Giving racehorses plenty of time between races leading into any major event has become a common practice among American trainers, and so it goes with the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

CHURCHILL DOWNS, Oct. 31

Weather: Cloudy
Temp.: 62
Track: Fast
Turf: Good

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With heavy rain forecast beginning early Wednesday afternoon and expected to continue through Thursday, there was action on the Churchill Downs main track and over the turf course with the start of Breeders’ Cup 2018 only 48 hours away.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Friday’s 10-race program at Santa Anita begins with a carryover of $992,979 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, with interest expected to heighten dramatically for Sunday’s closing day of the meeting, which has a mandatory payout.

The carryover portion is paid only if there is one winning ticket, which has yet to occur through last Sunday, the 19th day of the 22-day meeting. Sunday’s Rainbow pick six paid $31,431. There were six winning tickets from a pool of $353,039.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hunt, who was withdrawn from Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs this week because of illness, will be pointed for the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar on Nov. 24, a race he won last year.

“He was off his feed about a week before we were going to send him,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “We treated him, and he was good.

“We took a final blood before he was going to go on the plane. It wasn’t what we wanted. To err on the side of caution, we decided it was best to skip the plane ride and go for the Seabiscuit.”

A renovated inner turf course, increased overnight purses, and a somewhat-bolstered stakes program highlight the changes as Aqueduct opens Friday for its fall meet.

One year after the New York Racing Association replaced the inner dirt track with a new turf course, the older turf course – now referred to as the inner turf course – underwent its first significant renovation since the mid-1970s. In May, new Kentucky bluegrass sod was installed along with a new sand drainage layer and an improved irrigation system.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The future is now.

An additional Breeders’ Cup race for 2-year-olds plus the clever decision to package all of the now five Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-olds on one card has produced the inaugural Future Stars Friday for the Breeders’ Cup, highlighted by the Juvenile.

It was on Nov. 5, 1988, that Alysheba prevailed in one of the greatest renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, holding off Seeking the Gold in near darkness at Churchill Downs. Jack Van Berg was the winning trainer.

“I was standing right next to Dad in the box at Churchill,” recalled Tom Van Berg, Jack’s son. “It was a pretty surreal experience. It was so dark it was hard to see what was going on, but everything turned out great.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With more than $2.1 million in earnings at the meet, Chiefswood Stable is Woodbine’s leading owner in money won, and the high-quality operation seems on target to capture its second straight Sovereign Award as Canada’s top owner.

“I’m really happy where our outfit is,” said Chiefswood general manager Robert Landry. “We’ve had some success in the U.S.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In 2008, trainer Chad Brown came to the Breeders’ Cup with one horse. Maram, an 11-1 shot, nosed out Heart Shaped, a 10-1 shot, to win the inaugural $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

“It’s funny how things turn out,” Brown reminisced in a recent interview. “Who did we beat in a photo? It was Aidan O’Brien, who was much more established at that point than me. I guess it was a sign of what was to come in the years ahead where we race against each other, particularly in these turf races every year. Some I’ve won, some he’s won.”

The expansion of the Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old program to include the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint for the first time this year has understandably led to a larger team of foreign runners at Churchill Downs.

This year, for the first time since the Breeders’ Cup went to a two-day format in 2007, all five of the 2-year-olds races are being held on Friday. The three $1 million turf races, including the Juvenile Turf and Juvenile Fillies Turf, both run at a mile, will have widespread foreign participation, with runners from England, France, and Ireland.