STICKNEY, Ill. – No new cases of equine herpesvirus have been reported for 18 days at Hawthorne Race Course, and the track appears to be on the way out of a de facto quarantine imposed by the State of Illinois on Oct. 26. But the outbreak of the virus, known as EHV-1, is affecting the movement of horses to winter quarters at tracks like Fair Grounds in New Orleans, which opens its meet Nov. 22. Close to 100 horses from at least six trainers cannot depart Hawthorne for Fair Grounds until the Illinois Department of Agriculture lifts a ban on horses leaving the Chicago-area track.

Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans on Tuesday announced plans to open the track’s infield to fans on Louisiana Derby Day, March 30.

A release from the track said that the Fair Grounds infield hasn’t been accessible to the public during a race day since the 1930s. Patrons will cross from the apron to the infield – going over the main track and the turf course – on temporary bridges borrowed from Pimlico Race Course.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Midnight Ballet, who successfully stretched out around two turns to win the Sharp Cat Stakes on Sunday, could come back in the Grade 1, $500,000 Hollywood Starlet on Dec. 8, trainer Tom Proctor said.

For her to run in the Starlet, though, Midnight Ballet will have to be supplemented to the race for $10,000, and it costs another $10,000 to start. She was not nominated to the race.

Midnight Ballet has earned her way, though. First prize in the Sharp Cat was $60,000.

After a delay brought about by last week’s nor’easter, Kid Kate and Mildly Offensive are set to renew hostilities in Thursday’s $75,000 Pentelis overnight stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint that was snowed out Nov. 8.

Relocated to Saratoga after finishing off the board in the A Gleam Stakes on Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track, Mildly Offensive withstood a duel through torrid fractions in the Big Bambu Stakes first out for Todd Pletcher. “Those were some fast fractions – that’s kind of her game,” he said.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Trainer Mike Puype won his first Breeders’ Cup race earlier this month, and eventually doubled the number of Breeders’ Cup winners in his barn.

Mizdirection provided Puype with his first win in a Breeders’ Cup race, in the Turf Sprint, but he also now trains Calidoscopio, the Argentine import who won the BC Marathon and has remained in this country.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with him yet,” Puype said at Betfair Hollywood Park, where he is based. “He’s a hard horse to spot.”

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The filly-mare turf division in California was bolstered recently by an outstanding U.S. debut from Rhythm of Light, emphatic winner of the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

Now trained by Simon Callaghan, Rhythm of Light will take a break and return in March in the Grade 2 Santa Ana Handicap at Santa Anita.

Meanwhile, Callaghan will unveil another well-regarded female turf import Thursday at Betfair Hollywood Park. Qaraaba makes her U.S. debut in race 7, a second-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

After My Best Bet scored a better-than-looked win in a one-mile optional claiming race last Friday at Golden Gate Fields, punching his ticket to the $75,000 Gold Rush on Dec. 8, his trainer, Billy Morey, paid close attention to Saturday’s $55,100 Golden Nugget at Golden Gate Fields.

Morey came away very impressed by the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained duo of winner Outside Nashville and third-place finisher Zeewat, both of whom figure to challenge My Best Bet in the Gold Rush.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Sweet Cassiopeia is a 4-year-old filly whose name comes from a queen in Greek mythology. According to Wikipedia, the queen “boasted about her unrivaled beauty,” and at some point in history, Cassiopeia became a famous constellation.

Kyle Frey guided Kissn Tristan to a third-place finish Sunday in the third race, his first race since breaking the femur in his right leg in a July 14 spill at Parx Racing. Frey, 20, got his start at Golden Gate Fields in 2010 and received the Eclipse Award as the leading apprentice jockey last year while riding primarily at Parx, near Philadelphia.

After Frey broke his leg, doctors told him he wouldn’t be able to ride for at least six months and maybe for up to a year. For those not keeping count, he returned to riding in just short of four months.

Itsmyluckyday was part of a small contingent of Florida-based horses who were traveling to Louisiana on Monday to start in major stakes on the Delta Downs Jackpot card Saturday. Itsmyluckyday is being pointed for the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot, while his traveling companions, Salamera and Rose to Gold, are shipping in for the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess. The horses vanned out of Calder late morning Monday and were due to arrive at the Vinton, La., track before 5 a.m. Tuesday.