Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide, reigning Horse of the Year Azeri and eight of trainer Bobby Frankel's top thoroughbreds were among 101 horses pre-entered Thursday for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.

Funny Cide will take on a talented field in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita Park, including Travers winner Ten Most Wanted, handicap standouts Congaree, Medaglia d'Oro and Perfect Drift, and possibly Azeri.

Volponi, last year's surprise BC Classic winner but winless in seven starts since, was also pre-entered. The 5-year-old horse will be ridden by Jose Santos, Funny Cide's jockey for all 10 of the gelding's starts. Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone gets the call on Funny Cide. Funny Cide, trained by Barclay Tagg, hasn't won since the Preakness on May 17. He has finished third in two starts since -- in the Belmont and the Haskell at Monmouth Park on Aug. 3. The horse owned by Sackatoga Stable of upstate New York fought illness this summer but appears healthy again.

Azeri, her 11-race winning streak over, was one of several stars pre-entered in two of the eight Breeders' Cup races totaling $14 million in purses. The 5-year-old mare, though, is likely to run in the $2 million BC Distaff rather than face male horses for the first time in the 1 1/4 -mile BC Classic.

Trained by Laura de Seroux, Azeri clinched Horse of the Year honors with a dominating win in the 2002 BC Distaff at Arlington Park. Owned by the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust, Azeri is 4-of-5 this year with the loss coming in her last start, the Lady's Secret Handicap at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.

Official entries will be taken Wednesday, at which time owners declare which race their horses will run in. Eight horses were cross-entered.

A field of 14 was pre-entered for the Classic, but five of the horses were cross-entered, leaving the possibility of just nine starters.

That could further dilute the Classic field, which is already missing such stars as Belmont winner Empire Maker, Horse of the Year favorite Mineshaft, Pacific Classic winner Candy Ride and Dubai World Cup winner Moon Ballad. Candy Ride is out until next year; the others were recently retired.

Again, Frankel's stable looks to be the strongest. Besides 2002 BC Classic runner-up Medaglia d'Oro, the nation's leading trainer will saddle seven other horses in four other races.

Frankel sends out Sightseek, winner of four Grade 1 races in a row, to challenge Azeri in the BC Distaff. The trainer may have favorites in three other races -- Peace Rules in the $1.5 million BC Mile (the colt was cross-entered in the Classic), Aldebaran and Midas Eyes in the $1 million BC Sprint; and Heat Haze, Megahertz and Tates Creek in the $1 million BC Filly & Mare Turf.

Frankel is just 2-of-49 in Breeders' Cup races, but has a win in each of the last two years -- Starine in the 2002 BC Filly & Mare Turf and Squirtle Squirt in the 2001 BC Sprint.

The road to the 2004 Kentucky Derby also begins at the Breeders' Cup in the BC Juvenile. Although many of the top 2-year-olds are bypassing the 1 1-16th-mile race, a full field of 14 is expected.

Cuvee, who won the Belmont Futurity for his fourth win in five starts, tops the pre-entries, along with Cactus Ridge, Chapel Royal and Siphonizer. Cactus Ridge is owned by country music star Toby Keith.

Two-year-olds skipping the Juvenile include Champagne winner Birdstone and Lane's End Futurity winner Eurosilver, Norfolk winner Ruler's Court and Hopeful winner Silver Wagon.

Bob Baffert, 3-of-36 in Breeders' Cup races, pre-entered three horses -- Class Above and Victory U.S.A. in the $1 million BC Juvenile Fillies and Congaree, cross-entered in the Classic and Mile.

The European contingent is led by High Chaparral, looking for a second straight win in the $2 million BC Turf. A strong field of 12 was pre-entered for the 1 1/2 -mile race, including Arlington Million and Turf Invitational winner Sulamani and Clement L. Hirsch Storming Home.

Storming Home finished first in the Million, but was disqualified for interference at the wire and placed fourth.

The Breeders' Cup races usually determine divisional champions and Horse of the Year.