And then there were 50. Day 2 of the National Handicapping Championship at the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas is in the books. Just as he did on Day 1, Jose Arias, a 36-year-old environmental safety engineer from Bell Gardens in Los Angeles, put up an impressive performance, amassing $127.20 for a two-day total of $326.

His biggest win on the day came in Santa Anita’s ninth race, the California Cup Turf Classic, as Brian Koriner’s horse Weewinnin came through and paid $44.80 and $22, though for NHC purposes payoffs are capped at 20-1 ($42) to win and 10-1 ($22) to place.

ARCADIA, Calif. - For the second time this week, bettors can shoot for a two-day pick six carryover at Santa Anita on Sunday.

For Sunday’s nine-race program, there is a two-day carryover of $430,875.

There was a two-day carryover of more than $419,000 into Thursday’s program, which drew a pool of $2,880,752 in new money. On Sunday, the pool could exceed $2 million.

The pick six carryover for Sunday was confirmed after Weewinnin won Saturday’s California Cup Turf Classic in a 21-1 upset. The upset win by Susans Express ($132.40) eliminated many tickets.

Turfway Park canceled live racing Saturday due to cold, snow, and high winds. The track remains open for simulcasting.

It was the second consecutive cancellation for Turfway, which also called off Friday’s card, as did many tracks in the eastern U.S.

A nearly full field competed on Day 1 of the National Handicapping Championship at the Treasure Island in Las Vegas on Friday. The leader at the end of Day 1 is Jose Arias, an environmental safety engineer from Bell Gardens, California, with a $198.80 bankroll. As Day 1 leader, Arias earned a $6,000 bonus and an expenses-paid trip to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.

Forward Gal Stakes (Gulfstream, Race 7) by Marcus Hersh

Todd Pletcher has a surprisingly salty $2.46 win ROI in graded stakes races, but ONLYFORYOU is not going to help that number much, even with a victory. She’s 7-5 on the morning line and could easily go off as an odds-on favorite.

Due to extreme cold, Aqueduct, Turfway Park, Charles Town, Delta Downs, and Penn National have canceled racing on Friday.

At Aqueduct, it is the third full card of racing canceled this winter. A fourth card lost its final eight races when the jockeys refused to ride due to fog.

Friday’s forecast in New York called for a high temperature of 16 degrees with wind chills near zero, which actually was a little warmer than Thursday, when wind chills were below zero throughout the day.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine’s Nearctic Stakes has been downgraded to a Grade 2 event for 2014, the Jockey Club of Canada’s graded stakes committee announced Thursday. The move was the only change among the 43 graded stakes that will be run in Canada this year.

The Nearctic, contested over six furlongs on turf at Woodbine, has traditionally been part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In Challenge Series, granting the winner a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

For the 80th time, 2-year-olds of the previous year will be weighted in the Experimental Free Handicap, scheduled to be released in the coming week by The Jockey Club.

In recent years, the Experimental has been based on a mythical race of 1 1/16 miles on dirt at the end of the juvenile season, but the mission has changed several times since the first listing was released in 1933.

The owners of the new racetrack that will replace Beulah Park in Ohio do not have an agreement with horsemen yet over racing dates or the percentage of revenues that will flow to purses from slot machines at the track, officials of the track’s parent company told the Ohio State Racing Commission on Thursday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher is expected to continue his recent domination of the $200,000 Forward Gal Stakes on Saturday when he sends out the undefeated Onlyforyou to go seven furlongs against just five other 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 2 fixture at Gulfstream Park.

Pletcher won the previous two renewals of the Forward Gal with Kauai Katie and Broadway’s Alibi. Both those fillies were ridden to victory by John Velazquez, although Javier Castellano will take his regular seat aboard Onlyforyou on Saturday.