LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was 2013 and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, would-be ruler of the racing world, had arranged a meeting with Charlie Appleby. Appleby, when he was employed by the English trainer David Loder, got involved with Sheikh Mohammed’s racing operation in 1998 and had worked inside it since, rising to become a head lad, then an assistant trainer, and now Sheikh Mohammed was opening the doors to a dream job – head trainer for Godolphin, one of the most ambitious and successful racing operations ever.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Vibrance found herself on the early lead before settling for a distant second behind Bellafina when last they met in the Sept. 29 Chandelier at Santa Anita.

But with more speed in the mix for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies – namely, Serengeti Empress and Jaywalk – trainer Michael McCarthy is hoping things will shape up differently for Vibrance.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2018: Pre-entries, odds, comments, and more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No, trainer Mark Casse was not looking ahead to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint prior to Shamrock Rose pulling an 18-1 upset in the Oct. 20 Raven Run at Keeneland.

“I thought we had a big chance in the Raven Run, but you’d have to be a genius to know all this would wind up happening,” said Casse.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2018: Pre-entries, odds, comments, and more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kenny McPeek is 0 for 29 in the Breeders’ Cup, but so what? The late Bobby Frankel, one of the greatest trainers in history, was 0 for 38 before winning the 2001 BC Sprint with Squirtle Squirt.

“We’ve led horses over there and they’ve run big but just got beat,” said McPeek, who has five seconds and eight thirds in BC competitions. “Will it be our turn this year? Hopefully, yes.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If not for an awkward start in her latest outing, Stormy Embrace might be entering the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on a four-race win streak. But the 4-year-old filly was away a step slowly in the Sept. 8 Sheer Drama at Gulfstream Park and finished third.

“The race won’t look very good on paper, but she actually ran really big,” said trainer Kathleen O’Connell. “She just had too much ground to make up.”

Peter Miller was asked for a shorthand description of his 2018 season, which finds the trainer on the threshold of the Breeders’ Cup armed with salty squad of resolute speedballs in razor-sharp form.

“A roller-coaster doesn’t do it justice,” Miller said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Enable, the sensational filly who will likely be favored against the boys in Saturday’s $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf, made her first visit to the Churchill Downs track Monday morning. She didn’t see very much of it.

Enable, along with the other John Gosden-trained Breeders’ Cup runners – Roaring Lion (Classic) and Legends of War (Juvenile Turf Sprint) – simply jogged in the one-mile chute around 7:30 a.m. after being released from quarantine.

Multiple stakes winner Rainbow Heir will be among the most consistent runners in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. His season leading up to this race has been most unorthodox. Rainbow Heir has returned to racing this fall after an active season at stud in Florida and is expected to resume his stud duties next February.

Knicks Go sprang a $142 upset when winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland to earn his way into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Not only was the colt a massive longshot on the odds board – the odds of his breeders producing a Grade 1 winner may have been just as long.

Knicks Go was bred in the name of Sabrina Moore, 26. Her mother, Angie Moore, introduced her to equestrian sports, and the two rode barrel racers and dabbled in Thoroughbred ownership via partnership.

On one of the sport’s biggest international stages, there will be a chance for Korean racing interests to take a turn in the spotlight, as the colors of KRA Stud Farm will be carried by Knicks Go in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Mr. Crow in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

With racing in Korea conducted exclusively on dirt due to frequent wet weather, owners and breeders have placed a premium on American stock to build their industry, importing stallions such as classic-placed Menifee, now a perennial leading sire in Korea, juvenile champion Hansen, and Grade 1 winner Take Charge Indy.