Hot Hitter will be favored to win his second stakes of 2011 in Friday’s $168,500 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Derby at Los Alamitos, a race that also includes three runners owned by Vessels Stallion Farm.

Hot Hitter won the Governor’s Cup Derby at Los Alamitos in July, but was a troubled second in a division of the PCQHRA Breeders’ Derby over 400 yards on Sept. 16. Hot Hitter was bumped at the start and finished a half-length behind Enjoy the Walk, who set the fastest qualifying time of 19.39 seconds.

The newly inaugurated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint finds itself in a position similar to the Juvenile Turf. Albeit a rich, attractive race, it is still “little brother” relative to the Juvenile.

It lacks the history, purse, and prestige of the latter race and therefore seems likely to draw mostly 2-year-olds with distant limitations or those simply too far behind schedule to be prepared for a 1 1/16-mile race like the Juvenile.

ANDERSON, Ind. – Preakness winner Shackleford was assigned post 7 and Caleb’s Posse drew alongside in post 6 when a field of eight 3-year-olds was assembled Wednesday for the Grade 2, $500,000 Indiana Derby, the Hoosier Park showcase to be run Saturday for the 17th time.

Trainer Josie Carroll plans to be represented in three of the four stakes here at Woodbine this weekend with Notacloudinthesky entered in Saturday’s $125,000 Victorian Queen, Valli With a Vow in the same afternoon’s Avowal, and James Street on target for Sunday’s $150,000 Durham Cup.

Notacloudinthesky looms as the probable favorite in the field of seven for the Victorian Queen, a six-furlong race for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies.

There are years in which the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is apparent before October.

This isn’t one of those years. A dominant leader, or even a clear pecking order in the division, has yet to be established.

The most established runners entering the fall are Currency Swap and Drill, respective winners of the Grade 1 Hopeful and Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity – Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In races that earned each automatic, paid-entry berths in the Juvenile.

When owner Charles Fipke sent Jersey Town to Barclay Tagg late last summer, he did so with the intention of making the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Tagg, not content with how the horse was doing physically, said he needed more time and asked Fipke if he could point to the Grade 1 Cigar Mile instead.

Tagg’s decision paid off handsomely when Jersey Town outfinsihed Haynesfield by a head to win the Cigar Mile at odds of 34-1.

After bringing Jersey Town back from ankle surgery this year, Fipke asked Tagg if he could point to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Inglorious, who suffered her first defeat at Woodbine when third in last Sunday’s Selene Stakes, will not see action again this season.

“She’s going to Ocala,” said Josie Carroll, who conditions Inglorious for the Donver Stable of Donna and Vern Dubinsky. “She’ll have a couple of months off.

“She’s had a long, hard campaign and a couple of rough trips in a row.”

Inglorious was undefeated in two starts at 2, winning the six-furlong Fanfreluche and the 1 1/16-mile Ontario Lassie.

With a couple of flashy 3-year-old fillies – Turbulent Descent and Pomeroys Pistol – among the top prospects, there seems little doubt the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint once again will draw a deep and competitive field.

Throw out One’s Own Accord’s last two starts, which came in the marathon series, and he looks better than most in a $10,000 claiming race that will serve as Friday’s feature at Northlands Park. The one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up drew seven horses and it appears to be a wide-open event.

If One’s Own Accord came into the race off his third-place finish in a $17,500 claiming race going 6 1/2 furlongs Aug. 6, he would look pretty solid. It is hard to say how much his last two starts at marathon distances took out of him, however.

ANDERSON, Ind. – The sight remains fresh from the 2010 Indiana Derby: Bob Baffert and Mike Pegram giddily floating down a flight of stairs toward the Hoosier Park winner’s circle, thrilled with the way Lookin At Lucky had just stamped himself as one of the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in a highly impressive victory.