Startin Something will start her season by heading a field of nine Ohio-accredited fillies and mares in the $50,000 Dr. T.F. Classen Memorial at Thistledown on Friday.

The 5-year-old Startin Something was named Ohio’s top handicap mare and Ohio-accredited female recently at the Ohio Breeders and Owners annual awards dinner. Trained by Tim Hamm, Startin Something won 5 of 11 last season, including four statebred stakes.

Her first win of 2012 came in the Classen, followed by a win May 28 in the Angenora. Both victories were at t six furlongs.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Aunt Els rose from the claiming ranks to conclude her first campaign with a victory in the 1 1/16-mile Ontario Lassie Stakes in December. On Saturday, Aunt Els will look to pick up where she left off in the $150,000 Fury, a seven-furlong stakes that serves as a major stepping-stone to the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks on June 9.

“If she stays on course and shows enough ability, she’ll go on to the Oaks,” said Norm McKnight, who trains the homebred Aunt Els for Syd Cooper’s RMC Stable.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The 3-year-olds Just Win Baby and Kid Dreams may be seeing a lot of each other this spring and summer at Betfair Hollywood Park.

The two maiden race winners meet in a first-level optional $80,000 claimer over 1 1/16 miles on Friday, a race that could lead to starts in the $100,000 Affirmed Handicap on June 2. Both are held in that high of regard by their respective stables.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - This is the first time in many years that the nearby Trackside simulcast annex will not be open for fans wishing to avoid the hassles of attending the Oaks and Derby at Churchill. It was announced in March that the facility was being shuttered after becoming too expensive and troublesome to maintain for just a handful of business days per year.

[2013 KENTUCKY DERBY: Get PPs, contender profiles, live updates]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The usual abundance of wagering options will be available on the 12-race Friday and 13-race Saturday cards at Churchill, including:

[2013 KENTUCKY DERBY: Get PPs, contender profiles, live updates]

◗ Two-day wagers linking the Oaks and Derby in a daily double ($1 minimum), and the Oaks, Woodford, and Derby in a pick three (50-cent minimum).

AUBURN, Wash. – Cresent McGain, a beacon of consistency at Emerald Downs last year, will begin his 2013 season Friday in the featured sixth race, a $7,500 claimer for older horses at six furlongs. First post for the seven-race card is 6:45 p.m. Pacific.

It won’t be business as usual at the 2013 Northlands Park meet. The 80-day season gets under way this Friday at 6 p.m. Mountain.

There will be no racing on Sundays this year. Instead, management is trying to expand its export business by running on Mondays. Beginning on Canada Day, July 1, Northlands will race on 10 consecutive Mondays ending on Labor Day, Sept. 2.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With 10 set for the 139th Kentucky Oaks and their post-time odds fairly easy to gauge, there clearly are some overlays and underlays stemming from when Churchill Downs offered its only Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool in early March.

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Not unlike several other Friday stakes – namely, the Kentucky Oaks, Eight Belles, Alysheba, and American Turf – the Edgewood Stakes has all the makings of a terrific betting race with a very competitive finish.

The $150,000 Edgewood has a lukewarm 3-1 choice among its field of 11 3-year-old turf fillies going 1 1/16 miles, with the Shug McGaughey-trained Tokyo Time filling that tenuous favorite’s role in a cast otherwise replete with inviting options.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Pat Byrne was pleased with the efforts in defeat from Take Charge Indy over the winter at Gulfstream, where his horse was third behind Graydar in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap and second in the Grade 3 Skip Away to Cigar Street.

“He ran into some very good horses, and of course when you run at this level you’re going to,” he said.

Friday, when Take Charge Indy, last year’s Florida Derby winner, runs in the Grade 2, $300,000 Alysheba Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard at Churchill Downs, it is the same story once again.