Trainer Leo Azpurua was dying to try Manicero on the turf in Saturday’s $75,000 Naked Greed Stakes at Calder. But Azpurua wasn’t exactly singing the blues after both the Naked Greed and its filly counterpart, the $75,000 Crystal Rail Stakes,  were taken off the grass and moved to a fast main track due to all the rain that fell in south Florida again this  week.

 SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - For most of the year, it seems like Royal Delta has been playing catch-up in the 3-year-old filly division.  By virtue of her dominant performance in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama Stakes before 33,380 at balmy Saratoga, it seems safe to say she has ascended to the level of the elite in the division.

 NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Sneak a Cold Treat scored a repeat win in Saturday’s $50,000 Honey Jay Stakes at Thistledown, leading every step of the way to prevail by a length under Yamil Rosario.

Owned by Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. and trained by Jamie Ness, Sneak a Cold Treat returned $5.60 to win after covering six furlongs in 1:10.38.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Niigon’s Touch closed stoutly under Tyler Pizarro to capture her first stakes convincingly in the $125,000 Eternal Search at Woodbine on Saturday.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Senor Rojo, ($5.70) came from just off the pace to win the $75,000 Speed to Spare at Northlands Park on Saturday. The Speed to Spare was one of three stakes supporting the Grade 3, $300,000 Canadian Derby.

Eve Giselle remained perfect racing over the main track at Delaware Park when she wore down 20-1 longshot Sassy City to capture Saturday’s Grade 3, $151,050 Endine Stakes.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Tajaaweed has been disqualified from his first-place finish in the Grade 3 Arlington Handicap on July 9 because a laboratory test revealed the presence of the bronchodilator clenbuterol in a urine sample.

Clenbuterol, a class 3 drug under the classification system employed by the Association of Racing Commissioners International, is not permitted at any level on race day in Illinois. Tajaaweed was ruled unplaced in the race, with second-place finisher Mister Marti Gras moved up to first through the disqualification.

Trainer Butch Reid Jr. all but committed Poseidon’s Warrior to Saturday’s Grade  1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga after watching his steadily improving 3-year-old breeze an easy half-mile in 50.47 over a main track that was decidedly on the slow side before the renovation break on Saturday. With regular jockey Frank Pennington aboard, Poseidon’s Warrior went his opening quarter in 25.31 before finishing in 25.16 under little urging from Pennington.

It’s not often the subject of a post-race interview is the third-place finisher in a first-level New York-bred allowance race.

But trainer Rick Violette was swarmed by the media after Cribnote finished a close third, beaten one-half length by Green Monster in Saturday’s opener. It was Cribnote’s first race in 1,050 days, or since he finished third to Vineyard Haven in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park on Oct. 4, 2008.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – At this time last year, trainer Mike Hushion thought enough of his New York-bred filly Lovely Lil to run her in the Grade 1 Test Stakes. Her dead-heat finish for fourth was no disgrace in Hushion’s eyes, especially given the rough start she had that day.

Little went right for Lovely Lil the remainder of 2010 as she lost three more races before going to the sidelines with shoulder and ankle issues. Lovely Lil returned from a nine-month layoff to win a New York-bred allowance race by a neck in a gutty performance here on July 27.