LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mike Trombetta and perhaps some of his other colleagues were working on the assumption that opting for the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes instead of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint was not unlike taking a proverbial bird in the hand instead of two in the bush.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine canceled Thursday’s eight-race card before the first race because of unsafe track conditions. There was an apparent drainage problem around the three-quarter pole on the Polytrack, which was caused by heavy rainfall on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

It is the first track-related cancellation at Woodbine since the Polytrack was installed in 2006.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Early and late, pick four bettors must navigate through full fields of 2-year-olds in the Bertram F. Bongard and Joseph A. Gimma, a pair of $100,000 seven-furlong sprints on the New York Showcase Day card at Belmont Park. The B. F. Bongard is race 4 and the third leg of the early sequence. The J. A. Gimma is race 7 and kicks off a $300,000 guaranteed late pick four at 4:13 p.m. Eastern.

Despite some lean years lately, N ew England racing fans typically respond when good horses comes to town. Expect a party Saturday when Suffolk Downs brings a full field of female sprinters together for the $100,000 Robert M. O’Malley Stakes in the first six-figure stakes at the track since 2008.

The six-furlong headliner drew a field of 12 from throughout the Northeast, with three competitors having Grade 1 experience on their resumes and one of the favorites, Nicole H, a Grade 2 winner.

MIAMI – Nobody wants to win Saturday’s feature event at Calder Race Course more than trainer Eddie Plesa Jr.

Saturday’s headliner is the $55,000 Bea Oxenberg Memorial, scheduled for older fillies and mares going 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf. Oxenberg, who died in August 2010, and her late husband Bernie owned horses with Plesa for more than 30 years while campaigning such notable Calder-based performers as Hey Byrn, Best of the Rest, and B.B. Best.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sand Cove and Society’s Chairman, a pair of Ontario-sired horses who have combined to win 19 races and more than $1.8 million, have been retired.

“Ideally, they’ll stand in Ontario somewhere,” said Roger Attfield, who has trained both Sand Cove and Society’s Chairman throughout their careers. “They probably could have run again, but they were going to retire at the end of this year anyway. They’ve done enough. They’ve been good to us. I think they’d be good Ontario-sired stallions.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pender Harbour, the most accomplished 3-year-old at Woodbine, will meet older Ontario-sired opposition in Saturday’s $125,000 Bunty Lawless Stakes, which is scheduled for a mile on the grass.

After ending up third in the Queen’s Plate, Pender Harbour captured the final two legs of this year’s Canadian Triple Crown. He won the Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie, and the Breeders’ Stakes here on the grass.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland hit the midpoint of its 17-day fall meet Wednesday with business bucking national trends by showing increases in both all-sources handle and ontrack attendance.

Through Sunday, the eighth day of the meet, all-sources handle totaled $71 million for an average of nearly $8.9 million per program, up more than 9 percent over comparable figures for the 2010 fall meet. Attendance was averaging more than 17,500, up more than 12 percent over last year.

Jockey Francisco Duran was impressed when he worked Shudacudawudya as a 2-year-old for trainer Lloyd Mason before the colt’s first race.

“I got on him before he ran, and I asked Lloyd if he would keep me on him,” said Duran. “I really liked the way he was going, and I loved riding him. I’m glad Lloyd gave me a chance.”

FORT ERIE, Ontario – The Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium recently announced its proposed racing dates for 2012. Live racing would begin on May 6 and conclude on Oct 16.

The total of 69 racing days is a nine-day reduction from the 78-day schedule of 2011. The track will be open for training on April 8.