LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Nothing, it seems, can stop Zenyatta. Not even a semi.

When she left Barn 41 at Churchill Downs on Wednesday morning, Zenyatta began down a path toward the racetrack when she suddenly came face to face with the cab of a truck, whose driver apparently didn’t realize that it was training hours and millions of dollars worth of horses, not to mention the riders perched on their backs, were moving about. Zenyatta was moving forward, a large entourage following right behind. There was only one solution to this stare down. The semi moved back.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Colizeo wasn’t quite good enough for any of the Triple Crown races, and Apart wasn’t quite ready enough. Jackson Bend was good and ready, although with the benefit of hindsight, he might be paying for it now.

With those instructive months in the rearview mirror, that trio of 3-year-olds will get together Friday at Churchill Downs in the Grade 3 Ack Ack Handicap, the main lead-in to the six Breeders’ Cup events.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. had a hectic morning Tuesday.

“We entered in $7.35 million in races in one day,” he said. “That doesn’t happen too often.”

Among his entries were Blame in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic and J.B.’s Thunder in the $2 million Juvenile. But the Stall condition book was not limited to championship races at Churchill Downs. Star Guitar was also in the entry box Tuesday for Friday’s $100,000 Gold Cup at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was 7 in the morning here at Churchill Downs on Wednesday when trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s phone rang, with Hollywood Park-based assistant Dan Ward on the line. Not 30 seconds later, the phone rang again, with his wife, Janet, based at Golden Gate Fields, checking in with updates on the horses Hollendorfer has there. It’s true. You’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Hollendorfer.

“I get up at 3 every day,” he said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In the vast majority of horse races, there are question marks among the past performances of the entrants, ranging anywhere from whether a prospective runner can handle an untried distance to perhaps another’s potential effectiveness with a change in racing surface.

Friday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Churchill Downs presents those specific unknowns, plus a whole lot more. At 1 3/4 miles on dirt, the race is atypical, and the outcome appears as murky as the Ohio River that flows past downtown Louisville.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Owner Andrew Rosen hopes that Breeders’ Cup success runs in the family.

Twenty-six years ago, Rosen’s family won the first-ever Breeders’ Cup race when Chief’s Crown took the 1984 Juvenile at Hollywood Park. Five years ago, Merv Griffin’s Stevie Wonderboy won the 22nd Juvenile at Belmont Park.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Forever Together of 2008 would give favored Midday all she wanted in Friday’s Filly and Mare Turf, while Informed Decision, vintage 2009, would be a clear favorite in the Filly and Mare Sprint. But empires fade.

Neither mare has come back in 2010 to their best form of seasons past, and it has generally been that kind of year on the Thoroughbred side of trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s stable. Sheppard had a magical 2009, going 16-8-6 with 50 graded stakes starters. This year, Sheppard comes into Breeders’ Cup weekend with seven graded stakes wins.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There are any number of compelling stories in this year’s Breeders’ Cup. One of them is trainer Jimmy Toner’s attempt to win the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf with Winter Memories, whose dam, Memories of Silver, competed in the Breeders’ Cup for Toner 14 years earlier.

Winter Memories will be favored to win the one-mile Juvenile Fillies Turf, having captured her only two previous starts in impressive fashion, including the Grade 3 Miss Grillo over a yielding course at Belmont Park on Oct. 3.

Friday’s distaff-plus-Marathon Breeders’ Cup card gets off to a modest start with a largely meaningless Marathon at 1 3/4 miles on dirt, conditions that you will find in few places in the world outside of South America. This is a race that would benefit by a switch to turf, in which case some of Europe’s better stayers might express an interest.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Gypsy Ring has maintained solid form throughout the Woodbine meet, and will likely be favored in Friday’s seven-furlong headliner, a second-level allowance with a $62,500-60,000 claiming option.

Gypsy Ring finished second in two Ontario-sired stakes this year, the New Providence and Shepperton, in which he faced tougher competition than what he’s up against Friday. His lone unplaced effort at the meet came in a slow-paced allowance July 4, when he was too far back over a Polytrack that favored speed horses such as Queen’s Plate winner Big Red Mike.