Michael McCarthy, a top trainer on the Southern California circuit, has won two Breeders’ Cup races, the 2018 Dirt Mile with City Of Light and the 2021 Filly and Mare Sprint with Ce Ce. This year, he has seven starters looking to add to that total at Del Mar.

LA VILLE LUMIERE (Juvenile Fillies, 22.25 Friday)

Daughter of City Of Light has done a little bit of everything in her four-race career. Her lone victory came sprinting on turf, but two starts after that she finished third in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf going 1 1-16 miles on dirt at Santa Anita.

“Her last race was a solid performance, seems like she trains well over this racetrack here,” McCarthy said.

MEANING (Juvenile Fillies, 22.25 Friday)

This daughter of Gun Runner was a good-looking debut maiden winner going 6 1-2 furlongs and now stretches out to 1 1-16 miles in her first try against winners.

“Filly acts like she’s wanting to run two turns,” McCarthy said. “Doing well. Works have been very, very pleasing to the eye. Big step up in class. Big ask, but the filly seems like she’s doing well.”

STARK CONTRAST (Juvenile Turf, 00.25 Saturday)

Son of Caravaggio finished fourth on dirt in his debut then came back to win two races going a mile on turf including a maiden at Del Mar and the Grade 3 Zuma Beach at Santa Anita.

“He kind of touted himself all along here, acted like he was a useful horse earlier in the summer,” McCarthy said. “Worked just well enough to give him a try on the dirt first time out. He ran very respectable that day but being by Carvaggio we thought he would be a little bit better-suited to the grass and he’s taken to it. Two bang-up performances.”

YELLOW CARD (Turf Sprint, 19.41 Saturday)

McCarthy said he would really like to run in the Turf Sprint, but this horse is two deep on the also-eligible list.

“He was a horse unlucky not to get the job done in the Eddie D,” McCarthy said. “He was a winner over the racetrack here this summer and is an improving horse. He is doing very well but it looks like he’s going to need a little bit of luck to get into the body of the race.”

JOURNALISM (Classic, 22.25 Saturday)

The three-time Grade 1 winning three-year-old will won the Preakness in between finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Following the Triple Crown series, he won the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park before finishing second to Fierceness in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

In both of the last two races, Journalism rallied from far back. He is getting a rider change to Jose Ortiz.

“Hopefully, we’ll go ahead and bounce on out of there and find ourselves in a nice tactical spot,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the nine-week break between the Pacific Classic and Breeders’ Cup Classic was by design.

“The spacing between the Pacific Classic and the Breeders’ Cup Classic has seemed to do him some good,” McCarthy said. “We got a race over the racetrack here, very pleased with where the horse is at right now.”

FORMIDABLE MAN (Mile, 23.05 Saturday)

This four-year-old son of City of Light is a perfect six for six over Del Mar’s turf course with five stakes wins including the Eddie Read in July and the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on August 30.

“The horse is at home on the Del Mar turf, his style seems to suit here,” McCarthy said. “Obviously, he’s facing the best group of horses he’s faced to date, but he’s coming into it the right way.”

TOUCH OF DESTINY (Dirt Mile, 23.45 Saturday)

This three-year-old Uruguayan son of Midshipman went six for six in his native country and has been with McCarthy since late summer.

“He comes with a big resume from Uruguay, seems like he’s acclimated well to Southern California,” McCarthy said. “He’s had a nice series of breezes and maintenance mile work. He’s going to face his best group of horses to date. We’ll see how Uruguay’s best stacks up to America’s best.”

McCarthy said from what he sees in his training, Touch of Destiny “looks like he’s kind of a free-running type of horse.”