The $2.6 million All American Futurity for Quarter Horses on Sept. 1 will again highlight the stakes schedule at Ruidoso Downs, which opens May 22. Trials are Aug. 14-15. Other major futurities are the $700,000 Ruidoso on June 8, and the $900,000 Rainbow on July 20.

Ruidoso is also home to the All American Derby, which will have an estimated purse of $2.3  million when the 440-yard race is run Aug. 31. The Grade  3 All American Gold Cup for Quarter Horses on Aug. 30, has been boosted in value from $40,000 to $200,000.

OFFICIAL SWEEPSTAKES RULES 

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.  ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL REGULATIONS APPLY.  A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.   By entering this Sweepstakes, entrants accept and agree to be bound by these Official Rules. Any violation of these rules may result in disqualification. All decisions of the judges regarding this Sweepstakes are final and binding in all respects.

Laurel Park will race on Wednesdays instead of Fridays during January and most of February at its 2014 winter meeting.

The schedule change, agreed upon by the Maryland Jockey Club and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, was approved by the Maryland Racing Commission at its monthly meeting Tuesday.

Friday racing will be added for the final five weeks of the meet, beginning Feb. 28.

CashCall, the online lending business that is a sponsor of the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park, and the company’s founder, the horse owner J. Paul Reddam, were named in a lawsuit filed on Monday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleging that the company violated consumer-protection law, the bureau announced.

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The training track at Palm Meadows opened an hour later than normal on Tuesday morning after two men who had stolen an ATM from a nearby bank in Boynton Beach crashed their getaway vehicle on the grounds of the training facility around 4:30 a.m., track officials said.

Deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office attempted to pursue the men through the grounds of the training facility, but according to track officials were unable to locate them. The ATM was recovered at the crash site.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario—Luis Contreras won his third consecutive riding title when the 133-day Woodbine meet wrapped up on Sunday. His win total of 168 was 25 more than runner-up Eurico Da Silva, who had 220 fewer mounts. Neither of them rode on the final three days of the meet.

Da Silva won the money title by about $5,000 over Contreras. Da Silva’s mounts earned $8,427,148, and he also had a meet-leading 27 stakes victories.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - There is a pick six carryover of $79,599 for Friday’s program at Betfair Hollywood Park, the next day of live racing.

A surprise win by Sweetest Secret ($111.80) in Sunday’s seventh race helped to clinch the carryover. With four dark days of racing in Southern California between Sunday and Friday, interest in the pick six is likely to be high. The pool of new money could exceed $600,000 on Friday.

Sunday’s nine-race card at Aqueduct was canceled due to the effects of Saturday’s winter storm on the inner track, according to New York Racing Association officials.

It was the first cancellation of the winter meet and third cancellation in the last three weeks. The cards of Nov. 24 and Nov. 27 were scrapped due to high winds.

Valedictory Stakes (Race 4, 2:26 PM)

The Breeders’ Cup Marathon is not the only graded stakes for horses running 1 ¾ miles on the main track – also graded is the Valedictory, which goes Sunday as a Grade 3 on the Polytrack at Woodbine.