LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap has had its purse restored to the $500,000 level in the most notable change on a spring stakes schedule that otherwise has received a basic status-quo treatment from Churchill Downs racing officials.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Renee’s Titan closed more than five lengths in the final furlong to score an upset win in Monday’s $150,500 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita, denying Beholder, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2012, a victory in her first start of 2013.

Renee’s Titan ($43.80) caught 1-5 Beholder in the final 50 yards to win by three-quarters of a length for her first stakes win. Ridden by Tyler Baze, Renee’s Titan ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.14.

“I knew I had it at the eighth pole,” Baze said.

“I skimmed the rail and lost my stick, but she did it for me.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark - Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and jockey Jon Court won their second 3-year-old prep in two days on Monday, when Will Take Charge dug in to get past Texas Bling by a neck in the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park. On Saturday at Fair Grounds, the men teamed to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte with Oxbow.

“It was a big weekend,” said Court.

Private Tale overcame a tardy start before getting a terrific trip under pick-up jockey Sheldon Russell and rallying for a mild upset Monday in the $125,000 Native Dancer Stakes at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

After hopping at the start of the “about” 1 1/16-mile race, Private Tale was never rushed when he was picking off rivals one by one, finally pushing past the front-running favorite, Javerre, to win by three-quarters of a length. He returned $16 after finishing in 1:45.35 over a fast main track.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Distinctiv Passion won his stakes debut in the $75,460 San Pedro Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters by 1 1/2 lengths at Santa Anita on Monday.

The winning margin was deceptive.

Jockey Edwin Maldonado quit riding Distinctiv Passion in the final 60 yards or so, allowing runner-up Hear the Ghost to whittle the margin. Still, Distinctiv Passion ($3.60) was a comfortable winner in a hand ride, leading throughout and running six furlongs in a quick 1:08.50.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The major storyline for Super Bowl XLVII is the faceoff between opposing head coaches and brothers John and Jim Harbaugh.

At Aqueduct – at least for the last week – it seems like every day is Super Bowl Sunday.

Brothers Irad and Jose Ortiz have dominated the recent proceedings at Aqueduct, winning 30 of the 54 races run at the Big A during the six-day period Jan. 16-21. Irad won 17 races, Jose 13.

Three-time Eclipse Award-winning rider Ramon Dominguez, who suffered a slightly displaced skull fracture in a spill at Aqueduct last Friday, showed some improvement over the weekend, but remained in the intensive care unit of Jamaica Medical Center Hospital on Monday.

Updates on the rider’s condition have been limited. On Sunday, Dominguez’s agent, Steve Rushing, in a text to the New York Racing Association, said Dominguez is “slowly progressing each day. He’s talking a little bit more today.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Frac Daddy may have worked his way into the Grade 3, $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park with an effortless work here Monday, in which he went five furlongs in 1:01.31, then was caught by Daily Racing Form going out six furlongs in 1:13.95 and seven furlongs in 1:27.46.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – It has been six weeks since the meeting started at Tampa, just long enough to see there’s a ding-dong battle shaping up for leading rider between Daniel Centeno and Angel Serpa.

Centeno, who has topped the local rider standings four times, has been clicking off winners at a steady rate since the beginning of the meet, and through Sunday, he had 31 victories.

Serpa, who was among the finalists for the Eclipse Award as leading apprentice in 2011, has 30 wins and had a big week last week, winning eight races in three days heading into Sunday’s card.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -  In an appropriate but not totally unexpected turn of events, the odds-on Charming Kitten, a son of Kitten’s Joy, outgamed a tenacious but still somewhat green Bambazonki to register a one-length victory in Sunday’s $100,000 Kitten’s Joy Stakes at Gulfstream Park.