A productive handicapping angle will be offered in the first of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs if travel plans materialize for a European 3-year-old with appreciably upward form.

Bright Horizon, romping winner of a two-mile turf handicap at the Curragh in Ireland on Sept. 26, will target the BC Marathon, according to news reports from Europe that quoted trainer Aidan O’Brien. It makes sense, based on a time-honored angle. That is, an improving horse moving up in class in the fall of its 3-year-old season.

The entry of Workforce and Behkabad enrich what had appeared to be a lackluster Turf two weeks ago. Although a final decision about the participation of Arc winner Workforce will not be made until after the weekend, he rates the favorite’s chance at Churchill.

The final prep race did little to thin out what is shaping up as a large and terrific field for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, as all of the top contenders from the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes last weekend at Keeneland are moving forward to the seven-furlong race on Nov. 5.

With a last-to-first rally in Sunday’s Grade  3 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland, Rogue Romance punched his ticket for the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6. But the Breeders’ Cup race in which he competes – either the $2  million Juvenile or the $1 million Juvenile Turf – remains undecided.

Uncle Mo and Boys At Tosconova certainly bring star power to this year’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. It remains to be seen how much depth there will be to this year’s field.The connections of several good 2-year-olds have yet to commit to the Juvenile. That list includes J.B.’s Thunder, the front-running winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, and To Honor and Serve, a very good-looking maiden winner at Belmont Park.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Win and You’re In races already have been exhausted this fall at Keeneland, but a horse or two still conceivably could be impressive enough in a final prep here to convince his or her connections to wheel back in the Breeders’ Cup.

Case in point: West Ocean, a top-class female turf-sprint specialist who will be a solid favorite Friday in the $100,000 Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland and would seem to fit nicely – even against boys – off a big effort when the $1 million BC Turf Sprint is run Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.

The Spinster Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland was a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic on Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs, and, as of Wednesday, there was a chance the connections of Acoma were going to utilize that berth for an encore race for a mare whose racing career might have concluded had she lost on Sunday.

Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally is using elements of his own history to have Eclair de Lune ready for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5.

In the winter of 1981-82, McAnally prepared the famous gelding John Henry for the Santa Anita Handicap in early March without a race since the preceding December. John Henry finished second in the Big Cap, but was promoted to first when Perrault was disqualified for interference.

Hey what is this – the Breeders’ Cup or the Claiming Crown? Indeed, several of the top contenders in the Turf Sprint were acquired through the claim box, the latest being Quick Enough, a 6-year-old gelding who won Monday’s Morvich Handicap after being haltered by Doug O’Neill for $40,000 at Del Mar two starts earlier.

Quick Enough earned a Beyer Figure of 98 for his pace-pressing score in the Morvich, which is a Win and You’re In event. His connections seem likely to pony up $90,000 to supplement QuickEnough to the Turf Sprint..

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Lookin At Lucky bounced off the Hollywood Park racetrack on Wednesday morning after a half-mile breeze in 48.40 seconds.

Walking up an incline that led from the track to the barn area, the colt began to buck, surprising jockey Martin Garcia who was aboard for the workout.

“He was feeling good,” Garcia said.

The workout was Lookin At Lucky’s first since a win in the Grade 2 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park on Oct. 2, and the colt’s first in the buildup to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.