ARCADIA, Calif. � The Europeans staged a surprise invasion in the 2008 Breeders� Cup at Santa Anita.

They won�t be blindsiding anyone this year.
Led by 13-1 Raven�s Pass, who beat favorite and two-time Horse of the Year Curlin to win the Breeders� Cup Classic, Europeans won five races on Breeders� Cup Saturday last year, and have a heavy � and heavily watched � presence in 2009.
Thirty of the 149 horses entered in this year�s Breeders� Cup have been shipped in from Europe, looking to match last year�s stunning success. They will brave jet lag, quarantines and strange synthetic surfaces to vie for their part in $25.5 million in purses.
Most of the European horses finished their required quarantine period and were out getting a feel for the synthetic soil Pro-Ride track at Santa Anita on Wednesday, some for the first time, others revisiting the same track where they had Breeders� Cup victories last year.
Three-year-old Rip Van Winkle is the contingent�s hottest prospect, the 7-2 second-choice with jockey John Murtaugh behind undefeated mare Zenyatta in Saturday�s $5 million Breeders� Cup Classic.
Made the race�s favorite by many European bookmakers, Rip Van Winkle is coming off consecutive victories in the Sussex Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in England.
Trainer Aidan O�Brien said a long year, a long flight and a sore foot have given the colt trouble, but he�s resilient.
�The journey took a little more out of him than the rest. He was bushed,� O�Brien said after Rip Van Winkle worked on the Santa Anita track Wednesday.
O�Brien said the colt moved slowly but the trainer liked what he saw.
�He�s been swimming against the tide all season but he is probably the most natural horse we�ve ever had, the most natural athlete.�
All four of Rip Van Winkle�s wins � and all eight of his starts � have come on the turf in Europe. But many attributed last year�s European success to the similarity that Santa Anita�s mixture of fiber, rubber and sand has to turf.
After fading to fourth aboard Curlin on the Pro-Ride surface in the Classic, jockey Robby Albarado said �it seemed like the synthetics played like a turf course,� and trainer Steve Asmussen said the contest �was a turf race.�
Raven�s Pass last year was, like Rip Van Winkle, a turf horse making his first synthetic start in the classic.
�He�s never been on the surface but he showed he�s a beautiful mover,� O�Brien said. �There�s no doubt about it, if the season hasn�t taken a toll.�
O�Brien brought seven horses with him, the biggest traveling barn of any European trainer, including Mastercraftsman, who was pre-entered in the Classic but will instead run as the Cup�s biggest morning-line favorite at 6-5 in the Dirt Mile. And O�Brien�s Lillie Langtry is the 3-1 favorite in Friday�s Juvenile Fillies Turf. Murtaugh will be in the irons for both.
Goldikova and Conduit each return to the United States as morning-line favorites and defending champions in their respective races.
The Ireland-bred Goldikova is the 8-5 favorite in the Turf Mile for French trainer Freddy Head, who last year became the first to win a Breeders� Cup race as a jockey and a trainer when he saddled Goldikova in the victory.
Conduit, also Irish bred, is 7-5 on the morning line in the 1�-mile Breeders� Cup Turf for British trainer Michael Stoute.
Stoute said Conduit was snorting and acting out on his first day among the American horses Wednesday, but that is to be expected.
�He acts like that at home, too,� Stoute said. �Likes to let them know who�s the boss.�
Conduit is coming off a victory in the Group 1 Prix de l�Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 4.
�He ran well in the Arc,� Stoute said, �and he�s taken this journey very well.�
Conduit�s stablemate Spanish Moon is the race�s second choice.
Gate misbehavior had the 5-year-old Spanish Moon banned in England and forced him to race in France, where he has won two straight.
Spanish Moon schooled in the gate Wednesday morning, and Stoute isn�t worried about him making a scene Saturday.
�He�s been fine in France this year,� Stoute said. �And this morning he had no problems at the gate.