A tantalizing matchup in the Breeders' Cup Classic featuring Havre de Grace, the best filly in the United States, and Uncle Mo, the nation's most compelling 3-year-old, along with a bid by the great Goldikova for an unprecedented fourth straight victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile, all are in the offing for this year's Breeders' Cup Nov. 4-5 at Churchill Downs, as those horses were among the record 193 runners announced as pre-entries on Wednesday by the Breeders' Cup.

The Big Fresno Fair showed a 12.4 percent increase in daily ontrack handle and a 22.2 percent increase in all-sources daily handle for its 2011 meeting. The meet ran from Oct. 6-16.

Average ontrack handle was $339,413 for the nine-day 2011 meeting compared with a $301,913 daily ontrack handle in 2010, when the meet comprised 10 days. The daily all-source handle, including satellites, out-of-state and advance-deposit wagering, was $1,573,463 compared with 1,287,689 for the 2010 meet.

Flay buys French filly for Cup

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay teamed up with Pletcher to win the 2010 Juvenile Fillies Turf with More Than Real. Flay will attempt to successfully defend that title a week from Friday with Dear Lavinia, whom he purchased privately from owner-breeder Joe Allen earlier this week.

Gio Ponti was cross-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Breeders’ Cup Mile when BC pre-entries were taken Monday, trainer Christophe Clement said Tuesday.

While five of the 15 BC races are now for 2-year-olds with the addition of the Juvenile Sprint, a 100 percent emphasis will be placed on 2-year-olds when Churchill opens its fall meet Sunday with a Stars of Tomorrow program.

Eleven races are in the condition book for Sunday, led by the twin one-mile stakes, the Grade 2, $150,000 Pocahontas for fillies, and the Grade 3, $100,000 Iroquois for colts and geldings. Four allowance races and five maiden special weight races also are on tap, depending on the Thursday draw of entries.

To Honor and Serve does not race or even work in blinkers. But the Pennsylvania Derby winner showed up in blinkers when he returned to the track for the first time Tuesday morning since working five furlongs in 1:02 on Sunday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Uncle Mo, the possible favorite for the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic, visited the Churchill Downs racetrack for the first time since the week of the Kentucky Derby when he jogged an easy mile alongside a stable pony shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the majority of the Breeders’ Cup contenders currently stabled on the grounds at Churchill Downs having worked over the weekend, action was limited during training hours Tuesday. In fact, the two most noteworthy events took place nearly four hours apart, when Classic contenders Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty made their first visit to the track shortly after the course opened for training at 6 a.m. and Sidney’s Candy closed out the morning’s activity by working a half-mile on the turf just before 10 a.m.

Rarely has a horse been so presciently named.

“Redux” – to be brought back, to be resurgent. That nails it. Again and again, Rapid Redux has come back a winner in starter-allowance races all over the eastern United States. He has won all 16 of his starts in 2011 and on Thursday at Laurel Park goes for his 19th straight victory, which would tie Peppers Pride and Zenyatta for the longest winning streak in modern Thoroughbred history.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Three-year-old fillies trained by Todd Pletcher and Tom Albertrani make up 80 percent of the five-horse field for Thursday’s Real Prize overnight stakes. Pletcher entered Love and Pride and R Gypsy Gold, while Albertrani sends out Draw It and My Assets.

The only other entrant is the Christophe Clement-trained Miss Valentine, who beat Draw It by a nose in the Mom’s Command overnight stakes last time out.