The 7-year-old mare Suzzona has been on an extensive turf-sprinting roll, putting together a record of 8-2-1 from 12 turf starts over the last two calendar years. Her lone subpar performance during the period came in the Buckland Stakes last summer at Colonial Downs, and Suzzona should be favored to make amends when she meets nine rivals in the 2011 edition of the $50,000 Buckland.

When trainer Mike Stidham put up $30,000 to claim Wildcat Aly out of a win at Fair Grounds in early March, he was hopeful the 4-year-old filly might be a useful horse to bring to Delaware Park this summer. He just didn’t imagine her first Delaware appearance would come in a six-figure stakes.

Wildcat Aly, riding a four-race winning streak in claiming and allowance company, steps up significantly for Saturday’s $125,000 Sweet and Sassy Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Through the day on Thursday, Churchill Downs horsemen and track workers cleared the debris left behind by a tornado that ripped through the track’s stable area Wednesday evening.

Although racing and training was canceled Thursday, Churchill officials, after talking matters over with horsemen, plan to hold their scheduled Friday night card.

Worthington, who put up one of the year’s best Beyer Speed Figures for a 2-year-old in his last start, will make both his stakes and turf debut Saturday in the $50,000 Minstrel at Louisiana Downs.

The five-furlong race will share a card with the $50,000 Princess, a turf sprint for 2-year-old fillies that drew a field of 10.

Joseph “Spanky” Broussard, a Louisianan by birth and temperament, has been training horses since 1969. A million racing memories float around the 70-year-old Broussard brain, most of which can be brought up in fairly photographic detail. One drawback to Broussard’s longevity: He has outlived many longtime owners, and Broussard’s string has dwindled to a handful this year. Still in the Broussard fold is owner-breeder Richard Rudolph, whose 3-year-old Hydro Power should give Broussard a solid chance to take down the Springfield Stakes on Saturday afternoon at Arlington Park.

Your browser does not support iframes

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Larry Jones hopes Joyful Victory can revert to the dominant form she displayed at Oaklawn Park in the spring when she seeks her first Grade 1 victory in Saturday’s $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Of all the juveniles to race at Churchill Downs this meet, few have been as dominant as Culotte. Debuting on May 13, she sped to the lead and drew away to win by 5 1/4 lengths, racing 4 1/2 furlongs in 51.69 seconds and posting a 72 Beyer Speed Figure.

Having passed that test easily, she gets another one Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Debutante at Churchill – making her stakes debut against seven other talented 2-year-old fillies, including by a pair of fast shippers, Shocktime and Defy Gravity.

MIAMI – Luis Saez has dominated the standings here since the beginning of the meet and was the Superman of the local jockey colony throughout the spring. But no matter what superpowers trainers or horseplayers believe Saez may possess, there’s one thing he still cannot do – ride two horses at the same time. All of which becomes a moot point, considering Saez is named on both favorites, Motovato and Mambo Meister, for Saturday’s $55,000 Mecke Stakes at Calder.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Hollywood Park is raising overnight purses 10 percent effective June 30 for the final three weeks of the spring-summer meeting, the track’s president, Jack Liebau, said Thursday.

The meeting runs through July 17, and the purse increase will be in effect for the final 13 days of racing.

The track has underpaid overnight purses since the meeting began on April 21 because of cautious business estimates earlier this year, Liebau said.

ALTOONA, Iowa – The two-day Iowa Festival of Racing comes to a close Saturday night with an ultra-competitive renewal of the Grade  3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap. Contested over a mile and one-eighth, the Cornhusker drew a field of 11 veterans and is headed by West Point Thoroughbreds Awesome Gem, a winner of $2,508,270 in his 43-race career.