ARCADIA, Calif. - A little before 9 a.m. Tuesday, there appeared on Santa Anita's main track an essentially unremarkable bay filly of modest size wearing a plain blue saddle towel. Watching her jog from the track apron was a man in black sweater, jeans, and white sneakers who drew no special attention during the busy Breeders' Cup-week morning. But that little horse was the mighty miler Goldikova, and the elfin man was Freddie Head, the great French rider back at the Breeders' Cup for the first time as a trainer.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The Breeders' Cup Marathon eventually may become an appealing option for horses that are a cut below the best long-distance horses on grass.

But if the BC Marathon, at 1 1/2 miles on the main track, does find a permanent home, it will not happen overnight. And the nine older horses that entered the inaugural $500,000 race on Saturday are not exactly murderer's row.

Sixties Icon arrived early this week from England, where three successive Group 3 turf-race wins are sufficient credentials to make him the Marathon favorite.

The Friday and Saturday Breeders' Cup cards from Santa Anita Park are expected to be available at virtually every parimutuel betting location in the U.S. and through every domestic account-wagering provider, the top simulcast official of Breeders' Cup said on Tuesday.

"I'm not aware of any outlet in the U.S. that is not going to be taking it," said Ken Kirchner, the simulcast consultant to Breeders' Cup.

ARCADIA, Calif. - By next spring, if all goes as planned, trainer Christopher Paasch and his primary owner, Charlie Cono, will be out of the racing business. By dusk Friday, if all goes as expected, they will have assured themselves of exiting with an indelible memory.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When the field goes to the post Friday for the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, Hystericalady's connections will be hoping for vindication before they say good-bye to their Grade 1-winning mare on Nov. 3 at the Keeneland November mixed sale.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Pyro, who is entered in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday at Santa Anita, will become the property of Sheikh Mohammed following the race, but no decision has yet been made on whether he will race next year or go to stud, according to Jimmy Bell, the president of Darley USA, which is owned by Sheikh Mohammed.

Pyro, 3, is currently owned by Ron Winchell, who also bred the son of Pulpit.

"He will run for his current connections in the Breeders' Cup. The transfer will occur after the race," Bell said.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Pyro, who is entered in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday at Santa Anita, will become the property of Sheikh Mohammed following the race, but no decision has yet been made on whether he will race next year or go to stud, according to Jimmy Bell, the president of Darley USA, which is owned by Sheikh Mohammed.

Pyro, a 3-year-old son of Pulpit, is currently owned by Ron Winchell, who also bred him.

ARCADIA, Calif. - When Curlin went to Dubai earlier this year, he was attempting to establish himself as the best horse in the world. Eleven horses lined up against them that night at Nad al Sheba, and Curlin swatted them away like horseflies. On Saturday at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting, in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, Curlin will try to retain that position, and while the challenge this time won't be a trip halfway around the world, it might be even more daunting, a trip around a synthetic surface over which he has never raced.

Jay Hovdey, Oct. 21:

ARCADIA, Calif. - Armando Rodriguez stood back from Hystericalady's stall and admired the view. The smallish chestnut mare stood in the straw and looked back at Rodriguez, her butt up against the wall.

"Seven hours in the van," Rodriguez said, describing Monday's trip south from the Jerry Hollendorfer barn at Golden Gate Fields. "She's maybe still a little tired."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas is back in the Breeders' Cup. Significantly, he's back in the Juvenile Fillies, a race he has won a record five times, with Be Smart. He also has Ninth Client in Saturday's Juvenile Turf.

Lukas, 73, is the winningest trainer in Breeders' Cup history with 18 victories. He was the nation's leading trainer in money won from 1983-1992, and 1994-97. He did not have a starter in last year's Breeders' Cup for the first time in the series' history.