Terry Wallace, who for the past 37 years has been the track announcer at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has retired from that position. Wallace plans to continue his affiliation with Oaklawn, which opens again in January, in other areas.

Churchill Downs announced Thursday morning that overnight purses are being increased 15 percent through the end of the meet, effective with that day’s card, marking the second time in two weeks for a purse hike at the Louisville, Ky., track. Purses already were increased by 10 percent on June 3.

Although tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. do not reveal attendance and handle figures except on most major race days, track officials attributed the purse increase to “higher than expected all-sources wagering levels.”

Lil Bit O'Fun went from last to first to win the $200,000 Oliver Stakes at Indiana Downs Wednesday evening.

Jockey Leandro Goncalves kept the 3-year-old son of Langfuhr at the rear of the 10-horse field for the first half-mile of the one-mile turf event. On the final turn, Lil Bit O'Fun was asked for run by Goncalves and he responded with a visually impressive move to overtake the field in upper stretch and wen on to prevail by a length and a quarter.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Buoyed by longshot Hooligan's Delight, Wednesday's pick-six at Belmont Park returned a healthy $308,963 to 11 bettors who were savvy enough to come up with the winning combination. None of the winning tickets was sold ontrack.

There were 995 consolation tickets (5 of 6), each returning $763.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Air Support, who won the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes here last fall, returns to Belmont Park for Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Hill Prince Stakes going one mile.

The Hill Prince, restricted to 3-year-olds, drew a field of nine.

The mile may be a little short for Air Support, who needed every inch of the Keeneland stretch to run down Great Mills in taking the Grade 3 Transylvania going 1 1/16 miles on April 8. He then finished a late-running third behind Banned and Close Ally in the Grade 2 American Turf on Derby Day at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Conspicuous by its absence from the Stephen Foster Day program is the Fleur de Lis Handicap, a longstanding major race for fillies and mares. Churchill officials put the Fleur de Lis on hiatus for a year, with the intention of bringing it back so as to keep its Grade 2 status. (The North American Graded Stakes Committee allows a race to be skipped one year, but no more, to maintain a grade.)

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher entered three horses in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Ogden Phipps Handicap at Belmont Park including the enigmatic Life At Ten, who won this race last year. Pletcher also entered Awesome Maria, who has won three stakes this year, and Super Espresso, winner of the Grade 3 Allaire duPont Distaff in her last start.

The race also drew defending Breeders’ Cup Ladies' Classic winner Unrivaled Belle, graded stakes winner Payton d’Oro and Absinthe Minded.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Maybe a change of surface will revive Midnight Interlude’s season.

After winning the Santa Antia Derby in an upset on April 9, Midnight Interlude was a bust in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, finishing 16th in the Kentucky Derby and 13th in the Preakness Stakes.

Owner Arnold Zetcher and trainer Bob Baffert skipped the Belmont Stakes, and brought Midnight Interlude back to California. Friday evening at Hollywood Park, Midnight Interlude makes his turf debut in the $70,000 Tsunami Slew Stakes over a mile.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Al Stall Jr. won the Stephen Foster Handicap last year with Blame, but the 49-year-old trainer refrains from making unfair comparisons when it comes to Apart, the colt he will run Saturday in the Foster.

Blame earned a divisional championship while banking more than $4.3 million for Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, and with Apart having earned only a fraction of that ($640,018) for Dilschneider, Stall is content to focus strictly on what Apart might be able to accomplish in the coming months.

There has been an influx of Michigan trainers and riders to Thistledown this year following the closing of Pinnacle Race Course. Four of the former Michigan trainers are in the top 10 in the standings, including leader Robert Gorham who has 10 wins. Michigan regulars Ronald Allen Sr. and Richard Rettele each have 4 wins and Laura Jackson has 3.

In the jockeys’ race, Michigan rider Federico Mata leads the pace with 19 winners from 73 mounts. Perennial local riding leader Luis Gonzalez is second with 12 wins from 47 rides.