Better Talk Now (Tr: Graham Motion; ex. rider: Alice Clapham) - Better Talk Now prepared for his fifth straight start in the $3 million Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Turf by galloping 1 3/4m under exercise rider Alice Clapham Thursday morning.

"He's in great form. He's very happy. He kind of takes everything in stride now. A new place is not very exciting for him," said trainer Graham Motion, whose gelding won the Turf at Lone Star Park in 2004.

Better Talk Now, who has earned more than $4.2 million, will make his 48th career start in the Turf.

"We've said the last three years coming into the race that this could be the last one. It's unlikely that he'll be in the Breeders' Cup at 10, but have we laid out a schedule for retiring him? No," Motion said.

"We're not going to keep running him in overnight stakes if he's not competing at this level. He's been competing at this level all year, and he's been handling it. He hasn't won, but we feel with a little luck, he would have won."

The son of Talkin Man, who finished third in the Man O' War and third in the Sword Dancer this year, will be ridden by Ramon Dominguez.

Conduit (Tr: Sir Michael Stoute) - Trainer Sir Michael Stoute was on hand to watch the 3yo colt by Dalakhani canter 1m on the turf course Thursday morning. Conduit was asked to speed it up a bit down the stretch and finished strong.

Stoute was pleased with the way his St. Leger winner is coming into the race

Ryan Moore, the jockey who guided the colt to victories at Goodwood and Epsom this year, will have the mount again as Conduit goes from post nine in the field of 11.

Moore said he thought Conduit had a "great chance" in the Turf.

"I expect there will be a good pace in front of him," the jockey said, "and that will suit him."

Dancing Forever (Tr: Shug McGaughey; ex. rider: Jennifer Patterson) - Dancing Forever specialist jogged before galloping 1 1/2 m Thursday morning to the satisfaction of his trainer Shug McGaughey, who also scheduled a paddock session for him later in the morning.

McGaughey, who has saddled the winners of nine Breeders' Cup races, said he's looking forward to a vastly improved performance in the Turf from Dancing Forever, who finished off the board in his last two starts over soft turf.

"I think he deserves to run on hard turf. Back in the spring and early summer, I thought he was the best distance horse in country," said the Hall of Fame trainer, whose Turf entrant captured the Manhattan Handicap at Belmont in June. "I got unlucky and caught soft turf at Saratoga and (jockey Rene) Douglas came back and said, 'Throw it out; he never ran a jump; he didn't like it at all.' And then I made a mistake by running him in the Turf Classic."

Dancing Forever should be suited to the course and race conditions of the Turf, his trainer said.

"He's a true mile-and-a-half horse. He'll turn off in his race and when you ask him to run, he picks it up," McGaughey said. "I think he's got a legitimate chance."

Eagle Mountain (Tr: Mike de Kock) - South African trainer Michael de Kock said Thursday that the Rock of Gilbraltar colt Eagle Mountain appears to have benefitted from the year away from the races while recovering from a fractured pelvis.

Eagle Mountain has made one start this season, a track record 1m in 1:34 at Newmarket on October 3.

"He's matured," de Kock said "I think the time off, sometimes it's just a blessing in disguise. During the time off, he's certainly grown into a stronger more mature horse.

"He's a very bold horse, as well. Albeit, he's a small horse, he's exceptionally bold . He fears nothing. I'm quite confident of a big effort on Saturday.

De Kock has found success at home, in Dubai and in Europe. This will be his first Breeders'Cup starter and he acknowledged a victory would mean a lot to him.

"It's just another step up," he said. "You reach highs and there there is another high. I think this is one of those meetings that are life experiences that do so much for you."

Grand Couturier (Tr: Bob Ribaudo) - Trainer Bob Ribaudo admits he'd like to see a little give in the Santa Anita turf, but realizes the course will be quite the opposite come Saturday following several days of 90-degree temperatures on the tail end of Southern California's dry season.

"I think at this stage, especially off his last race if he runs back to that race, he'll handle anybody in the field," said Ribaudo, after supervising a substantial gallop and a trip through the paddock. "It's just a matter of repeating that performance. Even if it's not quite that performance, he might be capable of pulling it off."

That performance was a 10 ¼-length blowout in the Turf Classic at Belmont Park on Sept. 27 at the same distance as the Turf (1 1/2m). That victory came over a yielding course, but the son of Grand Lodge won the 2007 Sword Dancer at Saratoga on firm footing and repeated the feat in 2008 on a good course.

"I think we were under the radar last year in the Breeders' Cup, and I believe the turf course at Monmouth was a detriment itself," Ribaudo said. "English Channel just galloped, but we certainly would have been on the board under normal circmstances."

