OCEANPORT, N.J. – Monmouth Park brings out the best in Maple Forest.

A 4-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher, Maple Forest is 2-2-0 in four starts at Monmouth. Her latest effort here was a career-best front-running victory in the Red Cross Stakes on Memorial Day, producing a 92 Beyer Speed Figure despite a layoff of almost three months.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Butch Lehr was cleaning out his desk Friday morning when he started to feel the weight of reality setting in. Lehr, 63, will work as a full-time employee at Churchill Downs for the last time Sunday night, ending a remarkable tenure of more than 40 years, including the last 30 as track superintendent.

“I’ve had the last few days to really think about it, and I’m going to miss it, that’s for sure,” he said.

FORT ERIE, Ontario – Tree Lo, the only local entrant, owns by far the best record on grass among a field of eight Ontario-sired fillies and mares in Sunday’s $125,000 Rainbow Connection, a five-furlong turf stakes at Fort Erie.

The 8-year-old Tree Lo, trained by Gary Chudobiak , has won 5 of 11 starts and $49,317 on turf. Tree Lo is listed at 15-1 on the track’s morning line. She is stepping up sharply in class following a win over $5,000 starter allowance competition.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- Northern Passion, who was the 7-5 morning-line favorite for Sunday's $250,000 Bison City at Woodbine, has been scratched.

"She just seemed under the weather, and wasn't herself this morning," said Mark Casse, who trains Northern Passion for John Oxley. "I elected to go ahead and scratch her. I'd just been kind of so-so on the way she'd trained up to this race."

Northern Passion had finished second in the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks, which precedes the Bison City as the first leg of the triple tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.

Here's my race-by-race rundown of Saturday's pick four at Betfair Hollywood Park on June 30, 2012. I'm building my wager with TicketMaker, found exclusively on DRF.com, with a $100 budget and $0.50 incremental bets.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Short fields going two turns often translates to a race with a slow pace. But in the case of the Grade 2 Firecracker Handicap on closing night at Churchill Downs, that doesn’t necessarily look like the case.

Two of the six older horses in the $150,000 Firecracker, which anchors the final program of the 38-day spring meet Sunday, have speed aplenty. So the prospect of an honest pace gives trainer Charlie Lopresti hope that the stretch-running Turallure, the solid favorite, will rebound from a disappointing last start and post his first triumph of the year.

ELMONT, N.Y. – After C C’s Pal earned her first graded stakes victory in the Grade 2 Vagrancy Handicap last month, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. had a flexible plan to get the 5-year-old mare another one.

“We’ll just wing it, see where the good fillies are going, and try to duck them until we have to hit them,” he said.

Account wagering on Golden Gate Fields races increased 11.1 percent during its spring-summer meeting, which ended June 17 with a decline of 2.6 percent in average daily all-sources handle, according to figures provided by the track.

Total handle for the 101-day meet was down less than 1 percent compared to last year’s meeting, which ran for 99 days.

Bettors wagered $2,931,078 per day on live and simulcast Golden Gate races, compared to $3,009,827 last year. Average daily ontrack handle declined 8.7 percent from last year.

Ruby’s Big Band, who successfully invaded Assiniboia Downs for last year’s Canada Day, will be looking for a repeat in Sunday’s renewal of the one-mile feature for fillies and mares.

The Canada Day, which offers a purse of $30,000, will go as the eighth of nine races on a program that begins at 1:15 p.m.

Ruby’s Big Band, a Texas-bred 5-year-old owned by Terry Propps and trained by Charlie Smith, has won 13 of her 39 career starts and compiled a record of 7-3-2 from her 13 Winnipeg appearances.

ALTOONA, Iowa -- Six fillies will tackle the 1 1/16-mile distance in the Grade 3, $200,000 Iowa Oaks and it’s difficult to separate the top three who will vie for favoritism. Kentucky shippers Ice Cream Silence and Uptown Bertie, along with local sensation Tapajo, all carry excellent form into the Oaks.

Ice Cream Silence has won three in a row, including Churchill’s $68,000 Optimistic Gal by five lengths, an effort which impressed her opposition.