Two of the leading members of the division will in all likelihood be conspicuous by their absence when the field assembles for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Charles Lopresti confirmed Wednesday that he is still leaning strongly toward running Here Comes Ben in the BC Dirt Mile rather than shorten him up to six furlongs for the Sprint. And assistant trainer Rick Mettee said that Vineyard Haven, who is not Breeders’ Cup eligible, would also target the Dirt Mile if his connections choose to ante up the supplemental fees.

Ike and Dawn Thrash have never had a better year on the racetrack in 25 years of horse ownership. Line of David won the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby for the Hattiesburg, Miss., couple in April. Hurricane Ike romped in the Grade 3 Derby Trial a few weeks later, and Tell a Kelly spent the summer establishing herself as arguably the top 2-year-old filly in North America.

“By far, this is our best year ever on the track,” Ike Thrash said.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Crowded House will have to earn his way into a Breeders’ Cup race at Churchill Downs this fall. Owner Paul Reddam and trainer Ben Cecil will know the colt’s status after Saturday’s $250,000 Goodwood Stakes at Hollywood Park.

A win or a sharp performance in the Grade 1 Goodwood over 1 1/8 miles could lead to a start in the BC Classic or Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6. A bad loss will lead to a vacation, Cecil said on Wednesday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The cast of fillies and mares who will challenge Zenyatta in Saturday's $250,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Hollywood Park includes a mare who gave her a test in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar in August and four others who face the toughest challenges of their careers.

Zenyatta will be heavily favored to extend her unbeaten streak to 19 races in the Grade 1 Lady's Secret, a race she won in 2008 and 2009. Zenyatta will be ridden by regular rider Mike Smith and has drawn post 5 in a field of six.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Every day, year after year, through a Presidential election, two Olympics games, and a few Super Bowls, life at the barn of trainer John Shirreffs has been warmed by one constant, Zenyatta. Her racing career began in November of 2007, and, now 18 starts later, she remains the embodiment of perfection.

It has been five months since Eskendereya was retired from racing a week before he would have been favored in the Kentucky Derby, and his owner, Ahmed Zayat, still hasn’t gotten over it.

“I’d be lying if I said otherwise,” Zayat said Wednesday by phone from Egypt.

But with each new crop of 2-year-olds that arrives, the potential is there for another superstar to emerge. And while Zayat has not raced all of his 2-year-olds, two have displayed serious potential and could be contenders for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.

ANDERSON, Ind. – Easily the biggest draw in the history of Thoroughbred racing in Indiana will be at Hoosier Park on Saturday when Lookin At Lucky prepares for the Breeders’ Cup Classic by taking on eight other 3-year-olds as a heavy favorite in the Grade 2, $500,000 Indiana Derby.

Lookin At Lucky, winner of the Preakness and Haskell and the clear-cut leader in the North American 3-year-old division, was assigned post 6 when entries were drawn Wednesday for the 1 1/16-mile Indiana Derby. Martin Garcia has the mount for trainer Bob Baffert.

Headed by Blind Luck, the nation’s leading 3-year-old filly, nearly all of the top contenders for this year’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic will be in action Saturday.

Blind Luck departed Southern California on Wednesday for Philadelphia, where she will compete in the Grade 2, $750,000 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing. Four other 3-year-old fillies are entered in that race, though Bonnie Blue Flag also is entered in the Grade 1, $350,000 Beldame Stakes for older fillies and mares at Belmont Park.

The Breeders’ Cup three-peat. It has never happened, and only once been attempted, but if things go as planned, Goldikova, the marvelous French miler, will try to make history this year. Goldikova starts Sunday at Longchamp in the Prix de la Foret, and any kind of decent performance will propel her to Churchill Downs and an attempt to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile for the third year in a row.

On Nov. 4, 2000, a 3-year-old who was only five months removed from his first career victory won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. A decade later, a son of Tiznow will attempt to pull off a similar feat.

Morning Line, who didn’t win his first race until June 27 at Monmouth Park, won his stakes debut Saturday at Parx Racing, taking the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby by a neck over First Dude. Now, his connections will likely point him to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.