Golden Gate Fields racing secretary David Jerkens said that at least four of the 20 nominated to Saturday’s $100,000 Pike Place Dancer Stakes have been confirmed to run, and he expects several more to commit to the one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies.

The Peter Miller-trained Miss Empire is the most accomplished of the four with a victory in the Cinderella Stakes at Hollywood Park and thirds in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes on Sept. 24 at Santa Anita and the Grade 2 Best Pal against colts at Del Mar.

Weather permitting, some nice fillies and mares who haven’t done much running lately will clash in the Serena’s Cat, an $80,000 overnight stakes scheduled for seven furlongs on the Widener turf Thursday at Belmont Park.

The Serena’s Cat, which heads a strong final Thursday card supported by four allowance races, will see the comeback of Much Rejoicing, who suffered burns and abrasions, but no structural damage, when a van carrying six of trainer Jimmy Toner’s horses was cut off and overturned while en route from Palm Meadows in Florida to Fair Hill in Maryland on April 18.

STICKNEY, Ill. – The outbreak of equine herpesvirus at Hawthorne Race Course continues to be confined to a single barn on the track’s backstretch, and after a week during which no new cases of the neurological form of the virus were reported, hope continues to grow that the sickness might no longer be spreading.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will be the focus of the racing world over the next two weeks as the 2012 Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 2-3 bears down.

The build-up begins with the beginning of the race week Thursday, when a working-class group of sprinters race 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course in the race-7 feature, a second-level optional $62,500 claimer led by the consistent and reliable veteran Smokey Lonesome.

After an absence of five years, jockey Dennis Carr returned to Northern California for the Golden Gate Fields fall meet and scored a victory each day of opening week.

All four winners returned double-digit payoffs. A $2 wager on each runner would have netted a $22 profit. Carr also had 2 seconds and 3 thirds from his 18 mounts.

The 43-year-old Carr began his career in New York and still makes his home there with his wife, Alisa. He made Northern California his home from 1995-2002 and again from 2004-07.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – If it’s a racing day at Keeneland, then it must be another potentially big day for an ex-jockey named Wesley Ward. With major contenders such as New Believer and Gentlemans Code running Thursday, Ward could add to what already has been a productive fall meet.

Last Saturday, Ward sent out Gypsy Robin to capture the Grade 2 Raven Run and become the first horse to sweep the two major Keeneland sprints for 3-year-old fillies, having already won the Grade 2 Beaumont in the spring.

The Arkansas Racing Commission will meet Wednesday morning to consider adoption of a handful of notable proposed rules or amendments that could go into effect during the Oaklawn Park meet that opens in January. Before action is taken, the commission will hear public comment during the meeting Wednesday.
The first proposed rule would provide for prerace examinations the morning a horse is to race. The exam would be conducted by a commission veterinarian. (Post-time exams by a state veterinarian are standard procedure before each race at Oaklawn.)

She’s All In likely wrapped up her 5-year-old season last Friday night when she romped by seven lengths in the $145,000 Oklahoma Classics Distaff at Remington Park. Donnie Von Hemel, who trains She’s All In for Robert Zoellner, said future plans are being debated for the mare, who earlier this year won the Grade 3 Sixty Sails at Hawthorne.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown knows nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup, but he feels he has legitimate chances with all six of the horses he pre-entered on Monday for this year’s 29th edition of the event.

On Monday, Brown said he had pre-entered Awesome Feather (Ladies’ Classic), Zagora (Filly and Mare Turf), Watsdachances (Juvenile Fillies Turf), Noble Tune and Balance the Books (Juvenile Turf), and Corporate Jungle (Turf Sprint) for the Breeders’ Cup, which will be conducted at Santa Anita on Nov. 2-3.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It would not have been a surprise had the connections of Book Review opted to pre-enter her Monday in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint to be run Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

After all, she ran a terrific race winning the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks at seven furlongs – the distance of the Filly and Mare Sprint – on Sept. 22.

But after some consideration, trainer Chad Brown and owners Gary and Mary West opted not to point to that race and instead will experiment by stretching her out in distance in Wednesday’s $85,000 Imperial Gesture Stakes at Belmont Park.