LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Kathleen O’Connell said Irad Ortiz Jr. will replace regular rider Eduardo Nunez aboard Lady Shipman in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2015: Pre-entered horses, odds, comments, and videos

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Led by an “outstanding” move from Dirt Mile favorite Liam’s Map, trainer Todd Pletcher worked five of his Breeders’ Cup pre-entries on Thursday at Keeneland.

Liam’s Map, with jockey Javier Castellano aboard, worked a solo five furlongs immediately following the maintenance break in 1:01.16 on Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch’s watch, galloping out strongly in 1:13.68 for six furlongs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Breeders’ Cup Turf will be run this year in its traditional spot preceding the Classic, the Breeders’ Cup announced on Wednesday, nine days before the two-day event is scheduled to kick off at Keeneland in Lexington on Oct. 30.

Sixteen horses, split half and half between North Americans and Europeans and including 2014 Mile winner Karakontie, were pre-entered in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. That’s two more than are eligible to run in a race capped at 14 starters, but Bawina, in the main body of the field, has first preference in the Filly and Mare Turf, and if she goes there, it would allow War Envoy into the Mile. The second also-eligible horse, Recepta, also has first preference in the Filly and Mare Turf.

This won’t be your typical Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

For the first time since 2007, the $2 million race will be run without a horse from either the barn of Bob Baffert or Todd Pletcher, who have combined to win the Juvenile five times, including three of the last five runnings.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2015: Pre-entered horses, odds, comments, and videos

A lawsuit filed by Terry Finley against the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association disputing the organization’s 2014 election results has been dismissed after attorneys for Finley failed to properly refile the suit, according to court papers.

Judge Robert J. McDonald of the New York Supreme Court of Queens County signed the order dismissing the suit Oct. 9. The order states that the plaintiff failed to satisfy several filing requirements after the initial suit was filed May 1 and then subsequently withdrawn in order to file an amended complaint.

Although the country’s top female is not expected to run in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff, she will not be missed. Beholder was cross-entered in the Distaff but is likely to start a day later in the $5 million BC Classic, pending recovery from a minor fever.

A total of 16 fillies and mares were pre-entered in the Distaff, which is limited to 14 starters. The 1 1/8-mile Distaff is the top race on Friday, Oct. 30, at Keeneland. The three BC races preceding the Distaff are the Juvenile Turf, Dirt Mile, and Juvenile Fillies Turf.

ARCADIA, Calif. – With Triple Crown winner American Pharoah coming into the Breeders’ Cup Classic off a two-month layoff, having to race 1 1/4 miles, and facing elders for the first time, trainer Bob Baffert cranked up the intensity of his last two works, including a brilliant six-furlong drill on Tuesday morning at Santa Anita that was officially timed in 1:10.80.

“He did it the right way,” Baffert said. “He’s going to have to run hard. The Breeders’ Cup will be pedal to the metal from the gate.”

A lung scan on Beholder was “pristine,” trainer Richard Mandella said Tuesday afternoon, giving him hope that the minor temperature she spiked Tuesday morning at Keeneland was merely caused by shipping the prior day from California.

Still, Mandella emphasized that he would leave “no stone unturned” in making sure nothing more serious is amiss with Beholder. At this point, though, the hope is that this is a minor hiccup.

Fair Grounds on Thursday officially announced racing dates and the stakes schedule for its 2015- 2016 season, which begins Nov. 19 and ends March 27 and encompasses 81 racing dates.

As in 2014, the season begins the week before the traditional Thanksgiving opener, but the Thanksgiving Day card includes the first of 53 stakes at the meet, the Thanksgiving Handicap. Those 53 stakes, 10 of which are graded, are six more stakes than Fair Grounds offered last season, and stakes purses are up from $5,750,000 in 2014 -2015 to $6,437,000 this season.