Juveniles take center stage closing weekend at Del Mar. Five of the six stakes Sept. 9-11 are for 2-year-olds including a pair of seven-furlong Grade 1s – the TVG Del Mar Debutante for fillies on Sept. 10, and Runhappy Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 11.

The 20-cent Rainbow Pick Six will have a mandatory payout at Del Mar for Saturday’s Pacific Classic program, although interest may be somewhat muted by what is expected to be a small carryover.

The bet was hit by a single ticket worth $467,147 last Saturday. Through Thursday, the carryover in the Rainbow Pick Six was $66,161. Assuming there is not a single winning ticket on Friday, the carryover may approach $100,000.

For the first time since Memorial Day, jockey Flavien Prat is back in Southern California. He is riding on Saturday’s blockbuster program at Del Mar, his first appearance there since November.

The lure is the brilliant 4-year-old Flightline, an overwhelming favorite in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. Prat has mounts in seven other races, including three other stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The owners of Drafted, who finished fifth in the Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 27 at Saratoga, have appealed a decision by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority that would result in the forfeiture of their $26,000 share of the purse.

Drafted was disqualified from purse earnings in the Forego after it was determined by New York Racing Association steward Brook Hawkins that jockey Luis Rodriguez Castro struck the gelding 10 times with the whip during the running of the race. Under HISA rules, a rider is limited to a maximum of six strikes in a race.

Turfway Park on Thursday opened its new grandstand and historical horse racing facility to the public nearly 18 months after ground was broken on the $145 million project.

Officials from parent company Churchill Downs Inc. were on hand Tuesday evening at the northern Kentucky track for a soft opening of the new building, which will house more than 1,500 of the slots-like machines, seating with trackside views, and a simulcasting area. 

All-sources handle on the 10-race Thursday card at Kentucky Downs was $9,695,502, a track record for a weekday opening day. The single-day record of $20.8 million was set last year on the Kentucky Turf Cup card, a record that stands to be broken again next Saturday.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Al Stall Jr. has a lot on his plate these days. The death of longtime employee Edward Moss had the trainer and his staff reeling while they were getting everything reassembled this week in Barn 45 at Churchill Downs following a busy summer at Saratoga.

Moss, 62, was found dead in his Churchill dorm room after not reporting for work early Monday. No foul play is suspected, said Stall.

Lost Ark, who sailed to a 7 1/2-length win Aug. 27 at Monmouth Park in the $200,000 Sapling Stakes, is bound for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, trainer Todd Pletcher said earlier this week. 

Lost Ark is by Violence out of Marion Ravenwood, making him the 2-year-old half-brother to Nest, who is well on her way to being champion 3-year-old filly of 2022 for Pletcher. Idol, also out of the same mare, won the 2020 Santa Anita Handicap. 

Fair Grounds will open its 2022-23 racing season on Friday, Nov. 18, eschewing the traditional Thanksgiving opener the historic track had returned to in the 2019-20 season.  

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Charge It, who was forced to miss the Runhappy Travers Stakes on Aug. 27 due to a foot abscess, has not yet returned to the track and will be forced to miss the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 24, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday.

Pletcher said Charge It, who won the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes by 23 lengths on July 2, has not trained in more than a week. He is being hand-walked around the shed row three times a day.