The $1.1 million Challenge Championships at Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Friday night will bring together some of the best Quarter Horses in training to compete in a series of divisional stakes. The program is topped by four Grade 1 events, including the $350,000 Championship in which Stolis Winner bids to become the all-time richest Quarter Horse.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jaycito, the winner of the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes at Hollywood Park in October and seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, was transferred from trainer Mike Mitchell to Bob Baffert earlier this week, the trainers said on Wednesday.

Owned by Ahmad Zayat, Jaycito has one victory in four starts, and has earned $210,000. He is considered one of the top 2-year-old males in Southern California.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Frostad has enjoyed a solid meeting at Woodbine Racetrack this year, already surpassing his 2009 totals with 23 wins and purses of $2,284,423 heading into the final three weekends.

Those success rates, achieved from just 93 starters, include six stakes wins courtesy of Grand Adventure and Hotep – with a pair apiece – and New Normal and Windward Islands with singles.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Zenyatta has been officially retired and her new home beginning next month will be Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky., the farm announced on Wednesday.

Zenyatta, whose 19-race unbeaten streak ended with a second-place finish by a head to Blame in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, is expected to be flown to Kentucky in early December, trainer John Shirreffs said on Wednesday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Hailstone stands out in Friday’s feature at Woodbine Racetrack, a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up, and his readiness off a seven-month layoff is what handicappers must ponder when sizing up his chances in the seven-furlong sprint.

Hailstone, a 3-year-old trained by Mark Casse, possesses a high-quality pedigree. He is by City Zip and out of Weekend Storm, the dam of Grade 1 Woodbine Mile winner Court Vision and stakes winner Smart Surprise. There are two classic winners from his second dam, Summer Squall and A.P. Indy.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Night racing in the fall at Churchill Downs already made an enormous impact on the sport when Blame edged out Zenyatta in that unforgettable running of the Breeders’ Cup Classic less than two weeks ago. There won’t be any such drama here Friday, but there is an historical aspect in store: It’s the first night program ever run here in the fall, and it’s designed to elicit the same kind of enthusiastic response that fans have been giving in the spring.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Maybe racing can come back in vogue like this, too. A “Mad About Plaid” theme is one that Churchill Downs officials are employing for the only evening card of the 21-day fall meet, and it’s an attempt to capture the fancies of a youthful market that sees plaid as retro-stylish.

Rummy's Command, unsuccessful in his last four starts while racing around two turns, relished the return to his home track and a shorter distance by scoring an 18-1 upset in the slop Tuesday night in the $75,000 Sophomore Sprint Stakes at Mountaineer Racetrack.

It was the first stakes victory not only for the 3-year-old gelding Rummy's Command ($38.40), but also for jockey Olaf Hernandez and trainer Donald Blankenship.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Headed by Luxury Appeal, Crea’s Law, and Never Right Joey, the two-three-four finishers in the recent Sleepy Hollow Stakes, a field of 10 juvenile New York-breds entered Thursday’s $60,000 Restrainor overnight stakes at one mile, including entries from Repole Stable and Flying Zee Stable.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Global Gaming, which holds the rights to buy the operating assets of Lone Star Park from MI Developments, withdrew its application to purchase the track’s racing license during a Texas Racing Commission meeting on Tuesday. Global officials did not give a reason for having the licensing item pulled from the agenda but indicated its intent to pursue the sale.

“They’re really not going into details on why they will submit at a later date, but they are committed to the project and to the horse racing industry in Texas,” said Kym Koch, a spokesperson for Global.