Grand Couturier finished sixth behind Red Rocks in the Man o' War in July after coming out rank and running into the rail. He is 2-for-2 with Saturday's rider, Alan Garcia, after surviving a foul claim in the Turf Classic.

Out of Control (Tr: Robert Frankel; ex. rider: Goncalino Almeida) - The Brazilian 5yo Out of Control will have to travel 1 1/2m Saturday in the Turf, and he'll be running hard for a fair portion of it. But Thursday morning he only had to go 1 1/4m and accomplished it at a gallop, which was just what trainer Robert Frankel had planned.

The Hall of Fame conditioner looked on as the son of the Machiavellian sire Vettori went about his training at Santa Anita and pondered what might happen come Saturday.

"We'll see how the pace comes up," the trainer said when asked where his horse might be positioned. "If they send that maiden Red Rock Canyon out to be the rabbit, that might be fine. If we've got enough speed we could be laying second. We'll see."

Frankel is already on record as saying he has no fears that Out of Control will handle his first try at the distance. He also knows that such distance races are considered "riders' races," and in that regard he's hired the current Eclipse Award winner, Garrett Gomez, to be his jockey.

Out of Control has drawn post 10 in the 11-horse Turf lineup and is listed at 10-1 in the morning line.

Red Rock Canyon (Tr: Aidan O'Brien) - The 4yo Rock of Gibraltar colt Red Rock Canyon cantered one mile on the main track Thursday morning with the seven other Breeders' Cup horses trained by Aidan O'Brien.

Red Rocks (Tr: Mark Hennig) - The prospect of the 2006 Turf winner even making it to Santa Anita seemed grim after an infected hock in mid-summer left the 5yowithout a scheduled prep race.

"Expectations are high, but we're realistic," said trainer Mark Hennig, who took over the training of the Galileo runner at a difficult time. "What he went through this summer with the hock (left hind) and the infection put us behind the 8-ball and trying to make up for lost time."

Hennig said he was hoping to get possibly two more races into Red Rocks after his celebrated July 12 victory in the Man o' War at Belmont, where he counted Horse of the Year Curlin among his victims.

"Going into this race without a prep is certainly not the way we would have laid it out, but it was the hand that was dealt us,'' he said. "The great thing is the way he's responded. We've had to turn up the pressure training and he's responded to it well. We got in as much work as we could in the time we were given."

Red Rocks, who Hennig said "did nothing for 30 days," has had four workouts on the grass at Belmont since Sept. 30. He galloped on the main track Thursday and made a trip to the paddock.

Soldier of Fortune (Tr: Aidan O'Brien) - Trainer Aidan O'Brien said Thursday the 4yo colt's consistentcy is due to his versatility and athleticism.

The son of Gallileo has won six of 12 career races and has finished in the top three 10 times.

"He's one of those horses that ground doesn't affect him," O'Brien said. "He's equally as good on soft ground as he is on fast ground because he's very natural. He has very big lungs and he keeps pushing himself forward, whether it's soft or fast because he tries very hard. A lot of horses who haven't got soft ground action when they run on it they quit. He's not like that, he tries very hard.

"He's a very good moving horse. When you see him cantering, he doesn't bend his knee much, he's very fluid. It would definitely suggest that he should have no problem with fast ground. We've always thought that.

"He's a horse that stays very well at a very high cruising pace. He's a very high quality horse."

Soldier of Fortune cantered a mile on the main track Thursday. He will be ridden by jockey John Murtagh.

Spring House (Tr: Julio Canani) - Trainer Julio Canani expects a normal stalking trip from Spring House, a veteran of 34 career starts in Saturday's Turf.

"He runs in the middle of the pack and then makes one run," the Peruvian native said Thursday following a morning jog by the 6yo son of Chester House.

The trainer isn't concerned about post position eight for his grass runner.

"You take what you get and do the best with it," he said, and then added with a bit of bravado, "I won the Mile twice [Silic in 1999 and Val Royal in 2001] from the 12 hole." Actually, Val Royal left from post 11.

Winchester (Tr: Dermot Weld) - With trainer Dermot Weld on hand to supervise, the 3yo son of Theatrical, winner of the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park in his last start, galloped on the main track at Santa Anita this morning.

Weld was guarded in his praise for the colt.

"He's OK," the trainer said. "He's a lazy, idle horse, but I'm satisfied with him. All in all, he's a lovely horse."

Weld has given the ride in the Turf to Pat Smullen, who was aboard in the colt's maiden score this spring at Leopardstown.

Winchester will go from the middle of the gate, post five, in the Turf.