SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Saturday will mark exactly six years since Rachel Alexandra gave trainer Steve Asmussen one of his biggest victories when she defeated the boys in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.

“I don’t wait for one day a year to think about that race, I think about it all the time,” Asmussen said.

On Saturday, in a bit of irony, Asmussen will send out Constellation against Rachel Alexandra’s second foal, Rachel’s Valentina, in the Grade 1, $350,000 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Judy the Beauty, the champion female sprinter of 2014, will not start Sunday in the $80,000 CERF Stakes at Del Mar, trainer Wesley Ward said in a text message Wednesday.

Ward said Judy the Beauty will remain with his stable at Keeneland. He did not state a short-term race goal, although the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31 is a long-term goal. Judy the Beauty won the 2014 BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita.

Colby Hernandez, the second-leading rider in North America in wins this year, is named on four mounts Saturday at Ellis in starting what will be several weeks of action in Kentucky.

Hernandez, 26, normally rides in Louisiana, but with Evangeline Downs having closed its meet, “Colby wanted to visit with his brother [jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.] and hopefully build some business for when Fair Grounds starts in November,” said agent Anthony Martin.

Through Tuesday, Hernandez trailed only Javier Castellano in wins, 239-235. Antonio Gallardo is next with 233.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Academic will try to become the first filly to win the Grade 3, $250,000 British Columbia Derby since Ali Miss won the richest race in western Canada in 1956. It was the second straight year a filly beat males in the Derby. In 1955, My Ladylove earned $2,600 for her win going 1 1/4 miles. The race has been contested over 1 1/8 miles since 1965.

The final four-day stretch of the 31-day Ellis Park meet begins Friday, with the last of four stakes, the $50,000 Cliff Guilliams Memorial, anchoring the closing-day card Monday.

Also in the condition book for Monday is the Twice Around, although it’s not a certainty to be run. The 2 1/4-mile race has failed to fill more often than not in recent years, although Ellis racing secretary Dan Bork said he is hopeful the $7,500 claiming race will attract a sufficient number of entries this year.

Even getting away from Saratoga didn’t help Corey Lanerie find the winner’s circle.

Lanerie went winless in 13 mounts last weekend – 12 at Ellis Park and one at Monmouth Park – perpetuating what has been a mostly frustrating summer for a jockey accustomed to winning with far more frequency.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Mrazek, the winner of the Graduation Stakes for California-breds on Aug. 5, will miss the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga on Monday because of body soreness.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said Mrazek was diagnosed after a half-mile workout last Sunday and will spend 30 to 45 days resting at Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, Calif.

“We’ll have him back by the end of the year,” O’Neill said.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The California Thoroughbred Trainers group has pledged $150,000 to help fund a proposal to install portable cameras throughout the stables of California’s Thoroughbred tracks for race-day surveillance.

The issue is expected to be discussed at a California Horse Racing Board medication committee meeting Friday at Del Mar. The primary topic will be the administration of Lasix by third-party veterinarians. Trainers currently employ veterinarians to administer the medication, but the racing board has proposed hiring outside veterinarians to handle the task.

DEL MAR, Calif. – For $10,000, the stakes winners Right There and Swipe will each start in a $300,000, Grade 1 race for 2-year-olds at Del Mar this weekend.

That is the supplemental entry fee facing Matt Bryan, who owns both runners through his Big Chief Racing. Right There, bound for the Del Mar Debutante for fillies on Saturday, and Swipe, who will run Monday in the Del Mar Futurity, are trained by Keith Desormeaux, who said Wednesday the stout fees are worth the investment.

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.”