Monsignor will be part of a diverse field on Sunday when he makes his stakes debut in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park. He flew into Oklahoma City from New York on Monday for the 1 1/8-mile race that is also expected to draw Grade 3 Ohio Derby winner Pleasant Prince; Grade 3 Canadian Derby winner No Hesitation, and Grade 2 Super Derby runner-up Distorted Economy.

The budding rivalry between Blind Luck, the nation’s top 3-year-old filly, and Havre de Grace, who defeated her last Saturday in the Grade 2, $750,000 Fitz Dixon Cotillion at Parx Racing, could make its way to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5.

The 1 1/8-mile race has long been the objective for Blind Luck, who won the Kentucky Oaks at the distance in May, while Havre de Grace’s connections were pondering a start on Monday.

STICKNEY, Ill. – During Hawthorne’s opening two-day racing week, the main track played like a plowed field. Even winners labored home with slow closing fractions. Redding Colliery won the Hawthorne Gold Cup running a final quarter-mile in more than 27 seconds because no one could finish fast enough to come get him. The turf course? Entirely different story. After a wet early summer, Chicago has seen a sustained period of little rain, and even some precipitation Friday night and Saturday did little to soften the ground.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Post positions and field composition may have changed, but one thing remains the same about Wednesday’s $70,000 Easy N’ Dirty Stakes at Belmont Park: Endless Circle remains the horse to beat.

Originally carded for Friday, the Easy N’ Dirty was rescheduled and redrawn for Wednesday after Friday’s card was canceled due to heavy rains and strong winds. Rain remained in the forecast Monday through Wednesday, but it is unlikely to force a cancellation.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Of the many things that can be said about Zenyatta, this one is certainly true: She has never needed an excuse. Track surface, pace, weight, distance, trip – none of it has mattered, for nearly three years running, a truly remarkable feat. She ran her record to a perfect 19 for 19 on Saturday at Hollywood Park in the Lady’s Secret Stakes, which for the third straight year has set her up for a start in the Breeders’ Cup.

FRESNO, Calif. – The Northern California fair circuit completes its 2010 racing season with a two-week stop at the Big Fresno Fair beginning Wednesday.

The two-week meeting, which includes Columbus Day holiday racing on Monday, is attracting good-size fields despite Golden Gate Fields carding a pair of 10-race cards last weekend.

The Buddy Delp Memorial isn’t even part of Delaware Park’s regular stakes schedule. Despite its modest $50,000 purse, the overnight stakes on Wednesday’s card attracted three horses who have finished first in a Grade 3 stakes within the past 15 months.

The millionaire 7-year-old Arson Squad, joined by 4-year-olds Win Willy and Our Edge, provide more than a touch of class to a six-horse field for the 1 1/16-mile Delp, named in honor of the Hall of Fame trainer who shares the track record with Scott Lake for most consecutive leading trainer titles with seven from 1963 to 1969.

While gross handle fell precipitously because of fewer race dates, average all-sources handle at the Turfway Park meet that ended Sunday was down less than 3 percent, according to figures released Monday by the Florence, Ky., track.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The connections of Haynesfield found out Saturday what they were hoping to learn eight months earlier – that their New York-bred colt is indeed Grade 1 material.

Haynesfield’s four-length, gate-to-wire victory in Saturday’s $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park may have been the product of a quality speed horse getting loose on the lead. But it was also the product of a pattern of patience displayed by owner Harvey Weinstein and Toby Sheets, Steve Asmussen’s Belmont-based assistant trainer who has overseen the colt’s training throughout his career.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A six-furlong turf sprint Wednesday at Hollywood Park will determine the autumn campaign for California-bred stakes winner La Nez.

If she runs well Wednesday in the second-level allowance, La Nez will return at the same distance over the same course Oct. 30 in the $100,000 California Cup Distaff.

“We’ll see if it is feasible, see if she handles the grass” trainer Eric Kruljac said.