Not long after Spanish Loveaffair won her career debut by 11 lengths in a maiden race at Gulfstream Park in July, trainer and co-owner Mark Casse had a brief chat with partner Michael Hernon.

“It’s been fun being owners with you,” Casse recalled saying Wednesday. “We will not own her for her next start.”

By the time Spanish Loveaffair won her second start, in the Sharp Susan Stakes on Aug. 29 at Gulfstream Park, the ownership had changed. Hernon remained, but the Casse family’s share was acquired by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Chances are slim that a Breeders’ Cup race on dirt would be won by a horse with a European turf pedigree and an English trainer who began his career focusing exclusively on turf.

Not only that, but Harvest Moon is barely seasoned. The 3-year-old made the first start of her career in June, on grass, and has raced just five times. The Distaff has never been won with such limited experience; Royal Delta raced seven times before her 2011 victory. But then, few develop as rapidly as Harvest Moon, trained by Simon Callaghan.

Already intending to run the Grade 1 stakes-placed maiden Keepmeinmind in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6 at Keeneland, trainer Robertino Diodoro could add a second horse to his lineup for that race in the two-time winner Dreamer’s Disease.

Diodoro liked what he saw from a five-furlong workout Dreamer’s Disease put in Oct. 17 at Keeneland, and if he sees another good work from him this weekend, then he will likely be greenlighted for the Juvenile.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Pacific Classic was a pivotal race this year. It showed that Maximum Security was back to his best form, and it showed that runner-up Sharp Samurai could run with the best on dirt.

For Sharp Samurai, it opened options that ultimately will change his course for the Breeders’ Cup. Though he’s been one of the best middle-distance grass runners in the country for four seasons, and has made 17 of his last 18 starts on turf, Sharp Samurai will go in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

A last-place finish by Lord North in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in England last Saturday should not count.

At least, that is the point of view of trainer John Gosden, who is confident Lord North can rebound in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

“He got stuck in the deep mud at Ascot,” Gosden said Wednesday in a brief phone interview.

Trainer Bret Calhoun received a cold call from owner Chester Thomas in early 2018, they met a few days later at Calhoun’s barn at Fair Grounds, and afterward Thomas – who races as Allied Racing Stable – decided to place horses in Calhoun’s care.

Among them was a 2-year-old colt by Goldencents who wouldn’t get to the races until November. But that colt, By My Standards, and another son of Goldencents, Mr. Money, collectively knocked off the Louisiana Derby, West Virginia Derby, Indiana Derby, Pat Day Mile, and Matt Winn Stakes in 2019.

Vekoma has won challenge races for both the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The question that remains is which race trainer George Weaver will choose for the Carter and Metropolitan handicap winner, who has not started since July 4 and has flown under the radar lately while preparing for the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 7 at Keeneland in relative anonymity at the Oklahoma training center at Saratoga.

It was late in 2014 when trainer Brad Cox sent Chocolate Ride, a horse recently claimed for $40,000, into his Fair Grounds string. Chocolate Ride turned into a front-running monster that winter, starting his meet with a first-level allowance win and ending it with victories in the Fair Grounds Handicap and in the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial. Chocolate Ride won the Fair Grounds Handicap again the next season but in truth never was the same horse he’d been that first season in New Orleans.

The picture for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint is still coming in to focus, as several youngsters are expected to be cross-entered when pre-entries close on Monday. But one horse is a certain entity – favored Golden Pal, who continues steady preparations at his Keeneland base.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – With unbeaten fillies abounding, the prospective field for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies has winnowed to single digits as the Monday deadline for pre-entries nears.

Princess Noor, Simply Ravishing, and Dayoutoftheoffice are all undefeated in three starts, scaring off most would-be longshots whose connections would dare to try them. That’s aside from Girl Daddy, who’s 2 for 2, and Souper Sensational, who also is 2 for 2 following a four-length romp last Saturday in the Glorious Song over the Woodbine synthetic.