ARCADIA, Calif. – Amid the setting of one of the most idyllic sports venues in the world, but with a cloud of dismay hanging over it, the 40th Breeders’ Cup will have its second day of championship-defining races Saturday at Santa Anita, the results of which hopefully will help bring clarity to a muddled Horse of the Year picture.

The deaths of Breeders’ Cup contenders Practical Move [sudden death] and Geaux Rocket Ride [leg fracture] and the scratch and sudden retirement of Arcangelo [Classic] have dominated the news cycle leading up to the Breeders’ Cup.

Earlier in his career, the 8-year-old gelding Silent Poet made periodic starts on the synthetic track at Woodbine, placing in stakes in 2018 and again last year.

Silent Poet’s background on the surface may be an asset when he starts in Saturday’s Grade 3 Golden Gate Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the synthetic track at Golden Gate Fields.

Silent Poet, trained in Southern California by John Sadler, is part of a field of eight in the $100,000 Golden Gate Handicap, a race formerly run as the Berkeley Handicap.

The $120,000 Stewart Manor on Saturday at Aqueduct could turn into a race for second if Camila T runs back to her enormous debut effort in August.

She won a turf sprint at Monmouth Park with a Beyer Speed Figure of 90 – the year’s highest number for a 2-year-old on turf through Wednesday.

“She was impressive,” trainer Juan Avila said. “Maybe this Saturday she runs the same. Maybe.”

Plenty of racing history will be made this weekend at the Breeders’ Cup. But a few thousand miles away, beneath the twin spires of Churchill Downs, Bango is looking to race into history as well. Bango heads a field of nine sprinters in the $300,000 Bet On Sunshine Stakes on Saturday as he looks to become the winningest horse in recorded track history.

Freedom Principle will be looking to back up an impressive maiden win with a stakes victory Saturday in the $65,000 Armed Forces at Gulfstream Park.

The race for 2-year-olds will be run over a mile and 70 yards and it shares a card with the $65,000 Showing Up. Both races are on Tapeta.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A long Saturday for California trainer Eric Kruljac begins with a long race.

Seven hours before he runs The Chosen Vron in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Kruljac will start Kiss Today Goodbye in the first race Saturday at Santa Anita. At 1 5/8 miles on dirt, the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance is the longest race of the autumn meet.

It also is the earliest race Saturday on a 12-race card that includes nine Breeders’ Cup races.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Simply in Front passed up Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita in favor of Saturday’s Grade 3 Mazarine at Woodbine, and the promising filly should be a force to be reckoned with in the 1 1/16-mile Tapeta route.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A wet Saturday in New York last month resulted in Webslinger being flown to California for Saturday’s Grade 2 Twilight Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita.

Trainer Mark Casse is hopeful that the $250,000 Twilight Derby will prove Webslinger’s status as a leading 3-year-old turf horse who can be competitive in major turf stakes in 2024.

“I hope we’re back here next year,” Casse said earlier this week in reference to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar next November.

ARCADIA, Calif. – For all that he has accomplished in his native France and these days in Japan, jockey Christophe Lemaire is a rare sight at an American racetrack.

Lemaire has not won a race in this country since Flotilla in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita. He has had only four mounts on three racing days in the last 11 years on these shores.

ARCADIA, Calif. – In a 12-runner field certain to have a furious pace, there will be quite a scrimmage for early position between Caravel and Live In The Dream in Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

At the short distance of five furlongs, the race affords participants little margin for error. A slow start or traffic issues will doom the chances of any runner in a highly competitive race.