ARCADIA, Calif. – It was only a half-mile breeze, and as is custom for Songbird, it was effortless.

“Nice and smooth, nice and easy,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.

Songbird does everything easily.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Saturday may have the shortest-priced favorite of the track’s autumn meeting.

California Chrome paid $2.80 when he won the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes on Oct. 1, and Lord Nelson could be lower odds against four rivals in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

This is the last weekend of Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In events, meaning this is the last really big weekend of Breeders’ Cup preps. There are four Grade 1 events Saturday at Belmont Park, ostensibly led by the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, and all are Win and You’re In races. There are also three other stakes on the Belmont card.

Nonna Mela is one of the top-ranked 2-year-old fillies in the country. She also is one of the least known. Her standing is based on a single race, her six-length victory in the Grade 2 Adirondack at Saratoga.

We’ll learn more about Nonna Mela on Saturday at Belmont Park when she tries to punch her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup in the Grade 1 Frizette, a Win and You’re In for the BC Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mark Casse might be absent Saturday at Keeneland because of Hurricane Matthew.

Better him than Tepin.

“She’ll be there,” Casse said Thursday by phone from Ocala, Fla., where emergency evacuation orders were causing gasoline shortages and canceled flights at regional airports.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kelly Breen won’t get ahead of himself, at least not publicly. His stable star, Stonetastic, is in line for a third straight start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, but Breen is committed to nothing beyond the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland.

“We’re only focusing on this race,” said Breen. “If she runs well, like we think she will, then we’ll see what the next step is.”

Favorite Tale won’t have to leave home to prep for a possible appearance in the the Breeders’ Cup after all. After considering shipping Favorite Tale to Belmont Park for last Saturday’s Vosburgh, to Keeneland for the Phoenix on Friday, or to Santa Anita for the Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Saturday, trainer Lupe Preciado instead found a suitable spot at Parx Racing.

Favorite Tale, unraced since March, will tune up for a possible return trip to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in Saturday’s eighth race, a no-conditions allowance at six furlongs with a stakes-like purse of $90,000.

By Sunday, the Breeders’ Cup Mile picture should come into fairly clear focus, with five horses on Daily Racing Form’s weekly top-10 list racing at Keeneland and more action at Santa Anita, which hosts the Mile on its new turf course Nov. 5.

Despite being the final Win and You’re In test for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Saturday’s Santa Anita Sprint Championship has a surprisingly short field led by division leader Lord Nelson, with the speedy Grade 1 winner Masochistic among the most notable defections from the race.

Trainer Ron Ellis opted to bypass the Sprint Championship and train Masochistic up to the Breeders’ Cup, where he’ll make his first start in 11 weeks since cruising to victory in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Remember when the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Distaff was shaping up as essentially a two-horse race between the undefeated Songbird and three-time champion Beholder?

Scratch that.

Stellar Wind’s highly rated win in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes last Saturday was her second over Beholder and triggered a revision in the Daily Racing Form preliminary Distaff odds. Songbird remains 5-2; Beholder and Stellar Wind are co-second choices at 7-2.