Marquis Downs showed an increase of almost 20 percent in average daily handle on its live product, averaging $43,370 for a total of $1,040,849 on its 24-day meeting, which ended Saturday.

Last year, the total handle for a 30-day meeting was $1,087,612, an average of $36,253.

Almost all of the handle is ontrack since the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, racetrack does not export its signal. Wagering on Marquis Downs is available on its website through Woodbine’s HorsePlayer Interactive.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fort Larned was assigned post 5 in a field of seven older horses for the inaugural running of the $175,000 Homecoming Classic, a 1 1/8-mile race to be run Saturday night on a Downs After Dark card at Churchill Downs.

Fort Larned, the winner of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic, figures to be a heavy favorite in the Homecoming as he makes his final start before returning to Santa Anita for the 2013 renewal of the $5 million BC Classic on Nov. 2.

POMONA, Calif. – Jockey Alonso Quinonez is believed to have sustained a hairline fracture of his tailbone after he went down in a spill Saturday at Barretts at Fairplex, agent Jerry Palermo said.

Preliminary reports Saturday suggested that Quinonez sustained head trauma. However, indications Sunday morning were more optimistic. The rider’s helmet was cracked, but it appears that he did not sustain serious head injury.

Tom Amoss said he felt confident his filly So Many Ways would handle the tight turns at Charles Town after watching her train well at the Churchill Downs training center’s six-furlong track. Amoss was right.

So Many Ways, racing on a wet track for the first time, blew past speedy Florida shipper R Free Roll in deep stretch to capture Saturday night’s $400,000 Charles Town Oaks.

All eight of Take It Like a Man’s previous starts on dirt came on fast tracks. Since he trains at Keeneland, where the main track is Polytrack, Take It Like a Man had never even trained in the mud.

Take It Like a Man’s inexperience with running in the slop hardly showed Saturday night at Charles Town, where he came from slightly off a swift pace to score a surprise victory in the $400,000 Researcher for 3-year-olds.

POMONA, Calif. – Trainer Doug O’Neill won two races Sunday at the Los Angeles County Fair, including the $50,000 Pomona Derby with Avare, and will enter closing day Sunday having clinched his ninth Barretts at Fairplex training title. O’Neill has 12 wins; Mike Pender has six.

Avare ($21.80) raced gate to wire under Saul Arias to win for the fourth time from 11 starts. He won the Derby by three-quarters of a length over favorite Tree of Life. Second choice Curly Top finished seven lengths farther back in third. Time for the 1 1/16-mile race was 1:44.66.

Wardelle is clearly a mare who loves running in the mud. Although she easily won each of her two previous starts this season on wet tracks, Wardelle was overlooked by bettors Saturday night during sloppy conditions at Charles Town.

Sent to the front by jockey J.D. Acosta, Wardelle easily defeated 6-5 favorite Strike the Moon by 4 1/2 lengths in the $50,000 Pink Ribbon Stakes during the undercard of a 13-race program highlighted by a pair of $400,000 stakes, the Researcher and Charles Town Oaks.

Curtis Stewart and Gordon Wilkinson, who race under the stable name CanMedia Inc., made a quick return on their investment when Wild Crush rallied to win the $50,000 Alberta Breeders at Northlands Park on Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up headlined the 11-race Alberta Fall Classic Day card which included seven $50,000 stakes  restricted to Alberta-breds.

Trainer Rod Cone claimed Wild Crush on behalf of CanMedia Inc. for $17,500 just 10 days ago and Stewart and Wilkinson banked $30,000 for his win over the 3-5 favorite Silver Baubles in the Breeders.

BENSALEM, Pa. – The much ballyhooed rematch between Travers 1-2 finishers Will Take Charge and Moreno turned into a one-sided affair Saturday at Parx Racing as Will Take Charge rallied along the inside under Luis Saez and drew off to a decisive 2 1/4-length victory over Moreno in the Grade 2, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby.

Moreno, who was unable to secure an easy lead like he did in the Travers, held second by a neck over Battier. He was followed in the order of finish by Transparent, Fury Kapcori, Romansh, Speak Logistics, and Java’s War.

The Pizza Man is a full-bodied, scopey horse, far from the athletic type that zips through tight holes and accelerates on a dime, but he won the $66,500 Illinois Owners Stakes despite that fact. Forced to split horses in midstretch, then dive to the rail for a final move, The Pizza Man chugged along the fence and won the Owners Stakes by a neck over Mr. Vegas on Saturday at Arlington.