LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was another busy and somewhat unconventional morning on the Breeders’ Cup watch that included a gate workout from a former Kentucky Derby winner and a four-furlong drill for a Classic hopeful that began at the wire and ended at the half-mile pole instead of the other way around.

Trainer Todd Pletcher had seven of his Breeders’ Cup starters arrive at Churchill Downs from New York on Tuesday, led by Quality Road (Classic) and Malibu Prayer (Ladies’ Classic), who shipped in by van at 4 a.m.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Quality Road completed the major part of his preparation for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic by working five furlongs Sunday morning in 1:01.62 over the Belmont Park training track.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Edward P. Evans’s Spring Hill Farm has three homebreds pointing for Breeders’ Cup championship races with Quality Road in the Classic, Malibu Prayer in the Ladies’ Classic, and A Little Warm in the Mile.

All three have live chances, but the one everyone will be watching is Quality Road.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As expected, Woodward winner Quality Road will train up to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, his connections said Sunday.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said statistically his stable is successful with horses coming off extended layoffs. Quality Road himself has run dynamic races off lengthy layoffs, including setting a track record here going 6 1/2 furlongs in last year’s Amsterdam off a 128-day layoff and running the second fastest Metropolitan Handicap in May off a 114-day freshening.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - He was not the dazzling Quality Road that had been seen previously this year, but he was a winner nonetheless.

Doing what was expected of him against a soft group of competitors, Quality Road, the 1-4 favorite, bounced back from his narrow loss to Blame in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap with a 4 3/4-length score in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher says the success or failure of Quality Road in Saturday’s Grade 1 Woodward Stakes won’t impact how he views the sensational summer he has enjoyed at Saratoga. Still, anything less than a victory by Quality Road in the $750,000 Woodward would have to be viewed not only as a tremendous upset but a major disappointment.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A rematch between Blame and Quality Road will have to wait until the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6. The top two finishers from Saturday’s thrilling Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga are headed their separate ways for their next starts.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Quality Road and Blame, the two main protagonists for next Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, put in workouts just minutes apart Sunday over the main track.

As has become his custom, Quality Road worked effortlessly fast, going five furlongs in 59.93 seconds under exercise rider Patti Barry. Meanwhile, Blame, working in company with stablemate Heritage Hall, worked four furlongs in a relatively easy 48.83 seconds under jockey Garrett Gomez.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Two days before they are to ship to Saratoga for the summer, Quality Road and Super Saver, two of the stars of trainer Todd Pletcher's barn, put in strong workouts Sunday morning over Belmont Park's main track.

Though Quality Road's work didn't go as planned, the leading older horse in the country still went five furlongs in 58.78 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form. It was the fastest of 32 works at the distance.