Etc. . . .

Steve Asmussen, the nation's second-leading trainer in victories, began a seven-day suspension for a medication violation on Monday. The suspension runs through Sunday. . . . The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, which operates slot machines at Woodbine and Fort Erie, is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the fire that killed 34 horses and razed two barns at Woodbine last Aug. 4. . . . Black Ruby ran third behind Sarah Nelson and Smoking Joe in the $10,250 Pleasanton Mule Championship Stakes at the Alameda County Fair on Sunday. Sarah Nelson ($4.40) led all the way in the 400-yard race, beating Smoking Joe by a half-length, with Black Ruby a half-length farther back. . . . Following a severe thunderstorm that inundated the Thistledown track before the fourth race Sunday, the riders there refused to ride the balance of the card.