Were the Phoenix Stakes run Friday in Louisville, Ky., Bango clearly would be the most likely winner. The race is in Lexington and there, Bango is a morning-line favorite worth opposing.

Bango and 10 other entrants will race six furlongs at Keeneland in the Grade 2, $350,000 Phoenix, part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, its winner earning automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. None of these horses are the equal of divisional leaders like Echo Zulu, Elite Power, and Gunite, but at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Bango would put up a fight.

For the first time since 2016, two of the top three finishers from the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France appear bound for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

Westover and Onesto were no match for 9-5 favorite Ace Impact in Sunday’s $5.29 million Arc de Triomphe at 1 1/2 miles at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, losing by 1 3/4 lengths. Westover (6-1) led briefly in the stretch, and finished a short head in front of Onesto (55-1).

V V’s Dream won two of her starts in dominant fashion but lost a third, the Debutante at Ellis Park, to Brightwork. No one yet has beaten Brightwork, and these two fillies top the Grade 1, $600,000 Alcibiades Stakes on Friday at Keeneland.

The Alcibiades drew nine entrants but no more than eight will run; Emery is being redirected to the Frizette in New York. Her trainer, Brad Cox, has a second horse, Alpine Princess, who will be third or fourth choice depending on how bettors treat the Todd Pletcher-trained Candied.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After an unseasonably warm start to fall, a cool front was set to sweep into the area Friday – ushering in an October feel just in time for a beloved fall tradition in the Horse Capital of the World as Keeneland’s 17-day fall meet begins. After the three days of “Fall Stars” opening weekend, the meet runs on a Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule through Oct. 28, with first post each day 1 p.m.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With some changes to her makeup, the speedy Vandoo takes on males in Friday’s eighth race at Woodbine. The six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds combines nonwinners-of-two Ontario-sired allowance types with $40,000 claimers and is worth $61,800.

Vandoo dead-heated for the top spot when earning her diploma against males on debut going five-eighths July 29. A month later, she set a fast pace before fading to third in the $201,000 Muksoka Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong test for 2-year-old filly graduates of yearling sales that contained two next-out winners.

Lane Way established himself as a leading local candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with a victory over the host course in Saturday’s Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes. He’ll prepare at his Santa Anita base for next month’s race, leading a “home team” bracing for what could be a sizeable European contingent.

Although both In Italian and Whitebeam will prep for the Breeders’ Cup in Saturday’s Grade 1 First Lady Stakes traveling one mile at Keeneland, both will likely be pre-entered for the Breeders’ Cup Mile and the Filly and Mare Turf at 1 1/4 miles.

In Italian finished second in last year’s Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/16 miles. She won Grade 1 races at a mile and 1 1/16 miles earlier this year and was second by a nose to Whitebeam in her last start in the Grade 1 Diana at 1 1/8 miles.

Echo Zulu is the undisputed leader of the filly and mare sprint division, but trainer Steve Asmussen has mentioned the six-furlong Sprint as a very likely Breeders’ Cup race for that brilliant 4-year-old.

If Echo Zulu opts to face males, that wouldn’t bother trainer Chad Brown one bit. His defending Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner, Goodnight Olive, earned a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure in vain when second to Echo Zulu in Saratoga’s Ballerina Handicap on Aug. 26.

The Breeders’ Cup, the brainchild of longtime breeder John Gaines to develop a championship event for Thoroughbred racing, turns 40 this year.

Inaugurated as a one-day event with seven races designed to settle North American divisional honors on the track, the Breeders’ Cup has morphed into a two-day event with 14 races, attracting strong international participation to create even more interesting matchups.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Crown Imperial has traveled to five tracks in her nascent career. After stakes placings on dirt and turf, she broke through with a win in the Untapable Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

On Friday at Keeneland, she is the only stakes winner in the field of 11 for the Grade 2, $350,000 Jessamine Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies. The race awards its winner a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.