The hoped-for scenario for a freshman stallion heading into the fall of his debut season involves having runners at the Breeders’ Cup. Getting one in position for an Eclipse Award with a strong effort would be even better.

Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup late pick four at Del Mar ends, of course, with the Classic, but begins in race 9 with the Mile, and continues with the Juvenile in race 10 and the Turf in race 11.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Anytime a Thoroughbred trainer is compared to the late Bobby Frankel, it’s got to be good, right? After all, Frankel was a Hall of Famer nonpareil.

Not so fast there, says Kenny McPeek.

“In this case, it’s not exactly the company you want to be in,” said McPeek.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2017: Fields, odds, comments, and more

Bill Mott was asked to recall the last time he was at Del Mar.

“Well, I’ve sent a number of horses here,” he said, standing near his Breeders’ Cup contingent on the Del Mar backstretch. “Somebody told me we had something like nine wins from 19 runners in the last 20 years.”

Swell. Happy for you, Bill, but you didn’t answer the question. When was the last time William I. Mott, of Mobridge, S.D., was at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif.?

Mott unleashed the grin that’s probably helped him get away with a lot more than he should have through the years.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Nine horses will be in action this weekend at Del Mar as previous Breeders’ Cup winners, and for the connections of each, the chance to show off their champion before a huge audience of admirers is priceless.

“It’s pretty special,” said Ian Kruljac, who will saddle Finest City as the returning winner of the BC Filly and Mare Sprint. “Making it back for a second year, it’s not easy. It’ll be nice when the day comes.”

Key contenders in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Happily, by Galileo

* The only two-time Group 1 winner in the field, Happily represents trainer Aidan O’Brien’s best chance.

* She beat males in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 1 at Chantilly, despite taking a bump early in the one-mile race.

* Look for her to be near the front from post 2.

Ultima D, by Scat Daddy
Last 3 Beyers: 72-72-52

Key contenders in the Juvenile Turf

Masar, by New Approach
Last 3 Beyers: NA

• Smallest sample size possible, but trainer Charlie Appleby has run one horse in the Breeders’ Cup, Outstrip. Outstrip ran in the BC Juvenile Turf, and he won. Outstrip had won a group race two starts before the Juvenile Turf, then finished third in his Group 1 debut before coming to America. Masar has the same pattern.

DEL MAR, Calif. – A few days after Arrogate’s second-place finish in the Pacific Classic here at Del Mar in August, trainer Bob Baffert was kicking himself over the way he had managed the horse during the summer meet, believing his decision to run Arrogate in the San Diego Handicap rather than simply awaiting the Pacific Classic “threw everything off.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – Two trends have emerged in the decade-long history of the Breeders’ Cup turf races for 2-year-olds: Dismiss the European fillies; fear the colts.

In the nine runnings of the one-mile BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, European-based runners have won only twice. In the Juvenile Turf, six of the 10 runnings have gone to runners from England or Ireland.

Last year at Santa Anita, the New York-based runners New Money Honey and Oscar Performance won the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Juvenile Turf. U.S.-based 2-year-olds could sweep this year’s races again Friday.

Stellar Wind, by Curlin
Last 3 Beyers: 103-101-94

* Her flaw is that she occasionally breaks slowly. Trainer John Sadler acknowledged her imperfection.

“She’s not nervous in the gate but she’s a little distracted,” he said. “She’s a horse that likes to stop and look at her surroundings.”

* Victor Espinoza has ridden her 13 times.