[bc_video_id:265348:]STICKNEY, Ill. – There are races where the betting public can’t make up its mind because there’s a scarcity of qualified contenders. And then there are races – like Saturday’s Hawthorne Derby – that confound bettors because too many horses look like they can win.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Jersey Town, upset winner of the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap here Sept. 29, began preparations for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile by working a half-mile in 50.52 seconds Thursday morning over Belmont Park’s main track.

With exercise rider Simon Harris in the irons, Jersey Town went his first quarter in 25.83 and his second quarter in 24.69.

“That’s all I wanted,” said trainer Barclay Tagg, who watched the breeze atop his stable pony positioned at the wire. “He came out of the race really good, better than he went into it.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – The California Cup runneth over in the $100,000 Distaff on Saturday at Santa Anita. Twenty-two California-bred fillies and mares entered the turf sprint, which was split for the first time in its 23-year history.

[CALIFORNIA CUP: Get Santa Anita PPs, watch Saturday's full card live]

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ruthenia and La Cloche each has siblings that have won multiple stakes and earned more than $1.2 million. The one thing both share with their more accomplished sisters is an affinity for the Belmont Park turf.

On Saturday, Ruthenia and La Cloche square off as two of the main protagonists in the Grade 3, $150,000 Athenia Stakes at 1 1/16 miles over Belmont’s inner turf.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Point of Entry, among the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, will do the bulk of his training for that race in New York, trainer Shug McGaughey said.

McGaughey had thought about shipping Point of Entry to Santa Anita in time to get a workout over that track’s turf course, something he did with his Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Lure and his BC Turf third-place finisher Dancing Forever when the Cup was held at Santa Anita.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Christophe Clement said he has not made any plans for his stakes horses Mystical Star and Summer Front, but has not ruled out the Breeders’ Cup for either one.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Barclay Tagg may have a second horse join Jersey Town on an Oct. 30 flight to California for the Breeders' Cup, as he plans to point Munnings Sister to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Munnings Sister, a 3-year-old full sister to the stakes winner Munnings, won the Dream Supreme overnight stakes here on Sunday by a half-length. It was her first start for Tagg and her first start at seven furlongs.

Sunday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Nearctic, a six-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-olds and up, has attracted an eclectic field of 11 comprised of three European shippers, another three from the United States, and five from the local backstretch. The Nearctic is a Win and You’re In event for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

Fire Lily, from Ireland; Night Carnation, from England; and As de Trebol, from Spain via France; are the overseas invaders. The 3-year-old Fire Lily and the 4-year-old Night Carnation are the only fillies in the lineup.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Tilde had a perfect season at Del Mar over the summer, going unbeaten in two sprint stakes for California-bred 2-year-old fillies. The winning streak has every chance to continue in the $250,000 California Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Saturday, trainer Mike Harrington said.

The Cal Cup Juvenile Fillies, for statebreds over 1 1/16 miles on the main track, will be Tilde’s first start beyond six furlongs. That is not a major concern for Harrington.

“She’s happy and healthy, and we’re ready to go,” Harrington said.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Aruna, a five-time stakes winner whose lone Grade 1 victory came in the 2011 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, has run her last race and has been sent to her birthplace to be a broodmare, trainer Graham Motion announced Wednesday evening.

A 5-year-old mare bred and owned by the Flaxman Holdings Ltd., Aruna won seven times and earned $994,879 from her 18 starts. She finished sixth as the 5-2 second choice Sunday at Keeneland in her second try at the Spinster.