LEXINGTON, Ky. – The niche division of filly and mare turf sprinters is mostly a wasteland when it comes to graded events, which may or may not be right and just. The topic arises Friday with the 17th running of the $100,000 Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland, where some genuine talent will assemble among an overflow field in the 5 1/2-furlong race.

It is part of racing lore that Jim McKay, on his way home from the first Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park, wondered why they could not try something similar in Maryland. It was two years later after attending the Maryland Million in 1986 at Laurel, that Sam Huff and Carol Holden wondered why they could not take that idea and move it to West Virginia. So, they did.

On Oct. 19, they will run the 27th West Virginia Classics Day at Charles Town, with $1.2 million in purses for nine races, culminating with the $500,000 West Virginia Breeders Classic.

Golden Gate Fields on Saturday will hold its first Off The Track Thoroughbred Showcase, a seminar on Thoroughbred aftercare accompanied by the opportunity to buy retired horses and give them a new career.

The seminar has been sold out for four weeks but is taking requests for a waiting list. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. The showcase begins at 11 a.m. and is still taking signups for $5.

Elizabeth Morey, director of Thoroughbred aftercare at Golden Gate, said she has been overwhelmed by the positive response for the event.

The growing possibility Princess of Sylmar and Close Hatches both might start has dramatically altered the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and changed it from a small-field procession into a race that would be among the most eagerly anticipated of 2013.

Confirmed starters as recently as a week ago included only three – Royal Delta, Beholder and Authenticity. That small-but-mighty group might be getting a lot stronger. Four-time Grade 1 winner Princess of Sylmar and two-time Grade 1 winner Close Hatches are back in the picture.

Churchill Downs plans to install a 15,000-square-foot high-definition video screen that will be visible to customers nearly anywhere at the track, with the installation being complete by next year’s Kentucky Derby, the company announced on Monday.

The $12 million video screen will be erected about 80 feet above the track, approximately midway down the backstretch outer rail, Churchill said. The video board itself will be 171 feet wide and 90 feet tall, and will be able to withstand winds of up to 85 miles per hour, according to the track and its designer, Panasonic.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A sequence of longshots on Sunday has led to a three-day pick six carryover of $575,466 for Thursday’s eight-race program at Santa Anita.

Upset wins by Cinmars Dance ($31.20) in Sunday’s fourth race, Firendesire ($27) in the sixth, and Tookmebysurprise ($47) in the eighth helped to assure the carryover.

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With a three-day run-up, the pool of new money could exceed $3 million on Thursday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Points Offthebench will have a light preparation for the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 after winning his second consecutive Grade 1 race in Saturday’s $250,250 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

The victory confirmed Points Offthebench’s status as a leading contender for the BC Sprint, following a win in his stakes debut in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on July 28.

Trainer Tim Yakteen said on Sunday that Points Offthebench will have only one or two workouts before the BC Sprint.

ARCADIA, Calif. - On Labor Day weekend, No Jet Lag was omitted from the $250,000 Del Mar Derby because of insufficient career earnings. What really stung trainer Simon Callaghan was that the race was divided into two divisions, and No Jet Lag still couldn’t get in from the also-eligible list.

Five weeks later, No Jet Lag ran in the next possible turf stakes, Saturday’s $150,750 City of Hope Mile Stakes on turf. The opportunity was not wasted. No Jet Lag gave a career-best performance to win by a half-length.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – All the major players from an incredibly eventful Saturday of stakes racing at Keeneland were reported in good order Sunday morning, with the camps of a pair of vanquished champions, Wise Dan and Groupie Doll, saying they already are putting the disappointments behind them while looking forward to the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – There is a two-day pick-six carryover of $156,250 for Sunday’s nine-race program at Santa Anita.

A win by Cal Gal ($32) in Saturday’s 10th race for 2-year-old maiden sprinters on turf clinched the carryover.

The pool of new money Sunday could reach $700,000. The pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific. The first pick-six race is due off at 2:37 p.m.