who finished ninth aboard Carson’s Run in last year’s Juvenile Turf and 12th aboard Second of July in the 2020 Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Don’t show up late to Churchill Downs on Wednesday, as it kicks off the first full week of its fall meet. The third race, one of two allowance races on the card, boasts a stakes-quality lineup that makes it a solid early feature on the program.

Brad Cox opened the Churchill Downs fall meet much the same way he concluded the Keeneland fall meet – saddling a stakes winner.

It’s the dream of many owners to have a horse in the Breeders’ Cup. Some will get a chance to grab on to that dream at the eleventh hour, as interests in a handful of horses prepared to run at the Nov. 1-2 event at Del Mar are on offer at the inaugural Keeneland Championship sale, to be held Wednesday evening in the paddock at the Breeders’ Cup host track.

The mellow ambience that typifies autumn at Del Mar will arrive soon enough, but only after a festive weekend with 14 Breeders’ Cup races and six undercard stakes spread over Friday and Saturday.

Thursday is opening day of a five-week autumn meet that trainer Phil D’Amato looks forward to.

“Del Mar in fall is a different feel from the summer,” he said. “You still have that nice, cozy feeling down there by the ocean. It’s like a mini-vacation for all of us horsemen.”

The French import L’Antharis ran a winning race in his North American debut. Trainer Bill Mott looks to have him fine-tuned for Thursday’s featured first-level allowance/optional claimer at Aqueduct, a 1 3/8-mile turf event with a $92,000 purse. The race is the penultimate leg in the pick six, which starts with a carryover of $49,757 after the bet went unsolved on Sunday.