OLDSMAR, Fla. – Florida-breds will be in the spotlight at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday when horses foaled in the Sunshine State will compete for $450,000 in purse money in the ninth renewal of the Florida Cup.

More than 100 horses have been nominated for the six Florida Cup races, and the names of high-profile trainers abound, topped by Todd Pletcher, who has nine horses nominated for Florida Cup races.

ARCADIA, Calif. – After a two-day carryover, Sunday’s pick six paid $4,446 to 185 ticketholders at Santa Anita, a day in which logical winners dominated.

The winners of Sunday’s pick-six races, the fourth through ninth races, were Koast ($3), Trapper’s Bounty ($5.40), Bodie Girl ($11.20), Rock This Way ($11.40), Calimonco ($7.20), and Pretty Darn Quick ($8.60).

Koast and Trapper’s Bounty were favored. The other winners were the second or third choices.

Sunday’s pick six began with a carryover of $256,115. Bettors added $1,060,559 to the pool Sunday.

Star Guitar became the all-time leading earner among Louisiana-breds with a thrilling victory in a three-horse photo Sunday in the $90,000 Costa Rising Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

The victory was the ninth in a row, and 23rd from 29 career starts, for Star Guitar, a 7-year-old horse bred and owned by the Brittyln Stable of Evelyn Benoit and trained by Al Stall Jr. The son of Quiet American earned $54,000 to push his career bankroll to $1,689,862 and past Happy Ticket atop the all-time Louisiana-bred earnings list.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Calimonco ended a four-race losing streak in Sunday’s $79,950 Sidd Finch Stakes at Santa Anita, a victory that will result in an appearance in a graded stakes later this month.

Ridden by Alonso Quinonez, Calimonco ($7.20) ran a mile on turf in 1:34.16. He took the lead with a little more than a furlong remaining and held off a late threat from Make Music for Me to win by a half-length. Pacesetter Dewey’s Special finished third in the field of six, losing by 1 1/4 lengths.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - One as of yet unidentified bettor walked away with a $791,364 payday for a 10-cent  wager after having the only winning ticket on Sunday’s Rainbow  6 at Gulfstream Park. It is the highest single payoff on any wager in Gulfstream Park history.

According to the Gulfstream’s  mutuel department, the ticket was purchased in Las Vegas at a cost of only $2.40.

The jackpot, which is paid out if there is just a single correct winning combination, was last hit on Feb. 20. 

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Devil and a Half held off the late charge of The Mallard Man for a one-length win Sunday in the $60,000 Arkansas Breeders at Oaklawn Park. The Mallard Man finished 1 1/2 lengths clear of third-place finisher Doin Big Badness.

The 1 1/16-mile race was for 3-year-olds and up bred in Arkansas.

NEW ORLEANS – Russian-immigrant trainer Gennadi Dorochenko goes about his business in an unconventional manner. Morning workouts? Those, Dorochenko – a former jockey – shuns, calling them the province of trainers who want merely to impress owners. What Dorochenko does is race. His horses run far more frequently than those of most American trainers. They run a lot, and they lose a lot. At Fair Grounds this meet, Dorochenko had started 136 horses before Sunday. Six had won.

NEW ORLEANS - Six months ago, the 5-year-old horse Nates Mineshaft was a two-time winner recovering from stem-cell therapy performed on chronically sore ankles, while trainer Austin Smith was fighting to stay in business, his mid-sized string having shrunk to a mere six or seven horses.

Sunday at Fair Grounds, horse and trainer crossed to the other end of the racing spectrum, with Nates Mineshaft, the first graded stakes winner of Smith’s career, scoring a track-record-setting blowout victory in the Grade 2, $396,000 New Orleans Handicap.

Casino Host, getting a textbook ride under John Velazquez, surged past a stubborn Papaw Bodie in the final 70 yards to post a 10-1 upset Sunday in the 20th running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Mervin Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on Saturday may turn out to be as much of a prep race for the $300,000 Melair Stakes at Hollywood Park on April 28 as a prep for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 4.

After Willa B Awesome pulled an upset in the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks, co-owner Terry Lovingier said he would suggest to his partners that the filly run at Hollywood Park in the Melair, for California-bred 3-year-old fillies.

“I would be tempted to stay here,” he said. “I race in California.”