ELMONT, N.Y. - A couple of tickets to the Breeders' Cup were punched by a pair of distinctly different 2-year-olds on Saturday at Belmont Park, but the theme song in the background was not "California Here We Come."

It was from circa 1973, courtesy of Albert Hammond. You know, it never rains in southern California.

Well, actually it does. But the skies out in Arcadia, California, home of Santa Anita Park and this year's Breeders' Cup, do not open up as much as they do in New York, where, man, it poured for the Champagne and Frizette.

Each of the Grade 1 stakes awarded the winner a guaranteed spot in a Breeders' Cup race, which should offer each of them a tougher test with less need for an umbrella.

A monsoon that transformed Belmont's main track into a sloppy mess also turned a pair of intriguing stakes for 2-year-old colts and fillies into races with an asterisk.

Yes, both Daredevil in the Champagne and By the Moon in the Frizette won with room to spare. Yet the conditions had to play some factor in the outcome, whether they were a boost to the winners or a detriment to the also-rans.

Daredevil ($5.40) was the more impressive of the two. Forging to the front at the quarter pole, he turned aside a stretch bid by runner-up Upstart to prevail by 2 ½ lengths as the 8-5 favorite in the $500,000 Champagne, a race with past winners like the Hall of Fame colts Easy Goer, Spectacular Bid, Alydar, Seattle Slew and Riva Ridge.

"I thought it was very impressive," said trainer Todd Pletcher after his undefeated colt covered the one-turn mile in a quick 1:36.62. "He rated kindly and did everything you would hope one would do. He finished really well and I couldn't be more pleased."

Daredevil provided Pletcher with a third straight Champagne victory, fourth in the last five years and sixth overall. It was also the son of More Than Ready's second straight asterisk.

Three weeks earlier, the Lets Go Stable runner romped by 6 ¼ lengths on a muddy track at Belmont in his career debut, but the six-time Eclipse Award winner voiced little concern about his horse's ability to perform on a bright, sunny day in California.

"We'd never breezed him on an off track, so I was a little concerned running him the first time, but we felt pedigree-wise he would handle it, and he obviously does," said Pletcher, whose colt secured a spot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with starting fees and shipping on the house through the "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge series. "He trains like a good horse on fast dirt, too."

Beyond the weather, what could pose more of a concern for Daredevil in California is the Bob Baffert-trained American Pharoah. A convincing winner of the Grade 1 FrontRunner last weekend at Santa Anita, the Zayat Stable colt looms a solid favorite in the two-turn, mile and a sixteenth BC Juvenile.

"I think [Daredevil's] performance was very powerful," said Pletcher, who gained another BC Juvenile starter during the afternoon when WinStar Farm's Carpe Diem captured the "Win and You're In" Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. "Baffert has a good one in California and it's always an advantage when you do not have to travel cross country. We'll see how [Daredevil] comes out of this, talk to the guys and come up with a plan. I don't think the two turns should be an issue."

While trying to catch Daredevil on the wet, speed-favoring track was too tough of a task, the New York State-bred Upstart was a clear second, winding up 12 ¾ lengths ahead of third-place finisher The Truth or Else. Still trainer Rick Violette was uncertain if his colt would be heading out to the place where it never rains.

"I haven't really talked with the owner [Ralph M. Evans] about it yet," Violette said. "It comes down to whether we want to ship to California to face a 3-5 shot with a homecourt advantage."

On the fillies' side, trainer Michelle Nevin was not exactly California Dreaming when she headed to Belmont Park to saddle Jay Em Ess Stable's By the Moon in the Frizette. Her filly was listed at 8-1 in the morning line and went off at 24-1. Meanwhile, the post-time, 4-5 favorite in the Frizette, Condo Commando, was coming off a dazzling 13 ¼-length romp in the Grade 1 Spinaway in the slop at Saratoga. By the Moon was a distant second that dark, rainy Aug. 31 afternoon at the Spa.

Described as "splashtastic" in track announcer Tom Durkin's unforgettable final call, Condo Commando looked more like a flash in the pan at a longer, one-turn mile. After stumbling at the start, the speedster rated in third but never fired and finished fourth in a disappointing performance that prompted trainer Rudy Rodriguez to pull her from Breeders' Cup consideration.

This time By the Moon ($50.50) relished the conditions. She pressed the pace of 2-1 second choice Cavorting, the Grade 2 Adirondack winner, put her away leaving the turn and cruised to a 2 ¼-length victory over Wonder Gal and Feathered in a slow 1:39.42 for the mile.

"She's always been extremely smart and very professional," Nevin said. "In her first race she did everything she was expected to do as a racehorse. Even in her second race [the Spinaway] it wasn't the greatest trip. She had to go a little wide and maybe it was speed biased that day. She still tried to make her run. Today, she just took control."

With all of the expenses paid through the "Win and You're In" triumph, Nevin didn't think before deciding what to do. She seemed only too happy to head west after collecting her first Grade 1 win in a training career that started last year.

"Coming here today, my heart and soul was in it, but her being 20-1 [on] the board made you a little shaky," Nevin said. "[The Breeders' Cup] is a tough read. We had an off track. We're going to have to see how she'll handle a good track. It will depend on what the conditions will be out there."

Consider it a guess, but since it's southern California, it probably won't rain.

Ring Weekend, Ever Rider notch stakes wins

Saturday's card also featured two other stakes worth a combined $700,000.

Ever Rider ($5), who was pulled up as the favorite in last year's $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon, took the inaugural edition of the mile and five-eighths Temperence Hill Invitational.

The $200,000 stakes would have been a nice tune-up for this year's BC Marathon, except for the Breeders' Cup's decision earlier this year to drop the Marathon from this year's slate of championship races.

The final stakes of the day, the $500,000 Hill Prince for 3-year-olds on the soggy, soft turf, went to the favored Ring Weekend, owned by the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership and Vincent Viola, who also owns the Florida Panthers.

Trained by Graham Motion, Ring Weekend ($5.70) rallied along the inside to triumph by a half-length in a lively stretch duel that saw the top five finishers hit the wire within 2 ½ lengths of each other in the mile and an eighth test.

Afterwards, West Point president Terry Finley said Ring Weekend was a possibility for the Breeders' Cup and that the gelding's status would be decided once Motion returns home after spending the weekend in France at the Prix de l'Arc Triomphe.

"I don't think he loved the going," Finley said, "but his class really showed up in the final part of it."

In an ESPN.com post earlier this year, New York Racing Association Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Martin Panza discussed the possibility of forming a Turf Triple Crown for 3-year-olds. The Hill Prince, along the $1.25 million Belmont Derby in July, could easily fill roles in that series, a thought that delighted Finley.

"[A Turf Triple Crown] would be great," Finley said. "Marty Panza is a breath of fresh air. These guys are brining a new spirit [to New York] and trying a new thing and that's what you need. We need progress and new ideas and I give a lot of credit to Marty and his staff."