The last two major preps for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint resulted in surprises, with one of the would-be favorites for the race, Taris, incurring the biggest blow to her reputation with her defeat in the L.A. Woman Stakes at Santa Anita.

Rachel’s Valentina is one of several top contenders for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland on Oct. 31, along with Songbird and Tap to It. But she’d be odds-on if the Juvenile Fillies went to the most popular, rather than the swiftest.

As the second foal out of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, Rachel’s Valentina had a legion of fans before she ever stepped onto a racetrack. That she’s talented is almost a bonus.

Just a month before the Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland – the final Win and You’re In automatic qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf – Airoforce, Camelot Kitten, and Siding Spring were all unraced maidens.

The colts swept the trifecta in the Bourbon last Sunday, establishing themselves as top prospects for the Juvenile Turf, contested over the same course Oct. 30. They are now poised to reward their connections’ patience in a major way.

It was 1995, and Ken Kirchner was a finalist for the presidency of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. He did not get that job, but he noted that Ted Bassett and D.G. Van Clief from the Breeders’ Cup were on the selection committee.

“I wrote a proposal to them on why they should hire me to run their simulcasting operations,’’ Kirchner said. “They liked it.’’

They hired him as a consultant in 1996 to oversee simulcasting and wagering beginning with the Woodbine Breeders’ Cup.

MIAMI – He might not have been quite as big a story as American Pharoah, but there is little doubt that owner and trainer Jerry Bozzo would have been a media darling at Keeneland if he’d followed through on the original plan of running Flutterby in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. But in the end, the 94-year-old Bozzo opted to stay at home with his homebred Flutterby, even though competing in the Breeders’ Cup was certainly high on his bucket list.

A rematch in the Breeders’ Cup Turf between the first two finishers in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is not something American racing fans have gotten to contemplate, but that is very much on the table this year when the Breeders’ Cup comes to Keeneland for the first time.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Jimmy Toner won the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf with Soaring Softly, who recently died as a result of injuries suffered in a paddock accident at Darby Dan Farm.

Toner is hoping he can get back to the Filly and Mare Turf this year with Recepta, whose dam, Honor Bestowed, is a half-sister to Soaring Softly.

Recepta, a daughter of Speightstown, has won her last two starts, including the Grade 3 Noble Damsel at Belmont on Sept. 19. She began her year with an allowance win at Keeneland, where the Breeders’ Cup will be run.

Woodward Stakes winner Liam’s Map turned in his first Keeneland work Monday as he begins final preparations for either the Breeders’ Cup Classic or Dirt Mile.

Liam’s Map worked solo with jockey Javier Castellano aboard and turned in a half-mile clocking of 48.60 seconds over a fast track, according to Keeneland clockers. He galloped out in 1:01.20 and 1:13.40.

“I thought he worked very well,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “He was relaxed, seemed to get over the track in good order, and galloped out really well.”

The events of the first 48 hours of Keeneland’s fall meet had trainer Mark Casse pondering a start in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile for Conquest Big E, if the colt can get in the field. 

Making his debut Sept. 11 at Churchill Downs, Conquest Big E broke in the air, pulled his way up toward the lead, and was unable to resist a late charge by Brody’s Cause, who won the one-mile race by 1 1/4  lengths.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - With the Breeders' Cup looming at the end of October, trainer Mark Casse continued to add to his arsenal, as Airoforce won the Grade 3, $250,000 Bourbon Stakes, with stablemate Siding Spring finishing  third, continuing the barn's red-hot start to Keeneland's fall meet.

With the victory, Airoforce ($12) earned an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, to be contested at the Lexington track in less than four weeks. It was the fifth victory in the first three days of the meet for Casse, with three of those coming with 2-year-olds.