The horse trailers are being loaded, time to hit the road.

It is closing weekend at the Los Angeles County Fair. By the end of next week, the Barretts Racing at Fairplex stables will be empty and the track will be dark.

The short meet produced just a minor blip on the national scene. Winners and losers came and went. Soon, most will be forgotten.

Not soon forgotten are three horsemen who once walked away from the sport, only to be pulled back. Their paths crossed this fall at the fair. One might never guess they shared a single thing in common.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. – Roode Dude is De Roode’s first foal, first starter, and first winner, and on Saturday he could become the first stakes winner for the 2007 New England horse of the year.

With a victory in the $30,000 African Prince Stakes, the 3-year-old chestnut gelding also would be the second homebred Massachuestts-bred stakes winner this season at Suffolk Downs for Adel Salim, who also trains him. On July 20, Salim won the Rise Jim Stakes with Silk Spinner, who is out of Make the Double, making him an older half-brother to Roode Dude.

As summer turns into fall and the weather turns cooler, trainers Greg Sacco and Eddie Broome are heating up at Monmouth Park. Both have been winning at a high percentage lately and figure prominently in the three $60,000 stakes on Saturday’s New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival card. All 10 races on the program are devoted to New Jersey-breds.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Successful Dan has joined the prospective lineup for the $175,000 Homecoming Classic at Churchill Downs, further enhancing the outlook for a race that already has Fort Larned and Golden Ticket as starters for its inaugural running next Saturday night, Sept. 28.

Trainer Charlie LoPresti said Thursday from Keeneland that “there’s a pretty good chance” Successful Dan will run in the Homecoming, for which entries will be taken Sunday.

POMONA, Calif. – The quirky veteran Luckarack, whose 37-start career has been spent going up and down the class ladder, scored the biggest win of his life Wednesday night at his favorite stomping grounds – the Los Angeles County Fair.

Luckarack and jockey Alonso Quinonez upset a good field in the $75,000 Governor’s Cup Handicap, wearing down Basmati in deep stretch and pulling away to win the sprint by 1 1/4 lengths. Grade 1 winner Drill finished 2 1/4 lengths farther back in third. Final time for 6 1/2 furlongs was 1:18.72.

ELMONT, N.Y. - When 24-1 shot Smokey Brown rallied past 2-1 favorite Gridiron Great in deep stretch of Wednesday’s 10^th race at Belmont, it triggered a $539,765 pick six carryover into Thursday’s card.

Thursday’s pick six will start in race 5 - the $100,000 Spite the Devil Stakes for New York-breds - of the 10-race card and include five turf races.

The pick six was not hit either Saturday or Sunday, creating a $176,813 carryover into Wednesday’s program. An additional $638,095 was wagered into the pool on Wednesday.

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ELMONT, N.Y. – Flash Forward, entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion at Parx Racing, will scratch from that race and instead run Friday at Belmont in the $100,000 Zaftig Stakes.

Orlando Paraliticci, a Florida veterinarian, was caught on raceday in January administering an untested substance that purports to block pain to a horse trained by Jane Cibelli, leading to his ban from Tampa Bay Downs and an ongoing investigation, according to documents prepared by state investigators.

AUBURN, Wash. – Trainer Howard Belvoir has had an eventful summer at Emerald Downs. His stable star, Wasserman, capped his career with a victory at age 11 before an injury sent the 2008 Longacres Mile winner into retirement, and on Aug. 17, Belvoir was inducted into the Washington Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.

Sage Valley could make no impact in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga, but he will be widely expected to rebound Saturday at Laurel Park in the $350,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.