United States-based horses will have their work cut out for them in the $3 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf Nov. 1 with a powerful contingent of foreign horses pre-entered, including Coolmore's defending winner Magician.
Magician, who won last year's race at odds of 12-1 for Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien -- a four-time BC Turf winner since 2002 -- comes off a runner-up finish to the unheralded Hardest Core in the Arlington Million.
Other top pre-entrants from Europe include French Group 1 winner Flintshire, runner-up to the brilliant Treve in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Oct. 5 for trainer Andre Fabre, and multiple Group 2 winner Telescope for four-time BC Turf-winning trainer Sir Michael Stoute.
Also pre-entered is Brown Panther, the Irish St. Leger victor whose bid as favorite in the Pattison Canadian International at Woodbine Oct. 19 ended with his scratch after he dumped jockey Richard Kingscote before the race and ran off.
Main Sequence, previously based in the United Kingdom and now trained by Graham Motion, leads this year's class of American-based horses. He rattled off consecutive Grade 1 wins this summer on the East Coast in the United Nations, Sword Dancer Invitational, and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. Other East Coast pre-entrants are Hardest Core, Big Blue Kitten, Imagining, and Twilight Eclipse, while the West Coast's leading hope is Del Mar Handicap winner Big John B.
Sixteen horses are pre-entered for the 1-1/2-mile BC Turf at Santa Anita Park, with the fillies Just The Judge and Secret Gesture using the race as second preference. European-based horses, which have wins in 12 of the past 15 renewals of the Breeders' Cup Turf (including High Chaparral's dead-heat with Johar in 2003), account for seven of the first-stage entrants.