Trainer Lloyd Walker, who trained horses in Northern California from the 1950s until his retirement in 2004, died Thursday night at his home in Elk Grove, Calif. Walker would have been 94 on Sunday.

Trainer Lloyd Walker, who trained horses in Northern California from the 1950s until his retirement in 2004, died Thursday night at his home in Elk Grove, Calif. Walker would have been 94 on Sunday.

Walker trained almost exclusively on the Northern California in the final years of his career and was best known in his later years for his training of Appaloosas.

This will be a tense weekend for the connections of Lt. Hopeful, who is currently ranked second on the also-eligible list for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

Lt. Hopeful is currently at Hollywood Park and owner Syd Belzberg and trainer Janet Armstrong were nervously awaiting word on Friday from Breeders' Cup officials whether Lt. Hopeful can gain a place in the 14-horse field.

"I haven't asked today," Armstrong said.

Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes winner Rogue Romance, pre-entered in both the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Turf, will run in the Juvenile, said Martin O'Dowd, an adviser to owner Catesby Clay.

Although the Juvenile was listed as his first preference at the time pre-entries were made Monday, his connections still had been giving thought to running in the Juvenile Turf, given that Rogue Romance was proven on grass, where all three of his starts, and two of his wins, have come.

Trainer Steve Margolis knows something about winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint. He turned that trick with his first and only Breeders' Cup starter when he sent out Cajun Beat to upset the 2003 Sprint at Santa Anita.

Margolis will try to duplicate that feat when he comes back with another outsider in this year's Sprint -- Richard, Bert, and Elaine Klein's homebred Cash Refund, who turned in his final major tune-up for race by drilling five furlongs in 1:00.32 seconds in company with stablemate Home Run Bertie on Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

She's a good-sized dark bay filly with a long stride and a big kick who is based in California and trained by John Shirreffs. Wins a lot. Maybe you've heard of her?
No, no, not that horse. This is Harmonious. And while Harmonious has failed to achieve Zenyatta-like perfection, she has come pretty darn close six starts into her career.

Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Awesome Gem is headed toward Friday's 1 3/4-mile Breeder's Cup Marathon on the Churchill main track, rather than the Saturday's Dirt Mile, said Jeff Lifson, vice president of Midwest operations for West Point Thoroughbreds.

After being pre-entered in both races Monday, with the Dirt Mile listed as first preference, the switch comes as somewhat of a surprise.

Five Breeders’ Cup horses stabled at Saratoga put in workouts on Friday, including top Dirt Mile contender Tizway, who went five furlongs in 1:00.91 over the Oklahoma training track.

According to trainer James Bond, Tizway, winner of the Grade 2 Kelso Breeders’ Cup in his last start, went his first quarter in 13 seconds and got his final quarter in 23.60 seconds.

“He went great,” Bond said. “Physically, he couldn’t be any better. I can’t tell you how great I feel.”

INGLEWOOD, Calif.– Regardless of what happens in the sixth and seventh races at Hollywood Park on Sunday, the Oak Tree meeting has been an outstanding campaign for trainer Kristin Mulhall.

Thursday, she won an allowance race with Square Deal, who ran the fastest six furlongs of the meet in 1:08.99 and gave Mulhall her sixth winner from nine starters at the meeting.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – This normally happens in the spring at Churchill Downs, not in the fall. A race meet opens to tremendous anticipation of what lies straight ahead, but it is usually the Kentucky Derby that awaits, not the Breeders’ Cup.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – John T. Ward Jr. would never be one to get ahead of himself, but a man’s got to have a plan, doesn’t he? That’s what the trainer of a good 2-year-old does, anyway.

“We’re going to work backward from the Kentucky Oaks with this filly,” Ward said of Dancinginherdreams, a spectacular recent maiden winner at Keeneland and one of the favorites for the Grade 2, $150,000 Pocahontas Stakes on the opening-day program Sunday at Churchill Downs.