PHOENIX – There was a time last year when Page Springs looked as though she might be the best female juvenile to race on this circuit since, well, ever. Alas, Page Springs has fallen on hard times at 3, but she returns to the site of her best work looking to get back on track in Saturday’s $35,000 Princess of Palms.

Despite her accomplishments, she’s not the likely favorite in the six-furlong dirt event for fillies and mares, which drew a field of six. That honor probably goes to Lasso From El Paso.

Quarter Horses from Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, and all around Texas have descended on Lone Star Park near Dallas for Saturday night’s Grade 1, $75,000 Refrigerator Handicap. The race, to be run over 440 yards, carries an automatic berth into the Grade 1, $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 15.

Madeira Park will take on her elders in the $50,000 Duchess of York at Northlands Park on Saturday. Despite being the only 3-year-old in the five-horse field of fillies and mares, she has been assigned high weight of 119 pounds for the 1 1/16-mile race.

Trainer Dave Forster isn’t concerned about the weight.

“That’s not a lot of weight so it doesn’t matter,” said Forster. “The main thing is she is doing well and she likes the track at Northlands.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Aruna will start from post 3 with Ramon Dominguez aboard in defending her title against 12 other fillies and mares in the Grade 1, $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes, which will be run Sunday for the 57th time at Keeneland.

[bc_video_id:264536:]Last week, female turf stayers had their moment in the spotlight, competing in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont and Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita, both at 1 1/4 miles. This Saturday, the female turf milers get their due, this time at Keeneland with the running of the Grade 1, $350,000 First Lady.

A well-timed shopping trip for a pair of cowboy boots put the 2-year-old Far Niente in the stable of trainer John Wells last year.

Last year, Far Niente was bought back at the Heritage Place Yearling Sale in Oklahoma City. A few days later, while on a shopping trip, Wells was approached by a woman connected with the yearling.

“She asked if I still wanted him,” Wells recalled recently. “I was definitely still interested.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Although summer was a bust for Scherer Magic, autumn still holds promise for the 2-year-old sprinter.

A return to form in the $100,000 Tim Conway Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita would re-establish Scherer Magic as a leading candidate for a $500,000 Breeders’ Cup race Nov. 2 on the same track, at the same six-furlong distance.

“We’re looking at the Juvenile Sprint,” trainer John Sadler said, which might have seemed ambitious after an even-money debacle in August at Del Mar.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 2012 campaign of the reigning sprint champion Amazombie has been built around two autumn races – Saturday’s $250,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 3.

He won the same two races last year, when the Breeders’ Cup was held at Churchill Downs, and is prepared for another attempt in coming weeks.

They are races that co-owner and trainer Bill Spawr expects to win.

[SANTA ANITA: Get PPs, watch Saturday's full card live]

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Awesome Fire fizzled when cutting back to 1 1/16 miles of Polytrack for the Algoma Stakes here at Woodbine on Sept. 3.

As the strong second choice in the Algoma, a yearling sales stakes for fillies and mares, Awesome Fire never threatened while ending 7 1/4 lengths back as the trailer in the field of five.

“She got plagued again with a paceless race,” said Martha Gonzalez, wife and assistant to Awesome Fire’s trainer, Nick Gonzalez. “Every time we cut her back they go a half in 49, and she’s too far out of it.”

ELMONT, N.Y. – The uncertainty over how several of the top contenders will handle soft turf adds intrigue to an already interesting handicapping puzzle that is Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Jamaica Handicap at Belmont Park.

Dullahan, a three-time Grade 1 winner over synthetic surfaces, was installed as the 4-5 morning-line favorite for the Jamaica, a race restricted to 3-year-olds and scheduled for 1 1/8 miles over the inner turf course.