Arcadia, CA (Sports Network) - Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Funny Cide was among 101 horses pre-entered for this year"s Breeders" Cup races. The World Thoroughbred Championships, an eight-race card totaling $14 million in purses, is scheduled for Saturday, October 25 at Santa Anita Park. Funny Cide has been entered in the $4 million Breeders" Cup Classic, the featured race of the day, and will take on a strong field that also includes 2002 Classic winner Volponi, Travers Stakes winner Ten Most Wanted and older horses such as Congaree and Medaglia d"Oro. After finishing third in the Belmont Stakes in early June, Funny Cide has raced just once since -- finishing third at the Haskell on August 3 at Monmouth Park. The three-year-old, trained by Barclay Tagg and owned by Sackatoga Stable, was ill and missed many of the late-summer races, including the Travers Stakes. Azeri, the reigning Horse of the Year, is also pre-entered in the Classic, but the five-year-old mare could instead run in the $2 million Distaff against other female horses. Trainer Laura De Seroux and the owners of the Allen Paulson Living Trust will have to make a decision on which race Azeri will run next Wednesday when official entries will be taken. A total of 14 horses were pre-entered for the Classic, but five of those were cross-entered in other races, which may leave only a field of nine starters for the Classic. Azeri captured last year"s Distaff on her way to Horse of the Year honors and an 11-race winning streak that ended in her last start on September 28 at Santa Anita. The Classic will be without a couple of this year"s stars, as Belmont winner Empire Maker and Horse of the Year favorite Mineshaft were recently retired. Others pre-entered for the 1 1/4 mile Classic include Dynever, Evening Attire, Hold That Tiger, Perfect Drift, Pleasantly Perfect, Falbrav, Peace Rules and Toccet. Toccet and Falbrav were also pre-entered for the Breeders" Cup Turf and could run in the 1 1/2 mile race to challenge last year"s winner, High Chaparral. The Breeders" Cup Juvenile will set the stage for next year"s Kentucky Derby hopefuls, as the 1 1/16 mile race for two-year-olds features four-time winners Cuvee and Cactus Ridge. The European contingent of Yesterday, Bright Sky and Mezzo Soprano heads the field for the 1 1/4 mile Filly & Mare Turf. Forego winner Aldebaran, a victor in his last two starts, is among the favorites in the six-furlong Sprint. The five-year-old is one of eight horses trainer Bobby Frankel will send to the post for the day. Another is Peace Rules, who could run in the Mile on the turf instead of the Classic. The three-year-old, third in the Kentucky Derby, won the Haskell and finished second in the Travers, and has finished out of the money just once in six starts this year. The other race on the card is the 1 1/16 mile Juvenile Fillies for two-year- old females.
