OCEANPORT, N.J. – A better post and the absence of Flashpoint makes the $75,000 Select Stakes for 3-year-olds a more favorable spot for Zero Rate Policy on Saturday at Monmouth Park.

Last time out, Zero Rate Policy had the rail on a muddy track in the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Stakes over the Independence Day weekend. Trainer Terri Pompay knew combination of the off track, the innermost post, and Flashpoint spelled trouble.

As usual, Zero Rate Policy was out and winging early. He ran hard and fast before fading to fourth.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though the race was run at a longer distance than perhaps his filly prefers and conducted over a sloppy track, trainer Mike Puype offered no excuses when Turbulent Descent was beaten as the 3-5 favorite in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park on June 11. Instead, he praised the winner and was ready to move on to the next objective.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Following a recent trend the mutuel handle for B.C. Cup Day at Hastings was up by over 10 percent compared with last year. The total handle for the 10 races was easily the largest of the year at $1,172,104 compared with $1,062,846 in 2010.

Todd Pletcher will be busy Saturday at Saratoga when running Mission Impazible in the Whitney Handicap and horses in five other races, but perhaps he will find a couple of spare minutes to focus his attention on the goings-on at Mountaineer Park, where Pletcher will have Modern Cowboy as a main contender in the $125,000 West Virginia Governor’s, the secondary feature on an all-stakes Saturday card at the Chester, W.Va., track.

Turfway Park officials announced Thursday that the Kentucky Cup series will return to the fall meet after a one-year hiatus, with WinStar Farm as a new presenting sponsor.

All five Kentucky Cup events are being revived, led by the Grade 2, $200,000 Classic for 3-year-olds and upward. The series is set for Sept. 24 at the Florence, Ky., track.

After the Classic, the other races all are $100,000 – the Distaff, Sprint, Juvenile, and Juvenile Fillies.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Switch has come so close to winning a Grade 1 race around two turns this year that trainer John Sadler is planning only the slightest strategy change before Saturday’s $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar.

Jockey Joel Rosario will be asked to rate Switch just behind expected pacesetter Freedom Star, with the hope that a close position can lead to a win in the Grade 1 race over 1 1/16 miles.

“We thought we’d go for a change this time,” Sadler said. “She relaxed a little too much last time. We want more of a stalking trip than we’ve had before.”

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – On Saturday, Canterbury Park will host its annual “Extreme Day” of racing. The day will feature the ostrich and camel races found on most extreme day cards, several races with unique conditions and distances, as well as the more traditional $33,000 North Central Quarter Horse Association Futurity.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It has taken longer than hoped for Flat Out and Tizway to reach their potential. With each one coming off a lifetime-best performance in a graded stakes race, it raises the question, can they improve even more?

If so, Saturday’s $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap – which on paper seems as wide open a Grade 1 as you will ever see – could boil down to a two-horse race. If not, then almost any of the remaining nine horses could win it.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Divine Fortune, away from the races for 49 weeks, took over from Decoy Daddy with 50 yards to go and drew clear to win Thursday’s $75,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase by two lengths at Saratoga.

Decoy Daddy, who set the early pace before conceding the lead to Slip Away after the third fence, came back to finish second by 3 1/4 lengths over Nationbuilder, also trained by Sheppard. Slip Away and Dyanski completed the order of finish. Spy in the Sky did not finish the course.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Breeders’ Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian triple crown, is contested over 1 1/2 miles on turf, circumstances foreign to Canadian-bred 3-year-olds here at this stage of their careers.

That fact, plus the $500,000 purse, once again has proved to be an effective lure as a field of 14 was entered Sunday for the Breeders’, surpassing the 13-horse fields of the past two seasons.