Mike Smith has ridden both Corniche and Pinehurst to a victory in a maiden race and a Grade 1 stakes. He can only ride one when the two meet in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar, and he opted to stick with Corniche.

“They’re both really aim-to-please, straightforward colts,” Smith said by phone from California. “I believe Corniche is just a little quicker out of there than the other one has been as far as their first two starts. In saying that, Pinehurst has a big heart; he don’t like to let no one by him.”

Echo Zulu will face no more than eight other 2-year-old fillies in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies next Friday at Del Mar and is sure to be a solid favorite while trying to maintain her perfect record.

The first time the Breeders’ Cup was held at Del Mar, in 2017, the Juvenile Turf Sprint was not yet a part of the program. The new kid on the block joined the program the next year. The addition has proven popular with both domestic and international horsemen and is expected to once again have a full starting gate as it leads off the juvenile-focused Breeders’ Cup Friday races at Del Mar as a Grade 2, $1 million event.

With expected defections, the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar may not be as deep come race day on Nov. 6 as it looks at pre-entry time.

An overflow cast of characters pre-entered for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar includes defending race winner Glass Slippers, 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint victor Golden Pal; and the winners of such major international events as the Sprint Cup at Haydock, Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp, and Al Quoz at Meydan.

The $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar may have a maximum field for the first time since 1999.

The Breeders’ Cup announced 22 pre-entries on Wednesday, twice as many as in 2020, a group led by Tarnawa, who won the BC Turf at Keeneland last year.

The BC Turf, run at 1 1/2 miles, will be limited to 14 starters. The race has not drawn that many runners since 1999 at Gulfstream Park. In the last five years, the BC Turf has had fields ranging from 10 last year to 13 in 2017 at Del Mar and 2018 at Churchill Downs.

There were no surprises when pre-entries for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint closed on Monday, with the prospective lineup for the six-furlong event virtually the same as it has been since Daily Racing Form began tracking the contenders six weeks earlier.

The last time the Breeders’ Cup Mile was run in California, a Chad Brown-trained filly beat a Mark Casse-trained filly, and it could happen again Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Blowout, a 5-year-old mare trained by Brown, and Got Stormy, a 6-year-old mare from Casse’s stable, were among the selected runners in a vastly oversubscribed renewal of the $2 million BC Mile.

Gamine will be part of the shortest field in the 14-race Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar when the superstar filly faces just six others when seeking a repeat in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 6.

If speed holds on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, Nov. 6, at Del Mar, the favorites in all five BC dirt races that day should be in good shape, including the favorite in the $2 million Distaff.

Letruska, the traveling front-runner who has won seven graded stakes on seven tracks in her last eight starts, hopes to cement a championship season by wiring the Distaff in her first start at Del Mar. Her style is appropriate. Speed is the theme on BC Saturday.