Kiss Moon was assigned post 12 as the 120-pound highweight in a field of 13 fillies and mares entered in the Grade 3, $100,000 Cardinal Handicap, to be run Saturday as the lone graded stakes of the weekend at Churchill Downs.

Julien Leparoux has the call on Kiss Moon, a two-back winner of the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf for owner and breeder Carl Pollard and trainer Dave Vance. Kiss Moon will spot the opposition two to nine pounds in what shapes up as a wide-open 42nd running of the Cardinal, a 1 1/8-mile turf race carded as the 10th of 11 Saturday races.

Eighth Wonder has faced relatively modest competition so far, but on Sunday, she kept her record perfect with a ridiculously easy win in the restricted Donna Freyer Stakes at Parx Racing.

Eighth Wonder, a 2-year-old daughter of Pioneerof the Nile, is now 3 for 3 with earnings of $126,000. She has won a maiden race, an allowance, and the 6 1/2-furlong Freyer, all at Parx. Nobody has gotten closer than five lengths to her, and her average winning margin is more than seven lengths.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Beholder, scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic two days before the race when she bled following a gallop at Keeneland, is getting some downtime away from the track and is not expected to rejoin trainer Richard Mandella’s barn at Santa Anita until early January.

Mandella said Beholder has been turned out at a local layup facility run by Julie Adair-Stack, where Beholder has spent time after prior setbacks.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Lucky Folie, who won the Desi Arnaz Stakes for 2-year-old fillies last Sunday, could come back in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12 or simply await the Santa Anita winter meeting, according to trainer Richard Mandella.

“We’ll have to think about it,” Mandella said. “We could give her a chance in that race, but there are a lot of nice races at Santa Anita.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Horse trainers are forever taking stock. It’s a professional prerequisite given the transitive nature of the job.

Steve Asmussen, as much as anyone, lives in a perpetual state of analysis, primarily as it relates to how his horses are doing and what they’ll be doing next. But on the occasion of his 50th birthday Wednesday, just moments after dropping off his three sons at school in their suburban Dallas neighborhood, Asmussen was asked by phone to stop for a moment and take stock of his own life.

“I’ve been amazingly blessed,” he said.

Rock You, the winner of the All American Gold Cup at Ruidoso Downs in September, qualified for the $600,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12 after winning a $15,000 time trial last Sunday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Taris, third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31, is a candidate for the $300,000 Go For Wand Handicap at Aqueduct on Nov. 27.

Trainer Simon Callaghan said on Wednesday that Taris will have a workout at Santa Anita on Friday to determine whether she is sent east for the Grade 3 Go For Wand, which is run at a mile for fillies and mares.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 winner Warren’s Veneda might start against males in the $150,000 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 28 in her first start since a seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland on Oct. 30.

Trainer Craig Lewis said on Wednesday that the Grade 3 Native Diver or the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes at a mile on turf for fillies and mares at Del Mar on Nov. 29 are being considered. The Matriarch Stakes is a Grade 1.

The fields for Zia Park’s most prestigious races were drawn Tuesday, with Breeders’ Cup Distaff starter Calamity Kate headlining the $300,000 Zia Park Oaks and International Star set to make his first start since March in the $200,000 Zia Park Derby. The races will be run next Wednesday, Nov. 25.

The Zia Park Oaks is the richest offering Nov. 25 at Zia. The card has been dubbed the Land of Enchantment card by the Hobbs, N.M., track. There are eight stakes making up the program, with six for Thoroughbreds and two for Quarter Horses. The 11-race card starts at 12:15 p.m. Mountain.

Exaggerator was made the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot when entries for the race were taken Monday. He will start from post 9 in the 10-horse field on Saturday.

The Jackpot, a 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-olds, is the richest offering of the year at Delta. It will anchor a card of eight stakes worth $2.3 million. Saturday’s program will have a special afternoon post of 1:15 Central.