F ORT ERIE, Ontario – Standing outside one of her stalls on the Fort Erie backstretch, Francine Villeneuve, in blue jeans and T-shirt, looks as trim and as fit as she did during her riding career.

Villeneuve, in her jockey role for more than two decades, had a career full of special occasions, including a ride in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with Wilderness Song, who finished seventh behind her winning stablemate Dance Smartly in 1991. She also rode Wilderness Song to a second-place finish behind Dance Smartly in that year’s Queen’s Plate.

Trainer D. Wayne Baker said he always considered Ourwestcoastghost a come-from-behind sprinter. But when Ourwestcoastghost broke slowly from the rail in the $75,400 Casual Lies Handicap at the Alameda County Fair on Thursday, Baker said, "I wasn't that happy."

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Badge of Glory took the $50,000 Frances Genter Stakes for 3-year old Minnesota-bred fillies, giving trainer Bernell Rhone back-to-back wins in the race after having won with Happy Hour Honey in 2012. He also became the first trainer to win the race three times, his initial win having come with Anisha in 1997.

OCEANPORT, N.J. -  When talking about Rainbow Heir, Ben Perkins Jr. often draws comparisons to the colt’s sire, Wildcat Heir.That link becomes more apparent with each victory.

Rainbow Heir is now 4 for 4 after his latest triumph, the Grade 3, $116,000 Jersey Shore Stakes for 3-year-olds on Thursday at Monmouth Park.

Wildcat Heir was a top class sprinter, the Grade 1 winner of the 2004 De Francis Memorial Dash for Perkins. Rainbow Heir is following those hoof prints.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Able to relax while racing uncontested on the lead under Irad Ortiz Jr., the New York-bred King Kreesa finally got his first graded stakes victory Thursday, going gate to wire to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Poker Handicap by 1 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park.

Positions in the Poker were virtually unchanged from the start, as Howe Great finished second by 1 1/2 lengths over Big Screen. Data Link, the 3-5 favorite who raced three wide and in fourth down the backstretch,  finished fourth. Lubash, Shkspeare Shaliyah, and Upgrade completed the order of finish.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Chief Havoc proved impossible to catch in Thursday’s $150,000 Swaps Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park, even though some of his rivals took turns trying to soften the heavy favorite.

Chief Havoc ($2.80) ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.17, winning the first stakes of his eight-race career.

To do so, Chief Havoc rushed past Dice Flavor on the first turn to take the lead, repelled a brief challenge from the Grade 1 winner Java’s War entering the stretch, and easily held off Tiz a Minister in the final furlong.

The only time in her brief racing career that Shades of Sugar has lost came on a sloppy track, when she finished second on June 13. But she certainly didn’t mind the muddy surface she was asked to race on Thursday at Finger Lakes.

Sent to the front by jockey Gabriel Suarez, Shades of Sugar ($3.50) clicked off fractions of 21.55 and 45.03 seconds en route to a convincing 5 3/4-length victory in the $50,000 Niagara Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – While the Queen’s Plate is the highlight of Sunday’s card, there will be four other stakes run here that day. Heading the quartet is a pair of Grade 2 turf stakes, the six-furlong Highlander Stakes for 3-year-olds and up and the 1 1/8-mile Dance Smartly Stakes for fillies and mares three and up.

Trainer Reade Baker has entered four horses in the Highlander, including Nearctic prep winner Fatal Bullet, and Go Blue Or Go Home, the winner of the Karl Boyes Memorial at 5 1/2 furlongs on Presque Isle’s Tapeta surface in his most recent start.

Picko’s Pride, taking a distinct class drop following a runner-up finish in a Grade 3 stakes, reaffirmed his affinity for Delaware Park’s main track when he cruised to a 3 1/2-length victory as the favorite in Thursday’s $50,250 Hockessin, an overnight stakes for sprinters.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Alley Oop Oop gave his backers and connections a few anxious moments before ultimately grinding out a hard-fought head decision over even-money favorite Bad Debt in Thursday’s $108,000 Armed Forces Stakes.

Restricted to Florida-breds, the Armed Forces was the first stakes race of the 2013 Gulfstream Park summer meeting.