VANCOUVER, British Columbia – As a 14-year-old kid 32 years ago, Chad Joe was inspired when his impoverished family received free courtside tickets to a Harlem Globetrotters game.

Greg Douglas, media director at Hastings, set up Joe’s memorable experience. Because of the close relationship that developed after Joe contacted Douglas in 2011 to thank him, Joe has become a major player in the horse racing scene at Hastings. He races under the stable name Copper Water Thoroughbred Company.

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DEL MAR, Calif. - These are heady days for trainer Simon Callaghan, who is hoping to take shots at three important races here in upcoming weeks, beginning with Ighraa in the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Oaks on Saturday.

Louisiana Downs will institute a guaranteed super pick-five jackpot payoff of $25,000 starting Thursday, said Travis Stone, the track’s announcer and mutuel manager. The bet will run on the final five races of the program.

The jackpot pays out when there is one individual ticket with all five winners. There is an $8,333 jackpot carryover pool into Thursday’s card, but Stone said regardless of pool size, if one ticket hits, Louisiana Downs is guaranteeing a payoff of $25,000.

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DEL MAR, Calif. – Fourth in the Pacific Classic in 2011 and second last year, Game On Dude will come into this year’s edition of the Grade 1, $1 million race on Aug. 25 riding a five-race win streak. But, most significantly, he appears to be handling Del Mar’s Polytrack surface much better than in years past.

Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico will put on two programs of trials for the Grade 1, $2.6 million All American Futurity on Thursday and Friday in a first for the 54-year-old race. A single marathon card had long determined the 10 finalists to the track’s Labor Day Classic.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The 4-year-old gelding Grandeur was bred in Ireland and made his first nine starts in England, but all the while his trainer, Jeremy Noseda, harbored plans for a different kind of racing.

“I always had in my mind that this horse was ready-made to race in America,” Noseda said. “He loves turning tracks in Europe, and the ground – he’s one of those horses that the ground can’t be fast enough for him. He always just gave me the gut feeling that he’d like American racing.”

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Tiz Miz Sue, who has not run since winning the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont on Memorial Day, will skip the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga on Aug. 25, trainer Steve Hobby said Tuesday.

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DEL MAR, Calif. – At Del Mar, optional-claiming runners are not created equal. Horses with allowance conditions are preferred in said races, horses in for a tag go to the back of the line. Says it right there, in nicer, stiffer language, on page 38 of the condition book.

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Trainer Wesley Ward is confident he will finally get the first Grade 1 win of his career when he sends out Judy the Beauty later this month in the Ballerina. But first, Ward will have an opportunity to pick up a Group 1 victory in Europe when he sends No Nay Never to Deauville in France for Sunday’s Prix Morny.

Gantry is back on the work tab at his Evangeline Downs Training Center base, and a fall return is possible for the Grade 2-winning sprinter, trainer Ron Faucheux said. Gantry has not raced since he finished second to Handsome Mike in the Grade 3 Commonwealth at Keeneland on April 13. Last year, he won the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap at Calder Race Course.

Gantry breezed a half-mile in 52.06 seconds on Saturday. The move ranked 33rd of 42 at the distance. It was his third work back since July 20.