Champion racemare Beholder arrived at Keeneland on Monday to begin final preparations for her Breeders' Cup Classic showdown with American Pharoah, Honor Code, and the rest.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – With a couple of exceptions, it was Maintenance Monday at Keeneland, and the majority of the Breeders’ Cup hopefuls who worked during the morning were not asked to do much more than stretch their legs while simply bridging the gap between their previous starts and their ultimate goals, now less than two weeks away.

Handle at Delaware Park was up slightly over last year during its 78th season, which concluded Saturday, according to figures released by the track Monday.

Delaware handled $104,789,404 at its 81-day meet, up 1.9 percent from last year’s total of $102,834,201. Delaware raced 80 days in 2014.
Average daily handle on Delaware Park’s races this year was $1,293,696, marginally higher than the 2014 average of $1,285,428.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Lucky Lindy came out of his victory Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Hawthorne Derby in good condition but is almost certainly done racing until 2016, trainer Mark Frostad said Monday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ken Ramsey is pulling out all the stops to ensure that he and his wife, Sarah, are the leading owners for a record 16th time at a Keeneland meet. Starting Wednesday, and with four days left at the 17-day fall meet, the Ramseys were tied atop the owner standings with John Oxley with five wins apiece.

“We’ve got him right where we’ve want him,” Ramsey said this week with his familiar guffaw. “We’re calling in all the troops.”

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Barclay Tagg said he pre-entered two horses Monday in the Breeders’ Cup, but both of them, Tale of S’avall (Juvenile) and Highland Sky (Juvenile Turf), were on the bubble to get into their races.

That pair worked five furlongs in company Monday morning, with Tale of S’avall going in 1:00.40 and Highland Sky in 1:01.40.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Merry Meadow earned a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint by virtue of her victory in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Stakes at Gulfstream Park in July. On Monday at Belmont Park, Merry Meadow had her final workout for the Breeders’ Cup, breezing four furlongs in 47.10 seconds over the main track.

Merry Meadow worked following the renovation break. Under Gustavo Delgado, she went in even splits of 23.50 seconds and 23.60 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.77. Last week, Merry Meadow worked five furlongs in 1:01.66.

ELMONT, N.Y. – While Honor Code used the one-mile Kelso Handicap as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 1 1/4 miles, Wicked Strong apparently used the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

On Monday, Wicked Strong breezed four furlongs in 47.67 seconds over the Belmont Park training track in preparation for the Dirt Mile. With exercise rider Kelvin Pahal up, Wicked Strong went his first quarter in 23.77 seconds and his second quarter in 23.90. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.31.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Honor Code heated up a cold Monday morning in these parts by blazing five furlongs in 58.16 seconds over the Belmont Park main track, his final major move for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – All racing partnerships should work out this way. A wire-to-wire victory Saturday at Keeneland by I’m Already Sexy produced a scene in the winner’s circle that could be described just one way.

“Very bittersweet,” said Anna Seitz, who assembled and managed the Hit the Board Stables partnership that owns the 5-year-old mare.

I’m Already Sexy was making her final start for a sizable group that enjoyed an exhilarating run of 26 races. She will be sold at auction Nov. 1 at nearby Fasig-Tipton, where Seitz works in public relations and client development.