LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fugitive Angel, with Rosie Napravnik riding for Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard, unleashed a furious stretch run on Friday to win easily in the 20th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Pin Oak Valley View Stakes at Keeneland.

Prevailing as the third choice in a full field of 12 3-year-old turf fillies, Fugitive Angel was winning her fourth straight race after racing in restricted company in Pennsylvania, where she was bred by her owner, George Strawbridge Jr. of Augustin Stable.

The Oklahoma Racing Commission has approved a change to the state's claiming rule that will eliminate the requirement that a horse be raised in claiming price a minimum of 25 percent in the 30 days following a claim. The rule will now go through the administrative process, said Tino Rieger, the executive director for the commission. The earliest it would go into effect is late spring, 2011.
 

Race for Jake made the leap from maiden claimer to stakes winner earlier this month, and on Sunday will attempt to remain unbeaten in three starts when he runs in the $55,000 Governor's Cup at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.

The six-furlong race for 2-year-olds also drew shippers from Oklahoma and Texas.

Race for Jake, who is based in New Mexico with trainer Jon Arnett, began his career in a $12,500 maiden claiming sprint at Zia on Sept. 19. He set the pace in the five-furlong race then darted home by four lengths at 4-1.

ELMONT, N.Y. – In Sunday’s $70,000 Mighty Forum Stakes at Belmont Park, Ya Gotta Have Soul will attempt to prove his last race was not a fluke while Arson Squad will try to show that his last two were.

Ya Gotta Have Soul, a $775,000 yearling purchase, finally lived up to his price tag with a sharp-looking 4 1/2-length first-level allowance race going seven furlongs here on Oct. 2 for which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96. The Mighty Forum is run at a mile.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Gone Rebel drops from the most productive juvenile filly stakes of the year into an easier spot Sunday at Hollywood Park, where she should race gate to wire in the six-furlong $55,000 Anoakia Stakes.

“She’s very, very fast, and she has improved considerably since Sept. 4,” trainer Vladimir Cerin said, referring to the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, in which Gone Rebel pressed a fast pace for a half-mile before she weakened.

Dancing in Silks, winner of the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, will not ship to Churchill Downs for another shot at the $2 million race, trainer Carla Gaines said Friday. Owner Ken Kinakin and Gaines made the decision after Dancing in Silks worked six furlongs Thursday at Hollywood Park in 1:13.20.

“He’s not showing any interest,” Gaines said. “I’m not taking him [to Churchill].”

After an outstanding 2009 campaign during which he won 4 of 5, including the BC Sprint, Dancing in Silks has been unable to regain top form in 2010.

Trainers Mike Hushion and Robert Ribaudo will be holding their breath waiting to find out if their fillies get into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Pre-entries are due on Monday.

Hushion trains the 3-year-old filly Nicole H, who was ultra-impressive winning a first-level allowance race at Belmont on Sept. 22. Ribaudo trains Qualia, a 4-year-old, who won three allowance races and was beaten a head by probable Filly and Mare Sprint favorite Rightly So in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses in the spring.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Construction on the long-awaited casino at Aqueduct is expected to begin Thursday, with anywhere from 1,600 to 3,300 slot machines up and running by some time in May.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out how a race will set up, let alone how it will end up. Picking a winner in the $125,000 Dowager Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland might be a bit tricky, too, but there seems to be little question as to how the 1 1/2-mile turf race will unfold.

Damion E.T. will try to take advantage of slightly easier company when he faces a full field of 2-year-old Indiana-bred and Indiana-sired colts and geldings in the $84,000 Crown Ambassador at Hoosier Park on Sunday.