There really is no close approximation of the Santa Anita turf course among the regular circuit of racecourses in Europe. Two tight turns and grass cut short as a pool tabletop are not conditions to be found overseas, and there have been European jockeys surprised and overwhelmed by the demands of the smaller American ovals, Santa Anita in particular, upon riding Breeders’ Cup races with foreign horses.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The tallest participants in the Breeders’ Cup Classic are Rashard Lewis, the two-time NBA All-Star who is a co-owner of Cigar Street, and Tonalist, who is looking to end his season with an emphatic slam dunk Saturday.

Tonalist, the winner of the Belmont Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup, arrived here late Tuesday and went to the track for the first time Wednesday morning with exercise rider Lee Vickers. He merely jogged, but against the backdrop of the nearby San Gabriel Mountains, he looked like one of the peaks.

ARCADIA, Calif. – In the weeks and months leading into the Breeders’ Cup, there have been a number of impressive efforts turned in by some of the leading candidates. Few, however, have matched the “wow” factor elicited by Artemis Agrotera in her last three starts.

A 3-year-old New York-bred filly, Artemis Agrotera became a major contender for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint by reeling off blowout victories in a July 23 allowance and the Aug. 23 Ballerina at Saratoga, followed by a narrow “How’d she get there?” triumph in her final prep, the Sept. 20 Gallant Bloom at Belmont Park.

ARCADIA, Calif. – European 2-year-olds have been a dangerous group in the brief history of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Since the race was first run in 2007, horses from England and Ireland have won five of the seven runnings, as well as two of the seven editions of the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf.

No wonder they have arrived in force for the same races Friday at Santa Anita. There are five European colts entered for the Juvenile Turf and five fillies in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Overall, there are 13 foreign runners in Friday’s four Breeders’ Cup races.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Magician, winner of the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Turf, was withdrawn from Saturday’s running of the BC Turf at Santa Anita because of lameness, trainer Aidan O’Brien said on Wednesday.

O’Brien said the lameness was detected in Magician’s right foreleg when he was taken out of his stall in the quarantine barn.

“When he came out for a trot, he was acutely lame,” O’Brien said. “It’s very disappointing. We were looking forward to it.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Free as a Bird, a winner of five consecutive sprint stakes this year, was withdrawn from Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita after she became upset on an airplane in Kentucky early Wednesday, trainer Ian Wilkes said.

Wilkes said Free as a Bird became unsettled when the plane’s engines were started.

“When they started the engines, she went off,” he said. “They had no choice but to take her off. The horse comes first.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Horse trainers are people, too, which explains why Wesley Ward will not be here at Santa Anita this weekend for the Breeders’ Cup.

Despite having six scheduled starters, including several strong contenders, Ward will be watching the races on an iPad in south Florida, where his 15-year-old son, Riley James, will be competing in a high-school cross-country meet.

“It’s really important to him that I be there,” Ward said. “It just so happens that this meet conflicts every year with the Breeders’ Cup. I’ve missed it the last three years.”

MIKE WATCHMAKER

SANTA ANITA, Calif. – Angela Renee and Conquest Eclipse, the first two finishers from the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes here Sept. 27, are 3-1 and 4-1 on the morning line for Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Danette, who finished third in that race, is 20-1 on the line.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Michael Stoute and Harry Herbert of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing confirmed Telescope’s next start in a conversation after the colt had finished third in the Grade 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York, England, in August. They planned to send Telescope to California for the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita.

Their plan will come to fruition when Telescope runs Saturday in the BC Turf.