ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Luis Contreras checked into Woodbine Racetrack at the beginning of 2009 as the stable jockey for trainer Steve Asmussen, and his immigration status allowed him to ride only for American owners.

But since getting the necessary paperwork completed in September, Contreras and his agent Tony Esposito have had free reign to ride for all, and the results have been spectacular.

After scoring with Classy Zip ($6.90) and Marcellino ($9.70) on Wednesday evening, Contreras had ridden 118 winners here and another six at Fort Erie this season.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – First-out stakes winner Inglorious will travel 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack in the $150,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes for Ontario-foaled 2-year-old fillies.

Inglorious, a $90,000 yearling purchase by Donver Stable, made her only start against Ontario-breds in the six-furlong Fanfreluche on Oct. 24.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Sand Cove probably clinched the Sovereign Award for this year’s Canadian champion older male on the main track with a dominating win in the $127,800 Sir Barton Stakes on Wednesday night at Woodbine Racetrack.

Sand Cove ($4.10) dueled with 52-1 shot Quinzee through slow fractions of 25.69, 50.02, and 1:13.51 in the 1 1/16-mile route for Ontario-sired runners.

Trainer Steve Margolis is having his best year ever in terms of wins and stable earnings, and the meet he had last season at Fair Grounds is behind some of that success. Margolis won with 29 percent of his starters and is now back in New Orleans with a deep stable of horses that includes Stay Put, who in his last start split the field in the Belmont Stakes; Join in the Dance, who was seventh in the 2009 Kentucky Derby; Cash Refund, who has never been beaten at Fair Grounds; and Bouquet Booth, who last month captured the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Amid the drama after the Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5, when jockeys Calvin Borel and Javier Castellano seemingly made every sports highlight show with their postrace scuffle, trainer Kristin Mulhall walked off the track relieved that Romp was not injured.

When the chain reaction of bumping occurred on the final turn, which led to the altercation, Romp had the worst of it. He clipped heels with a rival and nearly fell. Romp finished 10th in a field of 12, 32 lengths behind Eldaafer.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Already a Grade 2 winner who is about to turn 6 years old, Tar Heel Mom would seem the ideal candidate to be heading to the breeding shed in a couple of months. But if she’s able to return to the form she displayed before an injury sidelined her last spring, Tar Heel Mom may have another year of racing ahead of her.

Wise Awake, a 5-year-old New York-bred mare who won 8 of 14 starts this season at Finger Lakes, has been named the western New York track’s horse of the year by the local Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

Owned and trained by M. Anthony Ferraro, Wise Awake dropped to the bottom $4,000 claiming level on May 17 after back-to-bak off-the-board finishes in allowance company. She proceeded to reel off six consecutive wins while rising in class. In her most recent win on Nov. 6, Wise Awake defeated an allowance field that included stakes winner Bob’s Dylan.

Miss Kinderhook will have more fitness to call on Friday when gut-check time arrives in a first-level allowance route for 2-year-old fillies that tops the Fair Grounds card. She will be making her second two-turn start in the race following a close-up fourth in the $69,000 Happy Ticket at 1 1/16 miles at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 25.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A 3-year-old filly owned by Jerry and Ann Moss and trained by John Shirreffs rallied from off the pace to win her debut against sprinters at Hollywood Park. The style of the win suggested there is massive room for improvement.

Sound familiar? Zenyatta did that way back in 2007 at Hollywood Park. Mokoma did the same Oct. 11. That’s about as far as Shirreffs is willing to stretch the comparison.

“History is not going to repeat itself,” he said. “It’s such an extraordinary thing that Zenyatta did.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – John Parisella plans to take three months off at the beginning of 2011. Before he goes, however, the trainer hopes to start a few more horses, beginning with Wild News in Friday’s featured second-level optional $50,000 claiming race at Aqueduct.