INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The handicapping notebook is full again. And with Del Mar just around the corner it is time to start looking ahead, with stuff like this . . . .

◗ Who do you like? Is it undefeated Sarah’s Secret, who wired the June 11 Honeymoon Handicap, or is it 1-for-3 Mizdirection, tons best finishing second June 18 in the Manhattan Beach Stakes for filly sprinters? It is a close call. The 3-year-old fillies Sarah’s Secret and Mizdirection meet July 24 at Del Mar in the Grade 2 San Clemente.

Santa Anita will close its main track for as long as two weeks next month to correct an imbalance in the sand and clay content, track officials told the California Horse Racing Board on Thursday.

Track president George Haines said the main track is tentatively scheduled to close on July 11 for 10 to 14 days to allow a renovation that will remove the top part of the cushion and replace it with sand that will be blended into the remaining cushion.

Del Mar is adding two new bets for its summer meeting – a 50-cent pick five with a 14 percent takeout, and a head-to-head bet on Saturday’s featured race – and will offer a $50,000 supplement to the pick six each Sunday on days without a carryover.
The additions were announced at Thursday’s meeting of the California Horse Racing Board, and will start on opening day, July 20.

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.

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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.