Trainer Steve Asmussen has been dealt a very strong hand for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita. How he chooses to play those cards could prove a key element in determining the outcome not only of that event but two other Breeders’ Cup races that same day, the Dirt Mile and Filly and Mare Sprint.

For the first time since 2016, two of the top three finishers from the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France appear bound for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

Westover and Onesto were no match for 9-5 favorite Ace Impact in Sunday’s $5.29 million Arc de Triomphe at 1 1/2 miles at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, losing by 1 3/4 lengths. Westover (6-1) led briefly in the stretch, and finished a short head in front of Onesto (55-1).

Lane Way established himself as a leading local candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with a victory over the host course in Saturday’s Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes. He’ll prepare at his Santa Anita base for next month’s race, leading a “home team” bracing for what could be a sizeable European contingent.

Although both In Italian and Whitebeam will prep for the Breeders’ Cup in Saturday’s Grade 1 First Lady Stakes traveling one mile at Keeneland, both will likely be pre-entered for the Breeders’ Cup Mile and the Filly and Mare Turf at 1 1/4 miles.

In Italian finished second in last year’s Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/16 miles. She won Grade 1 races at a mile and 1 1/16 miles earlier this year and was second by a nose to Whitebeam in her last start in the Grade 1 Diana at 1 1/8 miles.

Echo Zulu is the undisputed leader of the filly and mare sprint division, but trainer Steve Asmussen has mentioned the six-furlong Sprint as a very likely Breeders’ Cup race for that brilliant 4-year-old.

If Echo Zulu opts to face males, that wouldn’t bother trainer Chad Brown one bit. His defending Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner, Goodnight Olive, earned a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure in vain when second to Echo Zulu in Saratoga’s Ballerina Handicap on Aug. 26.

The Breeders’ Cup, the brainchild of longtime breeder John Gaines to develop a championship event for Thoroughbred racing, turns 40 this year.

Inaugurated as a one-day event with seven races designed to settle North American divisional honors on the track, the Breeders’ Cup has morphed into a two-day event with 14 races, attracting strong international participation to create even more interesting matchups.

Tamara gets to be a couch potato this weekend, watching television on the monitor trainer Richard Mandella has set up in her stall at Santa Anita.

Well, there’s really no tube – but there is plenty to watch.

Between this Friday and Saturday, there are three Win and You’re In stakes for next month’s Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Tamara, who is training up to the championship race on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita, is the early 5-2 favorite on David Aragona’s line for Daily Racing Form.

As European participation in the Breeders’ Cup Mile has grown tenuous in the last week, the importance of the $1 million Coolmore Turf Mile on Saturday at Keeneland has increased commensurately.

The Ireland-based Tahiyra and the England-based Inspiral a few weeks ago looked like decent bets to show up at Santa Anita for the Mile and would’ve been among the shorter prices. Now, both horses might remain on the east side of the Atlantic.

Three Grade 1 stakes being run this weekend from coast-to-coast – the $300,000 American Pharoah at Santa Anita, the $600,000 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, and the $400,000 Champagne at Belmont at Aqueduct – should bring the field for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 3 into clearer focus.

As usual in this division, two of the top cameramen are Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher, both of whom have several top contenders for the Juvenile, a race the two have combined to win eight times, seven over the last 15 years.

Practical Move returns to action Friday in an allowance at Santa Anita that has the potential to produce starters for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 4.

Practical Move has won three graded stakes in his last three starts, his most recent the Santa Anita Derby on April 8. For his return, which comes at a mile, he’s logged a strong series of works. Trainer Tim Yakteen said Friday’s race will start to determine the path for Practical Move.