Breeders’ Cup races coming into focus after pre-entries

We know more about the Breeders’ Cup races than we did last week, but the precise matchups of many of the 13 Grade 1 races remain unclear after pre-entries were released Wednesday.

Most of the questions in the Nov. 3 and 4 world championships at Del Mar revolve around horses that were cross-entered in two races, giving trainers and owners options and leaving the rest of us to read the tea leaves as best we can. At least we know the stated “preference” between the races and can guess what the ripple effects might be.

You can see the full list of pre-entries, complete with the horses’ past performances, on the Equibase website.

Here are a few things we learned in the past week:

— The Europeans are licking their chops at the prospect of running in the first Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar: A record 46 horses from overseas were pre-entered, though they won’t all get to run since eight races are oversubscribed.

— Nine former champs will try to repeat: Arrogate, Highland Reel, Drefong, Oscar Performance, Lady Eli, Champagne Room, Queen’s Trust, Finest City and Mongolian Saturday.

— Fans of President Donald Trump will not have the chance to place a hunch bet on Lady Ivanka in the Juvenile Fillies. The Spinaway Stakes winner was withdrawn Tuesday with a bruised hoof.

— Two-year-old filly Heavenhasmynikki also was denied entry into the Juvenile Fillies race by the Breeders’ Cup because she is a first-time starter. Owner Ron Paolucci indicated he would sue because there is no rule blocking unraced horses from being entered.

Some things we don’t know yet:

— Will Aidan O’Brien run top European 3-year-old Churchill in the $6 million Classic against the likes of Gun Runner and Arrogate? That is currently listed as the preference, though the colt is also entered in the Mile on the turf, which would seem much more up his alley. O’Brien also pre-entered another 3-year-old, War Decree, in the Classic.

— Will Bob Baffert actually run a record five horses in the Classic? Probably not. Arrogate, Collected, West Coast and Mubtaahij are expected to go postward in the main event Saturday, but Cupid is expected to run Friday in the Dirt Mile.

— Will O’Brien’s top-flight 2-year-old, US Navy Flag, run in the Juvenile Turf or the Juvenile on the dirt track? The Juvy Turf is listed as preferred, and he’d likely be favored in that race.

The picture will become clearer Monday, when entries and post positions are drawn. Breederscup.com will stream the event beginning at 1 p.m.

The RJ will keep you up to speed on that and all things Breeders’ Cup. We’ll also offer insights into all 13 races in our special Breeders’ Cup video panel featuring noted handicapping author and software developer Michael Pizzolla and Patrick McQuiggan, house handicapper at South Point. That will be available online Thursday afternoon.

I’ll also ask our #RJhorseracing handicappers to weigh in and will incorporate their picks in our coverage.

#RJhorseracing featured races

Speaking of our crowd ’cappers, this week we tackled Saturday’s ninth and 10th races at Belmont Park: The $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap for older horses on the main track and the $100,000 Awad Stakes for 2-year-olds on the turf.

The Bold Ruler looks wide open based on our handicappers’ picks. They endorse the hard-knocking 7-year-old Stallwalkin’ Dude (4-1 second choice in the morning line) over Mr. Crow (5-1) and Divining Rod (7-2), who tied for second.

“Just ran third in a Grade 1 and is getting a contested pace to run at,” Ponypicker Joe says of the choice.

I’ll take a chance of eating crow by siding with Mr. Crow, a lightly raced but improving Todd Pletcher-trained colt, and use him with live long shot Tale of S’avall (12-1) in an exacta box.

In the Awad Stakes, our ’cappers narrowly favor Therapist (8-1 morning line) over Way Early (6-1) and War Chest (the 9-5 favorite), who tied for second. I liked War Chest, too, but at that price I’ll visit my Therapist.

Join the fun next week for the Breeders’ Cup. Just email me or hop on Twitter (hashtag #RJhorseracing) and you’re in the club.

Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter.