PHOENIX – E Z Kitty confirmed herself the top female horse at Turf Paradise with an easy victory in Saturday’s $35,000 Kachina Handicap.

Not only does Lovely Vin seem to be getting better race by race, he also appears to be getting smarter.

Lovely Vin’s two wins and two seconds since owner Maggi Moss claimed him for $20,000 last summer all came via pacesetting trips. Saturday, in the Dixie Poker Ace at Fair Grounds, Lovely Vin rated patiently in second while the filly Sunday’s Child led. When jockey Rosie Napravnik asked him to go, Lovely Vin quickly overhauled Sunday’s Child at the top of the stretch, going on to a 5 ¼-length romp in the $60,000 Dixie Poker Ace for Louisiana-bred grass horses.

Making her first start in eight months, Hard Not to Like got through along the rail and proceeded to outrun Channel Lady in the final 100 yards Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Marshua’s River at Gulfstream Park.

With Joe Rocco Jr. aboard, Hard Not to Like got a good trip from her outside post in the field of eight fillies and mares, lurking in midpack before making her winning run. She returned $17.60 when finishing the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:41.70 over a firm course.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Thanks in large part to the highest-priced winner on the New York Racing Association circuit in nearly 14 years, there will be a pick-six carryover of $99,787 into Sunday’s card at Aqueduct.

The Sunday sequence will begin with race 4 (1:54 p.m. Eastern) and include the $75,000 Cat Cay Stakes.

There was a $20,827 carryover entering Saturday’s card and an additional $138,579 was wagered into the pool.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It remains to be seen if Vyjack is a viable candidate for the Kentucky Derby but he did his pass his first test around two turns and first gut check winning Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,00 Jerome Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Showing the versatility that could make him dangerous on the Kentucky Derby trail this spring, Goldencents won for the third time at his fourth different racetrack, and came from slightly off the pace when capturing the Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, a performance that puts his trainer, Doug O’Neill, back in the Derby spotlight.

O’Neill won the Derby and Preakness last year with I’ll Have Another, an experience he said provided the confidence that he and his team could win America’s most-coveted race.

Mac the Man proved clearly best when romping to a four-length triumph Saturday in the 28th running of the $50,000 Turfway Prevue at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

An easy winner of a Dec. 8 Turfway allowance designed as a prep for the Prevue, Mac the Man validated that effort when eased up in the final stages of the 6 1/2-furlong Prevue, finishing in 1:18.31 over Polytrack. He returned $7 as second choice in a field of eight 3-year-olds.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Great Attack made his 2013 debut a winning one Saturday when he roared past pacesetter Silver Cloud through the final furlong to post a 1 3/4-length victory in the $75,000 Tampa Turf Dash at Tampa Bay Downs.

Under a well-judged ride by Angel Serpa, Great Attack was content to lurk just off a hot pace contested by Silver Cloud, Hold On Smokey, and P.J's Back as that trio contributed to a quarter of  21.19 seconds and half of 44.31 while racing as a team into the stretch

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jockey Chris DeCarlo was on the Belt Parkway, one exit south of Aqueduct headed home to New Jersey when he received a text message from trainer Todd Pletcher about his status to replace the injured Rajiv Maragh aboard Princess of Sylmar in Saturday’s  $100,000 Busanda Stakes.

“He sent me a text and said you’re the leading candidate to ride her so I turned around and came back and I’m glad I did,” DeCarlo said.

Each of the last three seasons, Golden Set crossed the finish line first in a stakes on the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic program at Charles Town. Yet he remains eligilble for Tuesday night’s co-featured eighth race, a seven-furlong allowance restricted to nonwinners-of-two-races lifetime.

Even more strangely, Golden Set may be more of a shaky proposition at a short price than a sure thing.