There’s a cloud hanging over Saskatchewan racing as the 2012 Thoroughbred meet opens at Marquis Downs on Friday.

The provincial government has proposed the removal of a 10 percent pari-mutuel tax rebate, which has been used for purses and would cost the Thoroughbred and Standardbred coffers some $600,000.

But both Mark Regier, chief executive officer of Marquis Downs operator Prairieland Park, and Rick Fior, manager of racing for the Saskatoon oval, believe that the situation will be readdressed by the government and the storm will be weathered.

Trainer Rick Hedge is looking forward to running Embellished in a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares at Northlands Park Friday night. The $40,000 optional race drew eight horses and goes as the eighth race. Post time for the first of nine races is 6 p.m. Mountain.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One week after the disqualification of Chilled for biting, or at least attempting to bite Zimmer, the wound still runs deep – not for Zimmer, but rather in a metaphoric sense for trainer Paul McGee and his owners, Deerfield Farm Racing and Carl Pascarella.

The stewards disqualified Chilled and placed him second for the incident, a decision McGee called the “wrong call,” pointing to Zimmer seemingly initiating the incident by coming into the path of his horse. Instead of taking the first prize of $34,800, Chilled earned a third of that, $11,600, for second.

INGLEWOOD, Calif - Unzip Me's 2012 campaign remains on pause. Trainer Marty Jones confirmed Tuesday that the 6-year-old mare will skip the $70,000 Great Lady M. Stakes, a six-furlong turf race Sunday at Hollywood that could have pushed her closer to the million-dollar mark in earnings.

"I'm having some trouble with her," Jones said without elaborating.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The spring campaign of 3-year-old Reneesgotzip has been redirected, and the graded stakes-winning filly will stay home rather than ship to Belmont Park for the Grade 1 Acorn on Monday as planned. “We’re going to punt,” trainer Peter Miller said Tuesday at Hollywood Park. “They’re calling for rain in New York, and to run her a mile right now, possibly on an off track, doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Trick question: Which six-furlong race is easier?

Is it a Grade 3 with a $100,000 purse, or an allowance worth $62,000?

The allowance, of course, should be easier. But four of the six runners in the race 7 feature Thursday at Betfair Hollywood Park were plucked from the nominations of the Los Angeles Handicap on Memorial Day Monday, and their presence in the Thursday allowance makes the race almost as compelling as the $100,000 stakes three days later.

One filly who didn’t exit the Kentucky Oaks in such good shape is Summer Applause, who was fourth as the 6-1 fourth choice in the race. Trainer Bret Calhoun said Summer Applause was diagnosed afterward with a knee chip and has been sidelined indefinitely to undergo surgery and recuperate.

ELMONT, N.Y. – There’s something for everyone in Thursday’s optional claiming feature scheduled for the Widener turf at seven furlongs.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Marilyn’s Guy has had some recent success shipping and winning, and his connections will be hoping for more of the same on Monday when he runs in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap. The 1 1/16-mile race is the richest of the meet and it caps an extended, five-day holiday race week at Lone Star.

Marilyn’s Guy on Tuesday morning vanned out of his Delaware Park base bound for Texas after satisfactory flight arrangements could not be made to Lone Star.

While I’ll Have Another has settled in at Belmont Park in preparation for a Triple Crown bid in the 144th Belmont Stakes on June 9, his trainer, Doug O’Neill, will have his attention redirected Thursday clear across the country to Betfair Hollywood Park, where the California Horse Racing Board, at its scheduled monthly meeting, will take the next step in a case that potentially could result in O’Neill being suspended for six months.