Average daily all-sources handle at Sunland Park in southeast New Mexico rose 4.9 percent for the 77-day meet this year compared with the figure from the 77-day meet last year, according to records provided by Sunland on Wednesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -  Nick Nicholson, the Keeneland president and chief executive who presided over two major renovations at the track and auction house, will retire on Sept. 1, after nearly 13 years at the helm of the not-for-profit company. He will be succeeded by the association's current vice president and chief financial officer, Bill Thomason.

Nicholson, the sixth president in the 76-year history of Keeneland, said on Wednesday afternoon that he decided late last year to announce his retirement this spring because of his confidence in the association's management and employees.

Here's my race-by-race rundown of Friday's pick four at Aqueduct on April 20, 2012. I'm building my wager with TicketMaker, found exclusively on DRF.com. I'm making incremental bets at the minimum $0.50, with a budget of $100.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden and the Daily Racing Form ’s David Grening will be presented the Old Hilltop Award at Pimlico’s Alibi Breakfast on May 17, two days prior to the Preakness Stakes. The Old Hilltop Award honors those who have covered Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction.

Country Day, second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint last fall and a three-time stakes winner of more than $500,000, has been retired after incurring a stress fracture in a recent workout at Churchill Downs.

Owned by the Klein family of Louisville and trained by Steve Margolis, Country Day won 7 of 19 starts and earned $503,829 when racing exclusively in sprints on dirt, turf, and synthetic. He won his final race, the Feb. 25 Colonel Power Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Agave Kiss retained her unbeaten record with a front-running victory in the $75,000 Trevose Stakes on Tuesday at Parx Racing near Philadelphia.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hope springs eternal in Thursday’s third race, a $60,000 maiden dash that is New York’s first baby race of the season.

A field of seven – two colts, one gelding, and four fillies – entered the 4 1/2-furlong sprint.

Among them are Shanghai Bobby and Ju Ju Eyeballs, trained respectively by Todd Pletcher and Wesley Ward. This could be a sneak preview of more such clashes to come, when Belmont’s revamped spring program gets under way and offers $70,000 pots along with a $100,000 bonus to any maiden winner that wins a graded stakes on the circuit in 2012.

Creative Cause moved closer to a start in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs with a five-furlong workout at Hollywood Park on Tuesday.

Creative Cause, who won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes in March and was second to I’ll Have Another in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20.

“The track might be a little bit slow today,” trainer Mike Harrington said. “He didn’t need to do any more than he did.”

LEXINGTON, kY. - The spring meet at Keeneland has been an unforgettable one for Andrew McKeever, the 45-year-old Irishman who going into this week of action was tied for the lead atop the trainer standings with 4 winners from just 8 starters. Easily his most noteworthy score came Saturday with Daisy Devine in the Jenny Wiley, giving McKeever the first Grade 1 victory of his 17-year career.

“It’s been a great meet so far,” said McKeever.[bc_video_id:249027:]

Del Mar will offer 43 stakes worth $7.75 million at its summer meeting, which runs from July 18 to Sept. 5, including two new stakes for 2-year-olds on turf and one race renamed to reflect a closer relationship between the racetrack and the Oak Tree Racing Association.

Oak Tree ran a fall meeting at Santa Anita from 1969 to 2009 and at Hollywood Park in 2010. The track did not run a meeting in 2011 and will not do so this year, but is forging closer ties with Del Mar and Hollywood Park, according to Oak Tree’s executive vice-president Sherwood Chillingworth.