At WinStar Farm, the baton is being passed. The Tiznow horse Colonel John has been retired. Who might take his place? This year's model is American Lion, who makes his stakes debut Saturday in the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue.

The $100,000 Cardinal Handicap, the Saturday feature at Churchill Downs, will have Acoma as the 121-pound highweight, but off back-to-back last-place finishes, the 4-year-old filly seems a shaky proposition.

Quality Road's status for the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Nov. 28 at Aqueduct has not been decided, trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday morning. Owned by Edward Evans, Quality Road threw a fit before the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, balking at loading into the gate and cutting himself, necessitating a scratch.

Canadian champion sprinter honors could be on the line Saturday at Woodbine, when El Brujo clashes with Field Commission over six furlongs in the Grade 3, $150,000 Kennedy Road Stakes.

Piscitelli shipped into the Calder barn area last week, but his local stay will be short lived. He is expected to be moved to Gulfstream Park next weekend and begin preparing for the Holy Bull Stakes on Jan. 23.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner She Be Wild was among 12 horses pre-entered Friday in the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Princess, to be run on Dec. 4.

Loup Breton, a source of anxiety for trainer Julio Canani in his U.S. debut at Hollywood Park, came through magnificently, and now gives Canani a major player in the local turf division.