LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It might be argued that every inch, every maneuver, and every decision in any given race are critical to the outcome. But when it comes to a race like the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, the margins for error are so small that the winner not only will have to run his eyeballs out but also is likely to have been particularly fortunate in all those other respects.

The Breeders’ Cup once again will offer several special wagers and guaranteed pools, as well as a standard betting menu. Here is a list of the available bets:

* The BC Jockey Bet, which is a win-only wager ($2 minimum) on the jockey with the most BC wins over the two-day period. In case of a tie for most wins, the pool will be split as if it were a place pool (two-way tie), show pool (three-way tie), etc.

Most horseplayers won’t wager on the Grade 3, $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon until Friday afternoon. But two significant “bets” have already been made by the owners of Alcomo and Prince Will I Am, who required supplemental fees to gain entry.

Alcomo, a Brazilian-bred by Rainbow Corner, was supplemented by owner Abdul Rahman Al Jasmi for $75,000. Prince Will I Am, owned by Casa Farms, was supplemented for $45,000.

Trainer Mike Mitchell received two text messages from owner Ahmed Zayat on Wednesday morning regarding Jaycito, their contender for Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

“The first was ‘I’m so nervous,’ ” Mitchell said. “I text him back and said, ‘I’m not nervous until something happens where my horse isn’t doing good.’ When he’s doing great, I’ve got nothing to be nervous about.”

In the second text, Zayat asked Mitchell if he was happy with how Jaycito was doing.

Handle and attendance figures at the recently concluded Belmont Park fall meet rose significantly when compared with last year’s fall meet, which was plagued by foul weather and double-digit declines in the same categories.

The upticks in the figures were good news considering the declines facing many racetracks in the U.S. over the past two years, but the average daily all-sources figure for handle also remained well short of the figures posted during the fall meet of 2008.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After walking around the Churchill Downs turf course Wednesday, prodding the ground with a cane-like probe to determine just how firm the going was here in Louisville, trainer Michael Stoute and Juddmonte Farms racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe reached a decision on Workforce’s status for the Breeders’ Cup Turf: They decided not to decide.

“We’re going to monitor each day,” was how Stoute put things.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They emptied out all the pills, and still, no relief. The handicapping headache that is the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint could have its winner come from pretty much anywhere in the full gate of 14, with a wide-open Churchill Downs tote board portending as much.

The landscape of New York racing is about to change, and fans and horsemen will be able to see those changes unfold before their eyes when Aqueduct opens its six-month run Friday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Jim McAleney remained in Etobicoke General Hospital on Wednesday after suffering serious injures in a spill here Sunday afternoon.

McAleney, 41, broke all of the ribs on his left side, his left collarbone, and suffered a collapsed lung after his mount appeared to clip heels and went down in deep stretch.

His agent, Danny Williams, said that lung X-rays taken Tuesday afternoon had shown improvement and doctors were able to remove a tube which had been inserted to drain off excess fluids.