Asi Siempre is a good horse on turf, but not good enough to be considered a threat in a Breeders' Cup race. So when her connections ran her in last weekend's Spinster Stakes over Keeneland's Polytrack, they did so with the idea that if she ran well, the Breeders' Cup Distaff would become a viable option.

Asi Siempre ran very well, winning the Spinster by 2 1/4 lengths and beating some of the top older females in training, thus earning a berth in the starting gate for the $2 million Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4.

Jim Ryerson just wants to get through Friday night's Grade 2, $500,000 Meadowlands Breeders' Cup Stakes with Park Avenue Ball, because what's over the horizon has got to be intimidating.

Barring any unforeseen changes, Attila's Storm will be the only returning starter from the 2005 Breeders' Cup Sprint when entries are drawn for this year's edition on Nov. 1.

Attila's Storm earned another chance at the Breeders' Cup by finishing third behind odds-on favorite Henny Hughes after setting the early pace in Saturday's Grade 1 Vosburgh. The outing was the first in more than eight months for Attila's Storm, who suffered a hind leg fracture while finishing third in Santa Anita's Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap on Jan. 21.

The addition of the popular Polytrack racing surface at Keeneland is widely credited for boosting field size at its fall meet. But the surface could also add entries to the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs, perhaps most notably in the Juvenile Fillies, even though the main track at Churchill Downs is dirt.

Wait a While this, Wait a While that - is there room anywhere in the headlines for another Todd Pletcher-trained Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf hopeful?

A week after Wait a While's emphatic victory in the Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Santa Anita, Honey Ryder eked out a win last Saturday in the Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont. But which was more impressive: Wait a While by more than four lengths over the merely useful mare Dancing Edie, or Honey Ryder by a whisker over Film Maker, already proven to be of Breeders' Cup quality?

As the dust has begun to settle in the aftermath of the major prep races for the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf, and with Shirocco apparently the only proven European commodity being pointed to the race, at least a rough pecking order of favorites seems to have taken shape.

On a weekend when many hopes were realized and some were dashed, the most significant results came in preps for the Breeders' Cup Classic, with both Bernardini and Lava Man scoring runaway victories to remain on course for a showdown for Horse of the Year on Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Now that he is back at Hollywood Park, Lava Man is no longer in the witness protection program. He entered it this summer at Del Mar, when a parade of curious visitors to trainer Doug O'Neill's barn forced his enterprising lads to change the name taped to his stall door. The same dark bay horse with the wide blaze was inside the stall, but those who didn't recognize him by looks alone would walk right by. After all, who cares about a horse "named" Jim Shorts?

The field for this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint should come into clearer focus by the end of the weekend with the three most important preps for the race - the Grade 1 Vosburgh, Grade 1 Ancient Title, and Grade 3 Phoenix Breeders' Cup - all scheduled for Saturday.

Spun Sugar and Fleet Indian have certainly accomplished enough this year to be considered the top two older females in training. But it's what happens this weekend that will truly determine how strong a contender each is for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff on Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs.