ARCADIA, Calif. – A third-place finish by Starspangled Heat in Sunday’s $81,850 Lure Stakes was good enough for trainer Barry Abrams to plan a quick turnaround to Saturday’s $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita.

Starspangled Heat was beaten seven lengths by Pure Tactics in the one-mile Lure, closing from sixth in a field of eight to nip 9-5 favorite Hay Dude at the wire for third. Abrams acknowledged that Starspangled Heat will be a longshot but said the BC Turf over 1 1/2 miles is worth a try.

ARCADIA, Calif. – There have been some real fish tales told on the annual Alaska fishing trip trainers Alan Sherman, Eoin Harty, and Sean McCarthy take each summer, but imagine the tales that will be told if one of them lands the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Sherman is the top assistant for California Chrome, who is trained by his father, Art. Harty has Footbridge, and McCarthy has Majestic Harbor. Their three horses are among the 14 scheduled to run on the $5 million Classic.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Michelle Nevin always thought that one day she would go out on her own and be a trainer. Just not the day, or in the way, that it happened.

On Jan. 24, 2013, after exhausting his legal appeals, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. – for whom Nevin worked for more than a decade – began serving a 10-year suspension handed him by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. It left Nevin in charge of more than 65 horses stabled between New York and south Florida.

ARCADIA, Calif. – If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

First, Mother Nature wreaked havoc on the training schedules for New York-based horsemen. Now, a plane malfunction has delayed the shipping of horses based in New York and Kentucky for this week’s Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.

On Monday morning, the Tex Sutton plane was still in Lexington, Ky., undergoing a repair for a cracked windshield. The plane was scheduled to leave New York at 9 a.m. and bring about 16 horses for trainers Chad Brown and Bill Mott as well one for a Canadian-based trainer.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Among the more obscure Breeders’ Cup entrants this year is a 5-year-old Chilean-bred named Bronzo, who figures as one of the longer shots behind Goldencents in the BC Dirt Mile.

But back in his homeland, Bronzo is very well known. When the BC Dirt Mile is run at 3:05 p.m. Pacific on Friday at Santa Anita, thousands of fans will be watching via simulcast in Santiago, Chile, and rooting for Bronzo.

“We are living a dream being here,” said Jorge Inda, the 33-year-old trainer of Bronzo.

Horses who have been transferred to assistants of trainers who are serving suspensions for serious drug infractions will not be able to run in the Breeders’ Cup races as of next year, according to a rule approved by the Breeders’ Cup board of directors.

Santa Anita
Track: Fast
Turf: Firm 
Weather: Clear, 62 degrees

ARCADIA, Calif. – Every trainer has his or her own style when it comes to preparing horses for major races, as was evident throughout Sunday’s training session, with an array of different workout styles on display among the two dozen or so Breeders’ Cup contenders to turn in their final major preps at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The career of Reneesgotzip has been defined by the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, but that has meant more heartbreak in the last two years.

Reneesgotzip was third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Mizdirection, in the 2012 BC Turf Sprint. Last year, she was second, beaten a half-length by Mizdirection. That was the last time Reneesgotzip faced Mizdirection, who was retired last year.

Reneesgotzip is back in the $1 million BC Turf Sprint over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Saturday. This may be her year.

ARCADIA, Ca. – The waiting game nearly is over for the two top turf milers in California, Obviously and Tom’s Tribute, who will be among a full gate of starters in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Big Blue Kitten will not start Saturday in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita and is under consideration for two stakes in Japan in November and December, owner and breeder Ken Ramsey said Sunday.

Ramsey said the $768,600 Fukushima Kinen over 1 1/4 miles on turf Nov. 16 at Fukushima Racecourse and the $3.8 million ArimaKinen over 1 9/16 miles on turf Dec. 28 at Nakayama Racecourse are under consideration.