ARCADIA, Calif. – Finishing third to the best turf mare in the world, and the best male turf horse in North America, is quite an accomplishment, so it could be safely argued that The Usual Q.T. is coming off the best race of his life.

MIAMI - When last Saturday’s W.L. McKnight Handicap was taken off the turf due to heavy rain, the race was automatically downgraded from a Grade 2 to Grade 3 event pending evaluation by the American Graded Stakes Committee. Four days later, the committee reinstated the McKnight’s original grading, a decision based on the quality of the field, which included Grade 1 winners Prince Will I Am and Presious Passion. As a result of the decision, Prince Will I Am will now be credited with a Grade 2 win for his victory in the McKnight.

MIAMI – It took nearly three years for Bisnath Parboo to accumulate 20 victories after first taking out his trainer’s license in New York at the end of the 2007 season. It’s taken Parboo only two more months to more than double that total, and his 21 wins during the first 44 days of the Tropical at Calder session puts him atop the standings heading into the Christmas break.

Unfortunately for bettors, there’s no post-Christmas 2-for-1 bargain available in Monday’s featured ninth race at Parx Racing.

Juan Vazquez, coming off a superb season at Delaware Park in which he led the trainer standings with 83 victories, will saddle the uncoupled pair of Bernadette’s Song and Ms Vanenzza in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint open to third-level allowance runners and $40,000 claimers. Both of Vazquez’s horses look like prime contenders in a field of seven chasing a $50,000 purse.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Just 24 hours after being pounded by heavy rain for the fourth straight day, Santa Anita’s new dirt main track was open for training Thursday on a partly cloudy yet blessedly dry morning, and was in such good shape that several prominent trainers, most notably Bob Baffert, worked their horses on it in a strong show of confidence.

Live streaming video and archives of race replays are now available on the Internet for the Charles Town Races.

The new service, which is free, is located under the racing tab on the West Virginia track’s website at www.hollywoodcasinocharlestown.com.

The race replay archive, also accessible through the same website, contains all races run at the track over the past two years.

The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering issued a license to Hialeah Park that will allow it to operate slot machines at the track. Hialeah is currently operating a 24-day Quarter Horse meet which opened Dec. 3 and runs through Jan. 24, 2011.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Ayoumilove, winner of the Catcharisingstar Stakes at Calder in August, tops a strong field of 11 juvenile fillies entered for Sunday’s $75,000 Sandpiper Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Also Sunday, Jack Price Juvenile winner Manicero heads a group of 11 juvenile males entered in the $75,000 Inaugural. These two stakes highlight a 10-race card solely for 2-year-olds.

Ayoumilove is one of four stakes winners in the Sandpiper. Trained by Jose Pinchin, she will be shooting for her fourth win from seven outings.

ARCADIA, Calif. – While the return of a dirt surface could make it easier to find winning horses at Santa Anita this winter, an increased cost of wagers could make it more difficult to find winning horseplayers.

Santa Anita Park opens for its 71st race meet Sunday, and, once again, it is a whole new world in California.

The problematic artificial main track at Santa Anita is gone, replaced with a natural surface of sand, silt, and clay. And so welcome back front-runners to a surface that track project manager Ted Malloy expects will reward fast horses.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will get just one chance to make a first impression this winter, so in addition to the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Sunday, there are three other stakes on the opening-day card, including the Grade 1 La Brea, the female equivalent of the Malibu, a $250,000 race, for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs on dirt.