ARCADIA, Calif. – On paper, Gloryzapper probably wasn’t supposed to make the early lead at Santa Anita in the Oct. 9 LA Woman Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong race that the 4-year-old filly wound up winning to stamp her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Gloryzapper was exiting the John Mabee, a 1 1/8-mile turf race.

“She’s a jack of all trades, I’m telling you,” said Phil D’Amato, who trains Gloryzapper for the partnership of Hebert Bloodstock, Richard Leggio, and Peter Peluso. “She’s got a lot of versatility.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – The favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff were home early after training in the dark Sunday morning at Santa Anita. All were back in their stalls before sunrise.

“The early bird gets the worm,” Songbird trainer Jerry Hollendorfer joked Sunday at 5 a.m. “I like those old sayings.”

Hollendorfer also likes what he sees from Songbird, likely to open as an 8-5 favorite on the Daily Racing Form odds line after post positions are drawn Monday. A field of eight is expected.

ARCADIA, Calif. - As far as Graham Motion can tell, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies “is a wide-open race,” which gives his recently minted Grade 1 winner, Dancing Rags, as good a chance as any of the 12 expected starters.

“The thing about our filly is she keeps improving,” Motion said after Dancing Rags breezed five furlongs Sunday morning in 1:02 at his Fair Hill base in northern Maryland. “She’s improved every time she’s run, and I think perhaps she’s even improved since she won at Keeneland. I’m quite happy with her.”

Keeneland’s fall meet, which celebrated the 80th anniversary of racing at the picturesque Lexington track, concluded Saturday with record meet attendance and gains in handle.

SANTA ANITA
Track: Fast  
Weather: Overcast 
Temp.: 68

ARCADIA, Calif. - A hectic morning on the Breeders’ Cup workout watch Saturday at Santa Anita, with defending Sprint champion Runhappy the first horse out on the racetrack when it opened at 5 a.m. Potential Juvenile favorite Not This Time put a punctuation mark on the busy session with a very-impressive-looking breeze approximately 4 1/2 hours later.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Runhappy was the earliest and most prominent of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile contenders to work Saturday morning at Santa Anita, and later in the morning, both Accelerate and Vyjack tuned up for the race, too.

Accelerate, the winner of the Los Alamitos Derby in his last start, was timed by Daily Racing Form's Mike Welsch going five furlongs in 1:00.95 under jockey Tyler Baze, who has ridden him in all six of his starts and has the mount in the $1 million Dirt Mile on Friday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The defection of Nyquist from the prospective field for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita reduced the pre-entrants remaining to 13, and three of the contenders turned in workouts on Saturday morning, two here at Santa Anita and one at Belmont Park.

Hoppertunity and Shaman Ghost, both of whom are hoping for a hot pace to help their late runs, turned in drills at Santa Anita, while another late runner, Keen Ice, went at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The depth of this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile field is such that Practical Joke, an undefeated multiple Grade 1 winner, is the co-third choice with two others at 6-1 on the morning line of Daily Racing Form’s Mike Watchmaker.

Chad Brown, the trainer of Practical Joke, is unfazed.

When he watches Practical Joke train, he sees a horse who is thriving entering next Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ashleyluvssugar, the dominant turf marathoner in Southern California in recent months, may play a vital role in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

In a race without a confirmed front-runner, Ashleyluvssugar could set the pace in the race at 1 1/2 miles.

“It wouldn’t be a problem as long as he’s running easily,” trainer Peter Eurton said.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though Wavell Avenue was a 10-1 shot entering last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, trainer Chad Brown had a good feeling about her chances because of the way she was training heading into the race.

His feeling was correct, as Wavell Avenue got up in late stretch to win the race by 1 3/4 lengths over the New York-bred La Verdad, who had defeated her five weeks earlier in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom.