VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Kentucky Derby winning jockey Mario Gutierrez has taken a day off from riding at Betfair Hollywood Park to make an appearance at Hastings on Sunday. A press conference has been scheduled for noon and Gutierrez will meet with fans on the tarmac in front of the winner’s circle at 1 p.m.

Stamp Queen will try to remain unbeaten Saturday at River Downs when she faces seven other Ohio-bred 3-year-old fillies in the $50,000 Tomboy Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

It will be the first time on the grass for the impressive Stamp Queen, as well as her first time going two turns.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Horsemen and horseplayers who were looking forward to the first grass races of the meeting will have to wait.

Turf racing was scheduled to begin this weekend, with the 6 1/2-furlong prep for the Connaught Cup in the condition book for Saturday and the one-mile prep for the Nassau among Sunday’s offerings.

The opening of the E.P. Taylor Course has been put on hold, however, with the best-case scenario being just a one-week delay.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer John Morrison is curious to see how Time Machine runs in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-olds and up at Hastings Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew six horses and goes as the second race on the eight-race card.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Drill and American Act were separated by a nose in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita in February. The rematch occurs in Saturday’s $100,000 Laz Barrera Memorial Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park, a race that trainer Jack Carava says could have a different result.

“It was one inch either way,” Carava said of American Act’s loss. “I’m hoping, knowing that we like the surface, we can turn the tables on him.”

A significant purse boost to one of its signature races, a revised weekday schedule, and an increased emphasis on carding overnight stakes are among the most notable changes as Delaware Park launches its 75th anniversary season Saturday.

Dennis Drazin spent his honeymoon in Hawaii talking about Monmouth Park. This was during the first three weeks of January, and he was needed 5,000 miles and six time zones away.

“Some of my conference calls were 3:30 in the morning, my time,” said Drazin, 60, whose marriage to Nona Balaban on New Year’s Eve was his first. “My wife had to put up with my being on the phone almost daily, trying to put this deal together.”

An alert break will be required when a field of speedy older horses meet in a 3 1/2-furlong, $40,000 optional race that will serve as Saturday’s feature at Northlands Park.

All six of the horses entered want to be on the lead, and considering they will all be making their first start of 2012 it is hard to separate them.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The dark clouds over Monmouth Park, both literal and figurative, have parted in time for opening day on Saturday.

The rain in the area over the past week is expected to clear out, leaving a sunny afternoon with temperatures in the low 70s for the first of 65 dates on the Jersey Shore. A 12-race card starts the meet starting at 12:50 p.m. The $75,000 Decathlon at six furlongs anchors the initial program, launching a season that runs through Oct. 7.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hard to tell what a springtime Saturday at Churchill Downs will bring. The first brought a ferocious hailstorm and the Derby Trial, and the second brought a record crowd of 165,307 and the Kentucky Derby.

So how do you follow up on such drama for the third Saturday? Well, you don’t. It is kind of nice, however, to be able to take a deep breath, find plenty more elbow room in the stands, and enjoy a little $68,000 overnight stakes as a feature race.