INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Trainer Graham Motion almost pulled off the training feat of 2012 last weekend, when Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom nearly won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in making his first start since February. Back home now in Maryland, Motion is gearing up for his next raid of Southern California, and while the stakes won’t be quite as high in a fortnight, Motion, again, will be a force to be reckoned with.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Al Stall Jr. would give somebody else a chance, but that would be against the spirit of competition – not to mention the rules of racing. Not only has Stall won with 7 of his first 11 starters to grab an early lead in the fall-meet trainer standings at Churchill, but he also won with 3 of his last 4 starters at the Keeneland meet. That’s a remarkable 10 for his last 15 in Kentucky.

MIAMI – Perhaps it’s the deeper racetrack or the warmer climate. Or maybe just something in the water. Whatever the reason, Calder has suddenly become a haven for Breeders’ Cup champions.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Another Breeders’ Cup is in the books, and after catching their collective breath, horsemen are turning their attention to their next opportunities before the year is out.

One of those is trainer Mark Casse, who is eyeballing the showcase race of the Churchill Downs fall meet, the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on Nov. 23. Casse has as many as three horses as prospects for the $400,000 race, including two exiting the Nov. 2-3 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 30 days served recently and reluctantly by trainer Bret Calhoun came with certain ironies. The first is that he went on an island vacation that he never would have otherwise taken. The second is that the horse whose medication violation led to the penalty is among the first he will run since the suspension elapsed earlier this week.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Incredicat, who has been absent since tiring badly here in the Aug. 4 Seagram Cup, will be looking to get back into the swing of things when he returns to action Sunday.

Trained by Ian Black, Incredicat will be racing older rivals while competing under the second-level allowance condition in an optional $62,500 claimer.

“It’s a tough spot,” said Black, who trains Incredicat for David Willmot, John Fielding, and the Hat Trick Stable of Doug Murphy and partners. “I’m in here because the race is here. If it had been next week, I would have been happier.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Going by the company she’s been keeping, the California shipper Mechaya should be formidable in Sunday’s $150,000 Glorious Song Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

Mechaya is based with trainer John Sadler at Santa Anita, where she was a distant second in an Oct. 4 allowance to Beholder, who took the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies there Nov. 2.

Colonial Downs in Virginia will race seven fewer live racing days next year and cut the purses for its two biggest stakes in an effort to boost average purse size during the 25-day meeting, the track said on Thursday.

The track received approval for the meet on Wednesday from the Virginia Racing Commission. The meet will begin on June 8 and run through July 13, with live racing Wednesday through Sunday. Racing Wednesday through Saturday will be conducted with a 6 p.m. first post, while racing on Sunday will begin at 12:55 p.m.

Pyc Kant Katch Me was the fastest qualifier for a $1 million race back in May, but was a late scratch in the finale because of an unfortunate mishap in the gate. Saturday night, he will get a second shot at seven figures in the Grade 1, $1 million Texas Classic Futurity for Quarter Horses at Lone Star Park.

“He deserves a big one,” said Judd Kearl, who trains the undefeated Pyc Kant Katch Me for JNB Enterprises.

Only Boy will try to make it three wins in his last four attempts in the $50,000 Ruff/Kirchberg Memorial at Beulah Park on Saturday afternoon.