VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Blue Dancer, who won the $75,000 Ascot Graduation by a nose over Lord Rosberg on Oct. 13 at Hastings, will be taking an extreme jump up in class when he makes his next start in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

Blue Dancer is last on the preference list of the 17 horses who were pre-entered in the 1 1/16-mile race, but according to Josh Christian, director of racing for the Breeders’ Cup, he is going to get into the 14-horse field.

It’s time to meet the 201 pre-entrants for the 13 Breeders’ Cup races next Friday and Saturday at Santa Anita. It is, as always, a dazzling group in the aggregate, though skewing a little poorer at the top end than in most years.

There are pictures of clowns decorating Martin Garcia’s new home in the foothills not far from Santa Anita Park – Emmett Kelly hobo-style clowns sharing wall space with equine portraits and handsome silver hammerings of traditional Mexican art. Garcia was asked, as politely as possible, “Hey, jock, what’s with the clowns?”

His eyes narrowed.

“I love clowns,” he said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Big Blue Kitten may not start in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

On Wednesday, trainer Chad Brown said he was evaluating Big Blue Kitten’s condition following a runner-up finish to Hillstar in the Grade 1 Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine last Sunday.

The 13-day turnaround may prevent the 6-year-old Big Blue Kitten from making the trip to California. Brown said the horse’s “overall health and condition” will be assessed this weekend.

ARCADIA, Calif. – There is expected to be a berth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 1 for Free as a Bird, the winner of five consecutive sprint stakes for fillies and mares in Kentucky and New York this year.

Trainer Mark Casse said on Wednesday that Kaigun, the winner of the Play the King Stakes at Woodbine in August, will be pointed for the BC Mile and not the Turf Sprint, which is run over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course.

They weren’t bluffing, those Euros. When they threatened several years ago that Santa Anita’s switch back to a dirt main track would stick a fork in half of the Breeders’ Cup program, at least in terms of European participation, they definitely meant what they said.

Brad Cox has known Breeders’ Cup elation before, but this would be different. The 34-year-old Louisville, Ky., native will be running his first BC starter as a trainer when Carve runs Oct. 31 in the BC Dirt Mile at Santa Anita.

Carve figures as one of the longer shots in the $1 million race when ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.

“The horse is doing great, the race might set up for his style, and we’ve got Mike to ride,” Cox said Thursday from his Churchill Downs base. “I’m pretty pumped.”

SANTA ANITA

Track: Fast

Weather: Clear

Temperature: 58

ARCADIA, Calif. – Wednesday proved to be another slow day on the Breeders’ Cup workout front, with the monotony of the long morning finally broken when Private Prospect came out after the second renovation break to work six furlongs for the Juvenile.

As I get ready to disappear into the Breeders’ Cup video bunker for a few days, I am reluctant to read any of the dispatches from the DRF field. Each time I read, another of my singles disappears – first Wise Dan, then Beholder. Actually, they were my only two singles, so I am definitely playing catch-up.

Without a horse or horses to frame multirace wagers around or use as a free space on top of a vertical bet, the very difficult task of converting Breeders’ Cup opinions into cash becomes monumentally difficult.

ARCADIA, Calif. — There may be a feminine presence to the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

When pre-entries were announced on Wednesday, the list of 16 potential runners included three fillies and mares: Chicquita, Just The Judge, and Secret Gesture.

Just The Judge and Secret Gesture were also pre-entered in the $2 million BC Filly and Mare Turf on the same day, with that race listed by their owners and trainers as a first preference. Chicquita, trained by Aidan O’Brien, has the BC Filly and Mare Turf as a second preference.