It has become a rite of September – horsemen doing double takes when noticing the size of the purses being offered at Kentucky Downs.

The purses come with asterisks, as Kentucky-breds compete for more than twice the money as horses bred elsewhere, but still, they’re gigantic: Maiden races are worth as much as $120,000, and allowance races as much as $135,000.

“We’ve got horses and trainers coming in from all over,” said C.J. Johnsen, Kentucky Downs racing manager. “This is going to be our biggest and best meet yet. It’s been pretty crazy in the racing office, really.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Neither of the two decisions that trainer Ingrid Mason made with a pair of stakes runners last weekend was obvious, but in retrospect, both were good. The 3-year-old filly Sarah Sis was shipped to Saratoga for the Ballerina Stakes and finished a creditable fourth, just missing a valuable Grade 1 placing. Meanwhile, back home at Arlington, Mason sent out the 2-year-old filly Marquee Miss to make her career debut in the $75,000 Arlington-Washington Lassie, and she won it by three lengths.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Constitution, a multiple Grade 1 winner on dirt who has been away from the races since February, will make his return on Monday in the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap on turf at Saratoga, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday.

Running in the Bernard Baruch gives Constitution the chance to possibly run two times before a bid in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland, Pletcher said. The Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 3 at Belmont Park could be the target after the Bernard Baruch.

The Saturday broadcast on NBC of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course peaked at 3.4 million viewers as Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh was edged in the stretch by Keen Ice, the network said on Tuesday after releasing refined viewership figures for the race.

DEL MAR. Calif. – Trainer Gus Headley was fined $400 by Del Mar’s stewards Sunday for harassing a groom, specifically, according to the statement of decision, “throwing straw which contained dog feces” into the tack room of the groom, Alejandro Alvarez, while Alvarez was in the room.

There were several incidents alleged by Alvarez in February and March at Santa Anita that resulted in a hearing May 28.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Bob Baffert will seek his eighth victory in the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies on Saturday with Pretty N Cool, who will be seeking her third victory, all at this meet.

DEL MAR, Calif. – While the immediate schedule for American Pharoah is certain, his itinerary between now and the Breeders’ Cup Classic is a work in progress.

American Pharoah returned to Del Mar from Saratoga on Monday afternoon, walked Tuesday at the barn of trainer Bob Baffert, and was scheduled to do so again Wednesday. He was scheduled to return to the track to jog Thursday, and on Sunday, between races here, the Triple Crown winner will be paraded for fans.

Apprentice Harry Hernandez, who sustained a fractured wrist in last Friday’s final race at Gulfstream, was scheduled to see a specialist on Tuesday, said agent Bryce Soth. Hernandez is the second-leading rider at the summer meet at Gulfstream.

Soth said it is a non-displaced break, and surgery will not be required. Soth said a timeline for Hernandez’s return is to be determined.

Hernandez was injured when his mount, Starship Muffy, fell in the 10th race. An 18-year-old native of Puerto Rico, he has won 74 races from 478 mounts.

Gulfstream Park will open its race week Thursday with a $509,084 carryover in the Rainbow 6 jackpot, and a mandatory payout looming on Monday. The jackpot has not been hit for the past 26 race days. The bet, which has a 20-cent minimum, will run on races 5-10 on Thursday.

The sequence Thursday includes three maiden-claiming races, one with a field of 12 and the other two with fields of 11. Below is a look at the chief contenders making up the Rainbow 6 races Thursday:

Churchill Downs will spend $18 million prior to next year’s Kentucky Derby on renovations to its premium seating areas, increasing the reserved seating capacity at the track by approximately 800, the track announced on Tuesday.

The renovations will be concentrated in the Turf Club areas of the track, according to Churchill. Although some of the renovations will begin in mid-September, most of the work will be started following the close of the track’s fall meet on Nov. 29.