ARCADIA, Calif. – They’re putting the band back together! Four of the runners from last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, including the top three finishers, are set for a rematch in this year’s running Saturday at Santa Anita. What with $5 million in prize money up for grabs, they’ll be on a mission.

Fort Larned, Mucho Macho Man, and Flat Out swept the top three spots last year, with the favored Game On Dude seventh. They’re back, with three of the four hoping for a different result and seven newcomers hoping to break up the band.

ARCADIA, Calif. – History will try repeat Saturday in the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf, added to the Breeders’ Cup program in 1999.

The race was still a novelty in 2001 when French trainer Andre Fabre shipped in Banks Hill for a crushing win at Belmont, the first Breeders’ Cup win for Juddmonte Farms. Later that day, Tiznow became the first two-time winner of the Classic.

Fast forward to 2013 and recognizable names have resurfaced for the race.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A year is a long time to wait for a shot at redemption.

In November 2012, The Fugue finished a troubled third as the 8-5 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita. She was stuck in traffic at a pivotal point in early stretch.

This year, expectations are higher. The Fugue races against males in Saturday’s $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf over 1 1/2 miles. The lone female in the race, she will be favored and is capable of winning, trainer John Gosden said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – After Secret Circle sat idle for 18 months before returning to the races just three weeks ago, it seemed inconceivable that he would be among the 12 starters in Saturday’s $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint, let alone be considered one of the horses to beat in the six-furlong dash.

Saturday’s $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf will be the first race for Magician and Point of Entry since they ran in major stakes in June. Despite their layoffs, they have leading chances to win the richest turf race in the United States.

Point of Entry, second in the 2012 BC Turf, was found to have a leg injury after a win in the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap at Belmont Park on June 8. Point of Entry resumed serious training at the end of August and convinced trainer Shug McGaughey through September and October that he was ready for the BC Turf.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Groupie Doll … for or against?

That’s the obvious question horseplayers will need to answer for themselves as they dig into the past performances for the seventh running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Saturday at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Horseplayers taking a stand against defending champion Mizdirection in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint might be doing so at their peril, according to trainer Mike Puype.

“She’s coming into this even better than she did last year,” Puype said. “People building a case against her are saying, ‘Well, she can’t do it again,’ as if a coin flip has gone the same way three straight times, and now the other side is due. But that’s a risky way to look at things, in my opinion.”

Charlie LoPresti has no need to feel his way into the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Wise Dan won the 2012 Mile here at Santa Anita after shipping from Kentucky the week of the race. The template for success already has been laid out. This week, LoPresti simply will follow established protocol.

Fort Larned, the defending champion of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and top 3-year-old Palace Malice, who will meet Saturday in the $5 million Classic, finally arrived at Santa Anita early Tuesday evening after a flight that was delayed.

Palace Malice was among a group of horses who began the cross-country journey in New York. The flight stopped in Kentucky to pick up Fort Larned and several other horses, including Wise Dan. But the trip from Kentucky to California involved an unscheduled stop in Oklahoma to refuel, owing to a route more circuitous than planned.

 Bill Mott,  who will send out a handful of leading contenders this week end in the Breeders’ Cup, was among a  panel of guests who helped raise money for a Thoroughbred retirement organization, TROTT, on Tuesday night at The Derby restaurant in Arcadia.