No one embodies the spirit of Ellis Park more than John Hancock, who’s been a backstretch fixture at the western Kentucky since early childhood. Through the years, the 60-year-old Hancock has become well known for his work with 2-year-olds, and with Ellis starting its 29-day summer meet Sunday, he’s been fielding inquiries left and right as to how he expects his babies to fare in front of the home crowd.

“I’ve got three or four first-timers that can really run,” said Hancock. “People better be on the lookout.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The potential for a Rainbow 6 pool exceeding $15 million with a mandatory payout scheduled on Sunday went by the wayside after one lucky player had the only winning Rainbow 6 ticket worth $3,151,249 Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

A victory by I Turn a Night Up, a son of Artie Schiller making his turf debut for trainer Happy Alter in the finale, completed the winning combination. I Turn a Night Up was the only horse among the 10 starters in the ninth race alive for the entire Rainbow 6 jackpot.

The New York Racing Association on Thursday fired three executives and added job titles to three others in a management shake-up that comes two weeks before the opening of the Saratoga meet.

In an internal company memo obtained by Daily Racing Form, NYRA president and CEO David O’Rourke described these moves as “an internal restructuring to the executive team that will position our organization for continued success.”

CYPRESS, Calif. – An Arkansas-bred filly bought at a sale of 2-year-olds in training in Florida in March will have her career debut at Los Alamitos on Saturday.

The well-traveled Powerfulattraction has been working steadily at Santa Anita and was pronounced fit for her first start by trainer Peter Eurton on Thursday.

“We thought she was ready to run, and we want to give it a shot,” Eurton said.

Powerfulattraction, by the A.P. Indy stallion Commissioner, was purchased for $225,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auction in March.

California’s top 3-year-old grass runners – stablemates Neptune’s Storm and Lady Prancealot – will skip Grade 1 races July 6 at Belmont Park and instead remain home to point for stakes at Del Mar, trainer Richard Baltas said this week.

The gelding Neptune’s Storm was invited to the $1 million Belmont Derby after his second stakes victory in the $150,000 Cinema Stakes on June 2 at Santa Anita. The filly Lady Prancealot was invited to the $750,000 Belmont Oaks following her victory on June 1 in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes. Neither the gelding nor the filly will make the trip.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A pair of up-and-coming 3-year-olds, Trenchtown Cat and Garter and Tie, were among the horses drawn Wednesday for the $250,000 main events on Saturday’s Summit of Speed program at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 2 Princess Rooney and Grade 3 Smile Sprint.

The Downs at Albuquerque opens its 56-date meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses on Friday night with record stakes purses, a packed stable area, and the Challenge Championships coming in October.

Our Silver Oak, the winner of the $200,351 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-old California-breds at Santa Anita last Saturday, will be among approximately 15 horses based at Del Mar this summer with trainer Jonathan Wong.

Wong has been a fixture in Northern California in recent years and will have a small division at Del Mar for the first time this summer. The Del Mar meeting runs July 17 to Sept. 2.

“Usually, I just ship down there and run,” Wong said on Wednesday.

The stakes winners Grecian Fire and Soi Phet are among the expected starters in Saturday’s $100,000 Bertrando Stakes at a mile for California-breds on the opening day of the Los Alamitos meeting.

Grecian Fire won the Grade 3 All-American Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on May 27. Soi Phet, 11, won the Bertrando in 2014 and last year. This is scheduled to be his final start, trainer Leonard Powell said last weekend.

The Evangeline Downs-based trainer Sarah Delany left the beauty shop for the racetrack in 2012 and on Sunday her decision to change career paths reached a pinnacle when Delany won her first stakes race. The Delany-trained Corluna won the $50,000 Lane’s End Danny Shifflett Scholarship Stakes at Lone Star Park.

“For me, it was like winning the Kentucky Derby,” said Delany. “Corluna is very special – I’ve had her since she was a 2-year-old. She’s my dream horse.”

Corluna, a 4-year-old who races for her breeder, Ian Yarnot, was winning her first stakes race, too, Sunday.