ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – There is but one star in the Stars and Stripes Stakes on Saturday at Arlington, and Winchester will be bet accordingly. Favored at 1-2 on the morning line, Winchester faces six apparently overmatched foes while making his first start of 2011 for trainer Christophe Clement.

Sweet Repent has won 7 of her last 8 starts over the past two years. Her only setback during that period came in the 2010 Nancy’s Glitter, when she was upset at 1-5 by Trip for A.J.

Sweet Repent will try to erase the memory of the lone blemish on her record since the summer of 2009 when she takes on the defending champ in Saturday’s $75,000 Nancy’s Glitter, a 1 1/16-mile fixture at Calder that drew a very familiar field of six older fillies and mares.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was arrested on charges of DUI Wednesday night by the San Diego Police Department after the opening-day card at Del Mar.

Smith posted $2,500 bond overnight. His court date has been set for Sept. 1.

Smith worked horses early Thursday morning at the track, and said he would ride Thursday afternoon.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Neil Howard knows he’s taking on a tall task with his top 2-year-old prospect Power World, who will go up against the likely odds-on favorite Overdriven in Sunday’s six-furlong Sanford Stakes. But Howard believes when the juvenile races begin to stretch out further in distance, perhaps as early as the Grade 1 Hopeful later in the meet, that his already graded-stakes-placed colt will really have a chance to blossom.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board voted on Thursday to reduce the permitted levels of the anti-inflammatory analgesic phenylbutazone, a common medication known as Bute, effective Jan. 1.

The board delayed implementation to give trainers time to adjust to the new guideline, which reduces the permitted level from 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood to 2 nanograms. The rule change will mirror a policy by the American Graded Stakes Committee that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2012 requiring all graded races nationwide to have a 2 nanogram threshold.

Cold Cash 123 came close to setting a track record earlier this month when he handily defeated two champions during trials for the Grade 1, $899,524 Rainbow Derby for Quarter Horses. It was a performance that will make him a strong favorite for Saturday’s finale at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

The Rainbow is one of the meet’s three major derbies. It has a record purse after being worth $873,441 a year ago, and its field of 10 includes Jls Mr Bigtime, the champion 2-year-old gelding of 2010, and Llano Teller, who in June won the Grade 1 Ruidoso Derby.

AUBURN, Wash. – Camp Granada, an eye-catching maiden winner in his last start, will get tested for class Saturday in the feature race at Emerald Downs. In addition to making his first start against winners, the speedy 3-year-old will face older horses while traveling around two turns for the first time in his burgeoning career. If he overcomes those many obstacles, Camp Granada could go directly into the stakes ranks – the Emerald Derby is just three weeks away.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Kelly Breen is considering having Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice and Pegasus Stakes winner Pants On Fire work in company when both horses have their final drill for the $1 million Haskell Invitational for 3-year-olds.

That workout could come Sunday, if the heat wave that forced the cancellation of Monmouth’s Friday card finally relents. If Sunday is still too hot, the final work will shift to Monday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Perhaps the best illustration of how competitive Saturday’s $250,000 Coaching Club American Oaks came up is this: New York Racing Association linemaker Eric Donovan made Joyful Victory, the 2-1 favorite in the Kentucky Oaks and odds-on choice in the Mother Goose, the 6-1 longest shot in the five-horse field set to contest the first Grade 1 of the Saratoga meet.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Both City to City and Lilly Fa Pootz had productive seasons last summer at Del Mar, so when it came time to scheduling their 2011 campaigns, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer had his sights set on this meet for them.

On Saturday, both will start in the $85,000 Osunitas Handicap, a supporting feature on a card headed by the Grade 1 Eddie Read. The Osunitas, at 1 1/16 miles on turf for older fillies and mares, drew a strong field of 10, certainly the quality of a graded stakes race. Lilly Fa Pootz, though, is the defending winner of the race.