Pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile were announced Wednesday with the fastest horse in the division, theoretically speaking, the undefeated and untested Rated by Merit, as expected, not on that list.

Jolly Samurai escaped the summer’s devastating New Mexico floods to establish himself as a 2-year-old of significance this meet at Remington Park, where he starts as the probable favorite in Friday night’s $75,000 Clever Trevor.

The seven-furlong race is the final local stepping-stone to the $300,000 Springboard Mile, a Kentucky Derby points race Dec. 13. The Clever Trevor has drawn a field of nine, including the graded stakes-placed Three Echoes and the impressive debut winner Dominant Spirit.

Les Reys, trainer Christophe Clement, and jockey Flavien Prat, all imported from France, can win the biggest race in Kentucky on Friday.

Les Reys leads an overflow field of 3-year-old fillies entered in the Grade 2, $350,000 Valley View Stakes. She’s not just the 5-2 morning-line favorite in a one-mile grass race that drew 15 entrants and can accommodate a dozen: Les Reys rates by a decent margin as the most likely winner.

Before discounting the Iowa-bred Mischievous Bria, listed at 30-1 on the morning line, in the $200,000 Myrtlewood Stakes on Friday, keep in mind that her trainer, Doug Anderson, is undefeated in Keeneland stakes races.

Seize the Grey, one of 19 horses pre-entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar, had a significant work for the Nov. 2 race on Wednesday.

The Preakness and Pennsylvania Derby winner went six furlongs in 1:13.40 at his Churchill Downs base, where his major prep work is being completed, according to trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

“I doubt if I work him there,” Lukas said Tuesday of Del Mar. “I think we’ll probably just do some serious galloping there.”

The question probably is not “if” but “who.”

A European horse has won the last three renewals of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, five of the last seven, and one among the seven of them selected to start this year likely wins Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

The “who” leads to a less certain answer – no standouts among the Euro septet.

Aidan O’Brien won the race the last two years, has six Juvenile Turf wins overall, and pre-entered the pair of Henri Matisse and Monumental.

Trainer Bob Baffert will have numbers but he is unlikely to have the favorite when he seeks a record sixth victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Baffert pre-entered three 2-year-olds in the Juvenile and though all of them are graded stakes winners, the trio of Gaming, Getaway Car, and Citizen Bull are likely to go off at longer odds than the likes of East Avenue and Chancer McPatrick, who figure to vie for favoritism in an intriguing renewal of the Juvenile.

The Thoroughbreds pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup were bred in nine different countries – Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, and the United States. South Africa is among the countries seeking its first Breeders’ Cup win, and seeking to become a major player on the international stage.

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar retained its status as one of the more popular races in the two-day series when pre-entries were announced Wednesday.

The race drew 21 pre-entries from Europe and throughout North America. Of the other 13 races to be run Nov. 1-2, only the Juvenile Turf with 23 drew more pre-entries.

ARCADIA, Calif. – An ordinary stakes race will be run early on the Friday card at Santa Anita, but there is nothing ordinary about a generous double carryover in the $2 pick six.

The buzz Friday focuses on races 4-9. The pick six sequence begins with a $153,105 carryover. The total pool Friday could approach $1 million and completely overshadows the Anoakia Stakes, race 2, and the career debut of highly regarded California-bred 2-year-old Miles Finch, race 3.