D. Wayne Lukas Has 10 Horses in Breeders’ Cup

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has been assured of having 10 of his horses in the Breeders’ Cup series Nov. 2 at Aqueduct after Louisiana Slew was accepted in the “pre-entry” field by a panel of experts.

The other nine horses Lukas will saddle for the seven-race, $10-million program have qualified on a points basis derived from first-, second- and third-place finishes in graded races.

Since the Breeders’ Cup races are limited to a field of 14, a selection committee determined the remainder of the field for the four races which attracted larger fields.

The Juvenile attracted 15 pre-entries, so the panel made Real Courage an also-eligible and gave Lukas a shot with Louisiana Slew, a son of Seattle Slew and a winner of two of four starts.

Lukas also has Ketoh, who qualified on points after winning two of three starts, ready for the Juvenile. Ketoh finished fourth in his last start, the Champagne, won by Mogambo last Saturday at Belmont Park.

Official entries will be taken Oct. 30 for the Breeders’ Cup series, which was held for the first time last year at Hollywood Park.

Three other races drew more than the 14-horse limit -- the six-furlong Sprint, the Mile on the grass and the 1 1/2-mile Turf, which attracted 23 horses.

The Aga Khan’s Lashkari, an English-bred 4-year-old colt who won the Breeders’ Cup Turf last year, was chosen by the panel to compete in that race again, along with Kozana, Pebbles, Shernazar and Theatrical.

The Sprint attracted 22 pre-entries, and the panel choose Six Ina Row, Basket Weave, Al Sylah, Committed and Vilikaia from among those horses who didn’t qualify on a points basis.

Chapel Cottage, Never So Bold, Palace Music, Rousillon and Shadeed gained the pre-entry list for the Mile. The connections of 19 horses wanted to go.

D.G. Van Clief Jr., executive director of the Breeders’ Cup, said that one or more of the 14 horses could be bumped next Wednesday if horses pre-entered in another race were switched to the Turf.

Van Clief said that the connections of Bounding Basque, Imperial Choice and Strawberry Road, all pre-entries in the nine-horse, $3 million Classic, have indicated they might start instead in the Turf.

Greinton, assured of a berth in the Turf because of points, could be switched to the Classic.

The other two Breeders’ Cup races, neither of which drew the 14-horse limit, are the Juvenvile Fillies, which has 12 pre-entries and the Distaff, which has nine.

Set for the Classic are Chief’s Crown, last year’s Juvenile winner; Gate Dancer, Bounding Basque, Imperial Choice, Proud Truth, Strawberry Road, Track Barron, Turkoman and Vanlandingham.