Twelve horses have been pre-entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, led by probable favorite Dortmund and champion Runhappy, but the race could wind up with a field of just seven when it’s run Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

Bradester has been withdrawn from consideration and will run in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, according to trainer Eddie Kenneally. Gun Runner, Midnight Storm, Vyjack, and War Story have listed other races as their first preference, according to a rundown of pre-entered Breeders’ Cup fields announced Wednesday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – California, here they come.

Led by California Chrome, acknowledged as the best dirt horse in the world, as well as nine Breeders’ Cup race winners from last year and two from prior years, a total of 185 horses were announced on Wednesday as having been pre-entered in the 13 Breeders’ Cup races that will be run Nov. 4-5 here at Santa Anita. Among the popular stars pre-entered were Beholder, Found, Frosted, Lady Eli, Runhappy, Songbird, and Tepin.

You could still hear the disappointment in King Leatherbury’s voice two days after Ben’s Cat finished last in the Maryland Million Sprint at Laurel Park last Saturday. It’s never easy to accept that a horse who has been so good for such an extended period of time is slowing down, but it seemed there was even more to it than that.

Leatherbury had been pleased with how Ben’s Cat was training coming into the race, and the lackluster performance was frustrating and somewhat surprising to the Hall of Fame trainer.

Everyone who wants to start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 5 will get their chance, as 13 were pre-entered in the 1 1/16-mile race, one fewer than the limit of 14 starters.

Eleven probably will start because With Honors, trained by Keith Desormeaux, and New Money Honey, who races for Chad Brown, have the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf as their first preference. The Juvenile Fillies Turf is oversubscribed with 21 pre-entries, but both With Honors and New Money Honey qualified on points and are in the body of the race.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Art Sherman is armed with the acknowledged favorite for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic in California Chrome, but when Sherman contemplated the prospective field the other morning at Los Alamitos, he figured it would come up tougher than expected.

“You’ll have to run every inch,” he said. “There’ll be no gimmes in this race.”

ARCADIA, Calif. - With rain in the forecast in upcoming days, trainer Art Sherman has called an audible with California Chrome. Rather than have him work as originally scheduled Saturday at Los Alamitos, he will work Thursday morning at Los Alamitos, van to Santa Anita over the weekend, and breeze over the track here next week just days before the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 5, Sherman said Wednesday morning.

Handle numbers were down significantly at the recently concluded Monmouth-at-the-Meadowlands all-turf meet in New Jersey despite a well-publicized cut in the track’s takeout rate to 15 percent across the board, the lowest in the country, according to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form that were confirmed by officials at the track.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Led by Travers winner Arrogate, trainer Bob Baffert on Tuesday morning at Santa Anita worked four of the nine horses he said he has pre-entered in the 13 Breeders’ Cup races that will be run Nov. 4-5 at Santa Anita. When the morning was done, Baffert was in a jovial, light-hearted mood, an indication that all had gone well.

“Everything went really well,” Baffert said. “I feel good. All you can ask for is that they still have some life.”

Line Judge, who won the $200,000 Jean Lafitte on Saturday night at Delta Downs, will now target the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot on Nov. 19, trainer Joe Sharp said Monday. 

ELMONT, N.Y. – Before trainer Charlton Baker makes his maiden voyage to Southern California and the Breeders’ Cup with Joking in the Sprint, he will run Rachel’s Temper in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap at Belmont Park.

Rachel’s Temper, a 5-year-old daughter of Flatter, won the Summer Colony Stakes at Saratoga in her first start after being claimed for $62,500 by Newtown Anner Stud. Rachel’s Temper then stepped into Grade 1 company in the Beldame but finished sixth of seven behind winner Forever Unbridled. The race was run over a muddy surface.