OCEANPORT, N.J. - Maryfield and jockey Elvis Trujillo rallied from behind a killing early pace to score a half-length win over longshot Miraculous Miss in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Monmouth Park Friday.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The persistent wet weather here, coupled with a grim forecast for Saturday morning, has led Monmouth Park to close its main track for training on Saturday morning, the second day of the two-day Breeders' Cup festival, according to Bob Juliano, the track's superintendent and director of facilities.

"We want to keep the track sealed," said Juliano, who left the track sealed for racing on Friday. "We're probably going to get a good inch of rain tomorrow morning, but it's supposed to clear out by 1 p.m. or 2."

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The trainer John Shirreffs changed plays yet again on Friday morning, electing to exercise After Market on the Monmouth main track rather than taking him to the grass course, which had been the plan as of Thursday afternoon. After Market, who can't perform properly on soft turf, was to have given the Monmouth course a test-run, but Shirreffs said he decided not to alter After Market's routine so close to a race.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - As expected, Forefathers was scratched Friday morning from the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile to run Saturday in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Trainer Bill Mott and owner Ahmed Zayat were able to cross-enter Forefathers in both Breeders' Cup events since neither overfilled and, as a result, they did not deprive any other horse from running in either race. Zayat will forfeit the $15,000 fee he put up to enter Forefathers in the Dirt Mile.

Forefathers will break from post 10 with jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard in the Sprint.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Eight is not enough, and two days are better than one. These inspired calculations led the board of directors at Breeders' Cup Ltd. to come up with a whole new creation for their annual event, and thus the two-day weekend is born Friday at Monmouth Park at the 24th Breeders' Cup World Championships.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Five years ago, when the Breeders' Cup was held at the nontraditional setting of Chicago's Arlington Park, trainer Bobby Frankel upset the Filly and Mare Turf with Starine, a 13-1 shot who had not won a race in 11 months.

The race was run over a yielding course, which may have played against the favored Golden Apples, who had spent most of the year racing on firm ground in Southern California. Starine beat a field that included Banks Hill and Islington, the Filly and Mare Turf winners of 2001 and 2003, respectively.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The leading European shipping in for the Breeders Cup Mile, Excellent Art, drew post 13, which his jockey quickly proclaimed to be a lousy spot to start. One of the leading Americans, After Market, cannot run on a really wet turf course, and the Monmouth forecast calls for nothing but rain this week. Another top contender, Kip Deville, had his final workout for the Mile postponed by filling in a pastern. His trainer said the setback amounted to nothing, but still.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – By the time Breeders' Cup Day is over, the Juvenile Fillies usually is long forgotten, overshadowed partly because of its early placement on the Saturday program and by the relative unfamiliarity that fans have with its young participants.

This is not to diminish the importance of the Juvenile Fillies. It is, after all, a prelude to what often unfolds the following spring in the more glamorous 3-year-old filly division, and it goes without saying that horsemen also don't mind the paydays the $2 million purse yields.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The first, second, and third finishers from the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf are back for an encore presentation in the 2007 race at Monmouth Park – and the widespread perception is that they haven't got a chance.

There is a good reason for that – and his name is Dylan Thomas.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Midnight Lute will be the favorite in Saturday's $2 million Breeders Cup Sprint at Monmouth Park. But even his trainer, Bob Baffert, knows that in a race like the Sprint, having the favorite is no assurance of also having the winner.

"All I can do is hope the best horse wins," said Baffert. "Other than that, it's out of my hands."