John Smicklas, a prominent breeder and owner who raced at Remington, died Sept. 23, according to an obituary posted by Havenbrook Funeral Home in Norman, Okla. Smicklas was 81.

Smicklas is survived by his wife, Barbara, with whom he bred and raced the multiple Grade 3 winners Belle of Cozzene, an earner of $522,455, and Brush With Pride, who made $548,615, as well as nine-time stakes winner Zee Oh Six. Smicklas also helped found the Oklahoma Thoroughbred Retirement Program.

Services are at 2 p.m. Sunday at Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla.

The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby looked like a competitive race on paper and that carried over to the track Sunday at Remington Park.

Lone Sailor ended up winning in a three-way photo, closing on the outside for a nose score over Believe in Royalty, who was sandwiched between rivals while finishing a nose in front of third-place Diamond King.

The race was the tightest finish in the 30-year history of the Oklahoma Derby.

MIAMI – The Stronach Group is hoping to build on the success of another strong summer meeting at Gulfstream Park when action on the South Florida circuit switches to Gulfstream Park West for its eight-week meet – dubbed the Fall Turf Festival – which begins Wednesday and continues through Nov. 25.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Abel Tasman, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2017, emerged from a shocking fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita with no sign of injury, trainer Bob Baffert said Monday.

Baffert said Abel Tasman was “a little quiet” and that the 4-year-old filly underwent a routine blood test Monday.

“Physically, she’s fine,” Baffert said. “We’ll know more when we get the results back.

“Her temperature was a little elevated. I think she’s fighting something off.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Listing won his first start in the I’m Smokin Stakes for 2-year-old California-breds at Del Mar on Aug. 31, and he makes his second start in Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, trainer Ben Cecil said over the weekend.

Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Listing will be ridden by Mario Gutierrez.

“It’s an ambitious spot,” Cecil said.

By Square Eddie, Listing closed from fourth in a field of eight to win the I’m Smokin Stakes at six furlongs by 1 1/4 lengths at 22-1. The $500,000 Champagne Stakes is run at a mile around one turn.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Saturday will be the fifth meeting in the last 15 months between Roy H, the champion sprinter of 2017, and Ransom the Moon, a multiple stakes winner.

They may represent half the field in the $300,000 race at six furlongs.

As of Sunday, the only other expected starters were Edwards Going Left and Horse Greedy, who are owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis and trained by John Sadler.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Yorkton recorded his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes on Sept. 15, and will look to carry his form over to the turf when he makes his next start in the Grade 2, $250,000 Nearctic Stakes over six furlongs, trainer Stuart Simon said.

Yorkton ran in last year’s edition of the Nearctic, finishing seventh over a turf course labeled good. Simon said the condition of the turf was a factor in the result, and noted he scratched Yorkton from the Grade 2 Play the King Stakes on Aug. 25 when the turf that day came up yielding.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland is a favored venue among locals, because of course it is. And even though he is as well traveled as almost any 50-something on the globe, Kenny McPeek concurs.

“Why not, right?” asked McPeek, who has never forgetten his Lexington roots while building a world-class stable over the last 30-plus years. “There’s nowhere like it.”

Two stakes highlight the Big Fresno Fair’s nine-day run, which begins Thursday.

The $100,000 Harris Farms Stakes, Northern California’s only sprint stakes offering a six-figure purse, will be run Saturday. The six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up is part of the California-bred Golden State Series.

The $50,000 Bulldog Handicap, also for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles, tops the closing-day card on Oct. 14.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Fashion Business will miss the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 after being diagnosed with an injury over the weekend that will keep him out of training until early 2019, trainer Phil D’Amato said.

D’Amato declined to reveal the injury, but described the setback as a “minor issue.”

“We’ll focus on having him in full form at the beginning of the year,” D’Amato said. “His chances of coming back are very good.”