ARCADIA, Calif. - Midnight Lute, the winner of the Grade 1 Forego Handicap at Saratoga last month and the expected favorite for Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Monmouth Park, worked five furlongs in 57.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Trainer Bob Baffert timed him in an even faster 56.60 seconds.

Working in company with the stakes winner Wanna Runner, Midnight Lute made up approximately six lengths on his stablemate on the backstretch, raced on the outside of Wanna Runner on the turn and pulled clear through the stretch to finish two lengths in front.

OCEANPORT, New Jersey - Three Breeders' Cup-bound horses -- Idiot Proof (Sprint), Prop Me Up (Distaff), and Smarty Deb (Juvenile Fillies) -- turned in final works for their respective races on Sunday morning at Monmouth. All worked shortly after the 7:30-8 a.m. renovation break here, about the same time that Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense took his first tour of the Monnmouth oval.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Majestic Warrior, who won the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga but then was a disappointing sixth as the favorite earlier this month in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, on Sunday morning was declared out of next Saturday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Monmouth Park by trainer Bill Mott, who said Majestic Warrior was suffering from an injury to his left front hoof.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Led by a dozen Todd Pletcher trainees - including Classic runners Any Given Saturday and Lawyer Ron - and the mercurial Discreet Cat, a number of horses preparing for the Breeders' Cup turned in their final workouts on Sunday morning at Belmont Park.

The Breeders' Cup will be held this Friday and Saturday at Monmouth Park.

Any Given Saturday and Lawyer Ron both worked five furlongs on the training track after the break. Any Given Saturday was timed by Daily Racing Form in 1:02.09, while Lawyer Ron was clocked in 1:01.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Rick Schosberg still carries around a half- bent racing plate in his briefcase as a reminder of Attila's Storm's experience in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Attila's Storm finished fifth, beaten less than five lengths by eventual Eclipse Award champion Thor's Echo, in the 2006 Sprint at Churchill Downs. It was an amazing performance, considering Attila's Storm ran more than half the race on a pair of hind shoes that had been twisted severely out of proportion after his heels were clipped by Pomeroy in the run down the backstretch.

Trainer Ken McPeek drilled his two Breeders' Cup-bound 2-year-olds, Old Man Buck and A to the Croft, together at Keeneland on Saturday morning, and said that he planned to start Old Man Buck in the Juvenile rather than the Juvenile Turf, which had been listed as his first preference.

Old Man Buck also will race with blinkers on for the first time, and will have a new rider on Saturday, with McPeek switching from Perry Ouzts, who had been aboard for Old Man Buck's last three starts, to Rafael Bejarano.

Elmont, N.Y. - The Breeders' Cup Sprint lost a major player on Saturday when trainer Steve Standridge declared Mach Ride from the race due to a foot injury.

Mach Ride moved to the upper echelon of the division this summer by beating Fabulous Strike and Smokey Stover in Calder's Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap. In his last start, Mach Ride finished fourth, despite breaking awkwardly, in the Grade 1 Vosburgh.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Three months ago, if you had told the connections of Lear's Princess that she would be a major contender for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff, they probably would have looked at you cockeyed.

In her first three starts, Lear's Princess had won a maiden race on Keeneland's Polytrack and an allowance race and something called the Tweedside Stakes on turf. Plans called for her to run in the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes on the turf at Saratoga in late July.

Nobiz Like Shobiz's owner Elizabeth Valando already has forked over $20,000 in pre-entry fees for the Breeders' Cup Mile, and trainer Barclay Tagg said Friday morning it was likely the colt's connections also would put up the additional $30,000 required to actually enter on Tuesday.

That had been no sure thing earlier in the week.

"We're leaning toward going right now," Tagg said. "We wanted to take a look at it and see."

At first blush, the idea of taking an autumn extravaganza like the Breeders' Cup World Championships to a sleepy little summertime track near the New Jersey shore makes about as much sense as sending the show to Texas or Canada.