Although it will host one stakes race, the San Joaquin County Fair meet in Stockton, Calif., is a meet that relies upon lower-level horses. The connections of those claiming horses came through on Friday’s opening-day card, with 53 horses entered for the six Thoroughbred races.

In addition to Thoroughbreds, Stockton also cards races for Quarter Horses, mules, and Arabians. The meet runs Fridays through Sundays for two weeks. With six days of racing, Stockton is running two fewer cards than last year.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Classic Bryce drops out of Grade 2 stakes company to contest Friday’s Woodbine headliner, a second-level optional claimer scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on grass.

Classic Bryce showed promise in spring 2012, when he placed in three consecutive stakes leading up to the Queen’s Plate, but he got drilled in the Plate itself and in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie.

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ELMONT, N.Y. – Thursday’s 10-race card at Belmont Park will have a Saratoga look and feel to it, with four stakes, including two steeplechase events, highlighted by the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory Handicap at 2 1/2 miles.

To no one’s surprise, Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard appears to hold the strongest hand in both the Lonesome Glory and the $75,000 William Entemnann Memorial at 2  1/4 miles.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Justin Johns was driving a horse van from Arlington Park to Kentucky Downs on Wednesday. The horses riding along behind him weren’t any he trains. Johns hauls some horses and does a little of this, a little of that to supplement his work as a trainer. A horse named Ballyjamesduff was claimed from Johns last week at Arlington, and that left him with a one-horse stable going into the fall.

POMONA, Calif. – The Barretts at Fairplex wagering menu will undergo a minor tweak Thursday when eight races are presented at the Los Angeles County Fair.

The 50-cent pick five begins one race later than normal; it covers races 4-8 Thursday. The $2 pick six will cover the final six races, 3-8. Officials changed the start of the pick five to avoid conflict between the two bets, though the pick five is far more popular.

Designer Legs, a graduate of the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s annual yearling auction, which will be renewed next Tuesday in West Monroe, is being pointed for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, trainer Dallas Stewart said. The 1 1/16-mile race will be run at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Designer Legs, a Louisiana-bred daughter of Graeme Hall, was a $10,000 purchase at last year’s Breeders Sales Co. of Louisiana yearling auction. She has compiled a 3-for-4 record and earnings of $189,000 for Valene Farms.

Taking its cue from other racetracks that have enjoyed success by bundling multiple stakes onto a single program to create a major event day, the Maryland Jockey Club has altered its presentation of stakes at Laurel Park and added a new exotic wager tied to those races.

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ELMONT, N.Y. – When Street Secret came to Chad Brown’s barn, it looked like she would be another one to add to his deep roster of potential turf stakes fillies and mares.

But Street Secret has proven to be perhaps a shade better on dirt, and with an eye toward next month’s Turnback the Alarm, Brown will prep Street Secret in Thursday’s $100,000 Parlo Stakes at Belmont Park.

Vegas No Show reaffirmed his affinity for the dirt track at Delaware Park when he scored a neck victory over pacesetter Smash and Grab in Monday’s $50,375 Ricci Tavi Stakes for 3-year-olds at Delaware Park.

In 4 starts locally, the Monmouth Park-based Vegas No Show ($6) now has 3 wins and a runner-up finish in which he missed by a nose.  At all other tracks, he is 0 for 10.