The $1 million Queen's Plate for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds has been pushed back next year to Sunday, July 4, from its usual date of the third Sunday in June, Woodbine officials said Friday.

The Arkansas Derby is officially a Grade 1. The Oaklawn Park race was elevated to Grade 1 status, along with two other Grade 2 races - the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga and the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, as a result of a review of U.S. stakes races held in the past 12 months by the American Graded Stakes Committee.

Friesan Fire checked in a well-beaten third Thursday at Fair Grounds in his comeback from a long layoff.

Officials at Calder Race Course placed restrictions on a fourth barn on Thursday after a horse from the stable of Henry Suckie exhibited symptoms of a possible neurological disorder earlier in the day.

New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection on Thursday afternoon and will seek a massive reorganization through the New York State legislature that would fundamentally change the way offtrack betting corporations operate in the state.

DRF WEEKEND: Jess Jackson, who has been handed the Horse of the Year award the last two years for Curlin, could grab his third in a row with Rachel Alexandra. And he's not interested in sharing. "You wouldn't have two Heisman Award winners, would you?" he said. "You wouldn't have co-winners of the Most Valuable Player Award in baseball. It would be silly."

The good news for trainers of soon-to-be 3-year-old filly sprinters in New York is that Cuff Me will be spending the winter in south Florida. The bad news is that she still has one more start to make here as a 2-year-old before leaving town.