Ontrack business so far at the fall meet at Keeneland is up substantially while all-sources handle is virtually even with last year, according to figures released Tuesday by officials at the Lexington, Ky., track.

Through Sunday, and after eight of 17 programs, ontrack attendance was up 28 percent over corresponding 2009 fall dates, while ontrack handle was up 10 percent. The running totals to date were 124,870 in attendance and $11.6 million in handle, which includes imported simulcast wagering.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It may be sound counsel to avoid banking too heavily on the favorite in Thursday’s featured seventh race. The $56,000 optional claimer is scheduled for the inner turf course at 1 1/8 miles, and the eight entrants are a collective 2 for 14 as the post-time choice since last fall.

Five of those chalky defeats belong to Laureate Conductor, who looked to be on his way as a 3-year-old last summer after winning the Choice Stakes and running third in the Grade 1 Secretariat for Christophe Clement.

Wasted Tears could be heading to Southern California one more time before the year is out. The Texas-based Wasted Tears, who won the Grade 2 John C. Mabee at Del Mar in August, could run next in the Grade 1, $250,000 Matriarch at Hollywood Park on Nov. 26, said her trainer, Bart Evans.

“That’s a possibility, that’s what’s left for the year for us,” said Evans.

Wasted Tears is based at Retama Park and is due to return to the San Antonio-area track in the next week. She last raced on Oct. 9, and was fifth, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Richard’s Kid, the winner of the Pacific Classic and Goodwood Stakes in his last two starts, will not start in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, and he will be sent to Dubai for racing this winter, trainer Bob Baffert said on Tuesday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The milestones have arrived on an annual basis for Joel Rosario.

In 2006, he moved to the United States from his native Dominican Republic and made an early impression at Golden Gate Fields, finishing second to Russell Baze in two meets there. He moved to Southern California the following year, won his first graded stakes in 2008, and last year won three riding titles in Southern California and a Breeders’ Cup race, the Sprint, on the outsider Dancing in Silks.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Switching to a synthetic surface has led to a filly named Kitty in a Tizzy running considerably faster, and now her trainer, Jim Bond, is hoping for a peak performance Saturday in the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland.

MIAMI – Awesome Feather was unquestionably the star of the show on Saturday’s Festival of the Sun card, completing her sweep of the filly division of the Florida Stallion Stakes with another one-sided victory in the $350,000 My Dear Girl. In the process, she became the fourth and final Calder-based horse to earn a trip to Churchill Downs for the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 5-6.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sam-Son Farm has had more than its share of Cup and Saucer success, with a total of 13 winners including seven straight beginning in 1994. But with that outfit lacking a starter in last Sunday’s running of the $252,000 turf race for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds, it was up to trainer Michael Doyle to keep the tradition alive with a Sam-Son-bred, Celtic Conviction.

Making his fourth career start for Doyle and partner Bill Duffy, Celtic Conviction was coming into the Cup and Saucer off a maiden score for $32,000.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The sunshine boys, indeed. As nice as the weather has been since the Keeneland fall meet began Oct. 8, the old guys who figure as major contenders in the Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes will be in fitting roles when the sun is beaming into the grandstand on yet another sensational afternoon here Thursday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mobil Unit towers over the field on class in Thursday’s Woodbine feature, and will undoubtedly be favored in the Ontario-sired allowance for nonwinners of three, which is scheduled for 6 1/2 furlongs on the grass.

Mobil Unit has been second in three consecutive restricted stakes, on three different surfaces, since his victory in an Ontario-sired allowance route June 24. The streak began on the dirt at Fort Erie on July 25, when he helped to set the pace before giving way to Golden Moka in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales.