The $1.5 million Breeders' Cup Mile at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

Three major races are being contested that will sort out the contenders responsible for thwarting what is expected to be a strong cast of European raiders.

The top preps are the $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland, and the $350,000 Kelso Breeders' Cup Handicap at Belmont Park on Saturday, and Sunday's $300,000 Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita. The Shadwell Mile and Oak Tree Mile are likely to draw the strongest fields.

Last year at Arlington Park, High Chaparral was a standout in a field of eight in the Breeders' Cup Turf, obliging as the 4-5 favorite with an impressive stretch run.

If last weekend's major preps are any indication, there will be no such heavy favorite in this year's $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

Cuvee, the leading 2-year-old prospect in the East, inched a little closer to California and the Breeders' Cup on Wednesday when he was flown from New York to trainer Steve Asmussen's Churchill Downs barn in Louisville.

This weekend, we should get a line on who figures to inch a little closer to Cuvee on the list of contenders for the $1.5 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile to be held at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

Sightseek all year has been regarded as the heiress apparent to Azeri as the nation's premier female runner. As long as Azeri kept winning, though, Sightseek was on the outside looking in. She's still there, but Azeri's loss in last Sunday's Lady's Secret Breeders' Cup Handicap has given Sightseek a clearer peek into the possibility of an Eclipse Award.

BONSALL, Calif. - Azeri emerged from her stall, the tack set squarely on her back, her four legs wrapped in white polo bandages. Awaiting a rider to get on her back, she stood regally, as though looking over her subjects.

"Hail the queen," her trainer, Laura de Seroux, said, chuckling.

Mineshaft was going to be a heavy favorite in Saturday's $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park even before the defection of Empire Maker. The outcome was considered such a fait accompli that the focus in recent days has not been on what Mineshaft will do on Saturday, but what he will do after the race.

Trainer Steve Asmussen has never run a horse in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. He is expected to make quite a debut when he runs Cuvee in the $1.5 million Juvenile on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

Cuvee established himself as the favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with his 8 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Futurity at Belmont on Sept. 14. It was his fourth victory - and third graded-stakes win - from five career starts. The lack of a two-turn prep going into the Juvenile is of little consequence to Asmussen, who knows he has a good horse.

Trainer Richard Mandella hopes this year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies plays out like it did 10 years ago, the last time the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships were held at Santa Anita. That year, Mandella won the race with Phone Chatter, who edged out Sardula by a head.

Coast to coast, the leading Breeders' Cup Sprint candidates face legitimate questions. For the top sprinter in the East, Aldebaran, it is the six-furlong Sprint distance. Aldebaran is a closer who has never run in a race that short. For the top sprinter in the West, Yankee Gentleman, the question is class. Yankee Gentleman has never even placed in a graded stakes race.

The European domination of the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf may be difficult to break this year.

A North American-based horse has not won the Turf since Buck's Boy in 1998 at Churchill Downs. Since then, the nation's richest turf race has been won by the English imports Daylami (1999), Kalanisi (2000), and Fantastic Light (2001), and the Irish invader High Chaparral (2002).