ARCADIA, Calif. – To watch Bob Baffert train American Pharoah since the Travers has been like watching the high-wire act in the movie “The Walk,” for Baffert has had to know when to back off and when to push in order to get American Pharoah to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

Southern California-based trainers Gary Mandella and his father, Richard Mandella, will have horses at the same Breeders’ Cup for the third time in their careers this month at Keeneland. Gary Mandella, 43, has a leading contender for the $1 million Turf Sprint in No Silent, while Richard Mandella, 64, has one of the top choices in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic in champion Beholder. Both races are Oct. 31.

The Mandellas previously had Breeders’ Cup starters in the same year in 2005 and 2013.

Postponed’s career on the racetrack has been brilliant in recent months in England and France. Off the track, Postponed has been a subject of surprising headlines.

After winning the Group 2 Prix Foy at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Sept. 13, Postponed was rated as a contender for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe there on Oct. 4. He never made the race. In a shocking move in late September, owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum switched the 4-year-old and many other horses from trainer Luca Cumani to Roger Varian in England.

The complexion of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint changed dramatically last week with the loss of two major players, defending champion Work All Week and the once-beaten multiple Grade 1 winner Rock Fall.

Work All Week, the 2014 BC Sprint champion and reigning Eclipse Award winner in the sprint division, was retired after his connections discovered a stress fracture in his right knee shortly after his third-place finish in the Grade 3 Phoenix.

A major player at the Kentucky horse sales, Mandy Pope will seek her first Grade 1 win as an owner at the upcoming Breeders’ Cup.

Since 2012, Pope’s breeding-stock purchases have included Horse of the Year Havre de Grace ($10 million), Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty ($4.2 million), two-time champion female sprinter Groupie Doll ($3.1 million), and Betterbetterbetter ($5.2 million), a Galileo mare purchased in foal to War Front.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Sudden Surprise, the undefeated New York-bred juvenile colt owned and bred by Mike Repole, will make his next start in the $250,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes for statebreds on Oct. 24, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.

Pletcher worked Sudden Surprise on the Belmont turf Monday to see if it would be worth considering the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for him. But Sudden Surprise was outworked badly by Capriana, a 3-year-old New York-bred filly.

“Based on what I saw, he prefers dirt,” Pletcher said.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Christophe Clement still has no clue why Hard Not to Like ran so poorly in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita, and he isn’t sure where to run her next.

He was happy enough with her half-mile breeze on turf Sunday at Belmont Park to still leave open the option for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Honor Code, third in the Grade 2 Kelso on Oct. 3, was back on the work tab Monday, drilling five furlongs in 1:00.56 over the Belmont Park main track. Honor Code is being pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Trainer Shug McGaughey had the work begin at the three-furlong pole – in the middle of the far turn – and go to the 1 1/4-mile pole. Belmont clockers had Honor Code in splits of 25 seconds and 48.60 and caught him galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.27 and seven furlongs in 1:26.17.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Mike Hushion is known to be conservative by nature, but when it comes to Artemis Agrotera he’s shedding that label in a big way.

Though Artemis Agrotera has not raced this year, Hushion is pointing her to the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Oct. 31 at Keeneland, and he isn’t doing it on a whim.

“I just think she’s one of the top talented female sprinters in the country,” Hushion said Monday at Belmont Park. “If I could get her fit enough and racy enough, why not? I really think she has a legitimate shot.”

MIAMI – Trainer David Fawkes said Sheer Drama will have her final work for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at Gulfstream Park West. Fawkes did not work Sheer Drama last weekend after having sent her out to breeze five furlongs on each of the last three Sundays dating to Sept. 20.

“She’s doing great, so I’m just going to two-minute lick her this week, probably on Thursday, with her final work for the Breeders’ Cup scheduled for the 21st,” said Fawkes.

Sheer Drama is listed as the 3-1 favorite by Daily Racing Form linemaker Brad Free for the Distaff.