BONSALL, Calif. - Friday was relatively quiet for Breeders' Cup hopefuls, the majority of whom will get in their final workouts either Saturday, Sunday, or Monday mornings.

Friday's most significant work took place in the relative obscurity of San Luis Rey Downs, approximately 100 miles southeast of Santa Anita, where reigning Horse of the Year and 2002 Breeders' Cup Distaff champion Azeri gave her best Tiznow impression before finally sizzling six furlongs in 1:10.17 under her regular exercise rider, Brian Eide.

BONSALL, Calif. - Azeri scorched the track at San Luis Rey Downs on Friday morning, but the subsequent steam was coming off trainer Laura de Seroux. On one hand, de Seroux was thrilled Azeri had bounced back quickly from her recent illness, but de Seroux was not looking for anything close to the sizzling six-furlong time of 1:10.20 that Azeri turned in during her final work for the .

ARCADIA, Calif. - When Volponi won the last year, it was the biggest win of trainer Phil Johnson's Hall of Fame career. But the victory was overshadowed that day because Horse of the Year contenders War Emblem and Came Home lost. In subsequent days, Volponi became better known for exposing the notorious pick six fraud than for his win on that cold day at Arlington Park.

ARCADIA, Calif. - For a guy accustomed to winning this year with one of every three horses he starts, trainer Jeff Mullins has adopted a surprisingly realistic attitude about the chances of Captain Squire in the .

"He'll be a longshot," Mullins said. "We're going to enter up and take what we can get.

At peak form, Captain Squire would be a leading contender in the Sprint. But the 4-year-old gelding will enter after finishing a modest second in the Ancient Title Handicap. Most handicappers did not like the race.

At one point this summer it looked as if trainer Todd Pletcher would need his own plane just to cart his 2-year-olds cross-country for the Breeders' Cup. In addition to winning six stakes races with his colts and three more with his fillies, Pletcher seemingly was sending out a good-looking maiden winner every other day.

As it turns out, Pletcher will need only one boxed stall on Tuesday's charter flight for Chapel Royal, his starter, and another for Ashado, his starter in the Juvenile Fillies.

Vino Tinto was in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies before she was even in trainer Nicholas Hines's barn.

Vino Tinto arrived in Hines's Hollywood Park barn from Louisiana Thursday night - two days after she was pre-entered in the $1 million , and three days after the Triple B Farms of H. Paul Boghossian and his sons, Paul Jr. and Chris, finalized a purchase of the 2-year-old filly from owner Mark Barnett.

Their fillies will be two of the outsiders in the $1 million , but trainers Pat Kelly and Donnie Von Hemel believe Riskaverse and Bien Nicole have earned the opportunity to compete in the Breeders' Cup.

"She's danced about every Grade 1 dance and been right there all year, tries hard every time, and deserves a chance in the Breeders' Cup," said Kelly, who trains Riskaverse for her owner-breeder, the Fox Ridge Farm.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Perfect Soul started in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Arlington Park last year almost as an afterthought following a fourth-place finish in the Canadian International. He ran about that well, finishing last of eight at 33-1.

This year, the strategy from the start has included the $1.5 million at Santa Anita on Oct. 25. Mission accomplished for owner Charles Fipke and trainer Roger Attfield.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The compliments began flying shortly after The Tin Man worked six furlongs at Santa Anita on Friday.

A longshot for the $2 million on Oct. 25, The Tin Man was timed in 1:36.60 for a mile. By design, trainer Richard Mandella had The Tin Man start a few lengths behind a stablemate, a style that could be a must for The Tin Man to have any chance.

"He worked awesome," Mandella said. "It's the best I've ever seen him work."

ARCADIA, Calif. - In the weeks leading up to pre-entry day for the 20th Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, much of the attention was on who would not come. But the final count for pre-entries, announced Thursday at Santa Anita, was almost identical to that of the previous two years, and the day's premier event, the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic, ended up with a terrific field.