DEL MAR, Calif. – Irv Noren, who spent 10 years as an outfielder in the major leagues and owned horses for many years on the Southern California circuit, died Friday morning at his home in Oceanside, Calif., according to Del Mar's publicity department.

MIAMI – Kukulkan, who along with his stablemate Jala Jala stole the show at the 2018 Clasico Internacional del Caribe at Gulfstream Park, is back in town and ready to pick up where he left off.

Kukulkan rallied to a 10 1/4-length victory under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. last December in the main event, the $300,000 Clasico del Caribe for 3-year-olds. The pair are scheduled to team up once again on Dec. 8 in the 1 1/4-mile Confraternity Cup for older horses.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar will not race next Thursday out of concern for a rainstorm that is expected to arrive in the area on Tuesday and last through Thursday, the track announced Friday.

Josh Rubinstein, the track’s president, said the Thursday cancellation was being done “out of an abundance of caution.”

“We looked at the forecast, talked to our guys,” Rubinstein said, referring to Dennis Moore, the director of track maintenance, and Leif Dickinson, the turf course superintendent. “We should be fine by Friday.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Neil Drysdale likes to play the long game, and with Toinette, it is paying off. A two-time graded stakes winner last year at age 3, Toinette was off for more than nine months before returning to action this year in August, and she has been brought along in a progressive, deliberate fashion.

Now it’s time for the main goal of the year.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Threefiveindia, who made a dull main track look fast with a runaway victory in an upper-level allowance on Thursday, will be pointed to stakes racing next, trainer Peter Miller said Friday.

Threefiveindia ran six furlongs in 1:09.20 while winning by 3 1/2 lengths under Abel Cedillo, who has ridden him to two front-running victories since he was claimed in September for $40,000. His win on Thursday was earned while coming back on just 13 days’ rest.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The Oak Tree Charitable Foundation has pledged $50,000 toward the acquisition of an equine standing magnetic resonance imaging facility, to be added to the equine imaging center at Santa Anita before the end of the year, the Southern California Equine Foundation announced Friday.

Emerald Downs will have 63 days of live racing in 2020. The meet begins Saturday, April 18, and concludes Sunday, Sept. 20.

There will be just one day of racing the first weekend. Sundays become part of the regular schedule beginning April 26. Friday evening racing begins May 8.

Post times are similar to last year – first post on Saturday will be 2 p.m. Pacific through June 6; beginning on June 13 it moves to 5 p.m. First post will be 2 p.m. on Sundays and 6:50 p.m. on Fridays throughout the meet.

Sky Promise, the 2018 champion 3-year-old male in Canada, is on deck for the Land of Enchantment card at Zia Park.

Trainer Robertino Diodoro said Sky Promise is being pointed for the $150,000 Zia Park Distance Championship at a mile and an eighth. The horse is coming off a runner-up finish in the local prep, the $50,000 Veterans.

Zia Park leading trainer Todd Fincher could have starters in five of the seven stakes making up the track’s $1 million Land of Enchantment card, led by Hustle Up and Sheriff Brown in the $250,000 Zia Park Derby.

The program is Nov. 27. It is the second richest card of the meet behind the $1.8 million New Mexico Cup.

Fincher, who is tied atop the Zia standings with Justin Evans, is coming off a strong New Mexico Cup. He won the program’s two richest races for Thoroughbreds, including the $185,000 Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classic Cup with Hustle Up.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Back-to-back allowances highlight a 10-race Sunday card that calls an end to the race week at Churchill.

Race 8 is a $99,000 second-level sprint in which Take Charge Angel and the comebacking Molto Bella figure prominently in a field of 10 3-year-old fillies.

Race 9 is a $97,000 first-level turf marathon in which Big Beautiful Wall is part of a full lineup of 12 going 1 3/8 miles, most of them 3-year-olds. Big Beautiful Wall will look to improve on a last-out runner-up effort under similar conditions at Keeneland. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.