ARCADIA, Calif. - Straight No Chaser, the champion male sprinter of 2024, worked a half-mile in a quick 47.20 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of a scheduled start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

Straight No Chaser won the 2024 BC Sprint to clinch his title. In an abbreviated campaign this year, Straight No Chaser has started three times, the most recent of which was a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship at six furlongs on Sept. 28.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Cavalieri, the undefeated three-time stakes winner, will miss a scheduled start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 1, trainer Bob Baffert said on Sunday.

Baffert said the 4-year-old Cavalieri will remain in training despite missing the nation’s richest race for fillies and mares.

“She’ll be back,” he said. “It was very minor.”

Cavalieri’s defection from the BC Distaff was first reported by FanDuel TV.

Minnie Hauk, a close second in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Oct. 5, remains under consideration for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, while the five-time stakes winner Diego Velazquez is set for retirement and will not start in the $2 million BC Mile at Del Mar, trainer Aidan O’Brien said on Sunday.

In a brief telephone interview, O’Brien provided an update on some of his expected runners for the Breeders’ Cup races on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, emphasizing that the list has not been finalized.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Breeders’ Cup hopeful Bellezza, the Grade 2 Flower Bowl winner, went a half-mile in 49.06 seconds over Saratoga's Oklahoma dirt training track Sunday morning. Bellezza is pointing to the BC Filly and Mare Turf. 

Bellezza started two lengths behind workmate Skywatcher, a 2-year-old maiden, drew even at the top of the lane and finished on even terms. Bellezza galloped five furlongs in 1:02.24. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Sierra Leone, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and Sovereignty, the horse who figures to be favored to win the 2025 Classic, put in workouts minutes apart Sunday over the Oklahoma training track on a cool, but dry morning in Saratoga. 

Sierra Leone, working in company with the maiden Duration, went a half-mile in 48.54 seconds with a strong gallop out. Shortly thereafter, Sovereignty, working in company with recent maiden winner Playa Del Mar, went five furlongs in 59.94 seconds, galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.03. 

Baeza and Journalism, two of the nation’s leading 3-year-olds, had workouts at Santa Anita on Friday for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

Baeza, winner of the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in his last start on Sept. 20, worked five furlongs in 59 seconds, the second-fastest of 33 recorded works at the distance.

“I was a little surprised,” trainer John Shirreffs said of the time. “We wanted a nice workout.”

Jockey Hector Berrios was aboard for the workout. Shirreffs said that Baeza worked in company with a stablemate.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez has been booked to ride the Grade 1 winner Formidable Man in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

The decision was made earlier this week, trainer Michael McCarthy said. Umberto Rispoli has ridden Formidable Man in his last eight starts, a span that includes six stakes wins, but is booked to ride Johannes, an eight-time stakes winner.

With the mount open on Formidable Man, McCarthy described employing Velazquez as a “no-brainer.”

A slower-than-expected start and traffic issues led Vinrock to a fifth-place finish in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 26. A day later, Autumn Boy could only manage a seventh-place finish after a wide trip in the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney.