It is closing weekend at Presque Isle Downs, and while most outfits are getting ready to head south, with many heading to Tampa, on-air personality and handicapper Katie Mikolay will be heading north to visit Woodbine. In years past, the 30-year-old Elk Grove, Ill., native would be headed back to Chicago for the Hawthorne meet, the place where she got her start.

“It was a really tough decision not to go back “ Mikolay said. “I have come to the point where I just need to see what is out there, to see what options are out there and to take a look at every one of them.”

The perfect conclusion to trainer Tony Richey’s dream season at Louisiana Downs this year would be a victory in the meeting’s biggest race, the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby on Saturday. That scenario remains a possibility, although a remote one, as the Richey-trained Arctic Comet is the longest shot in the six-horse Super Derby field at 20-1.

An alternate ending, however, may still read like a storybook.

Four trainers could face penalties from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board after they were found to have given their horses herbal medications on the day they were to race, in violation of state rules.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Dutamis and Hampton Wick look like the main players in a $17,500 claiming race that will serve as Friday’s feature at Hastings. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds drew six horses and goes as race 3 on the seven-race card that begins at 7 p.m. Pacific. This is the last Friday card at the Hastings meet that ends on Oct. 11.

POMONA, Calif. – Front-runner Saint Isabelle stretches from one turn to three turns Friday on the five-eighth-mile dirt track at Fairplex Park, where she will be favored to lead gate to wire in the $50,000 Palomares Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

The 1 1/16-mile race drew a modest field of six. Saint Isabelle’s rivals include Fashion Trend, Sweet Hanni, Not Here, Tapit So Lightly, and the maiden Tiz Smoke Tiz Fire.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The last two Woodbine Mile winners, Court Vision and Ventura, both prevailed after a summer break that was spent at Saratoga. Much Rejoicing fits that bill in Friday’s Woodbine headliner and should be favored in the second-level allowance with a $62,500 claiming option.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Riding the River could have been claimed for $16,000 in his debut here at Woodbine on April 16.

On Saturday, Riding the River will be looking to run his record to 5 for 6 and become a stakes winner in the $150,000 Ontario Derby, an open 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds.

“I think he’ll be competitive in there,” said Dave Cotey, who conditions Riding the River and owns the gelding in partnership with Derek Ball and Hugh Galbraith. “If he gets beat, it shouldn’t be by much.”

Plagiarist will try to rebound from a dull effort when he runs in a $22,000 claiming race Friday at Northlands Park. The six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up drew eight horses and it appears to be a wide-open event.

POMONA, Calif. – It looks like easy money Thursday at Fairplex Park, where favorites are winning Thoroughbred races with unusual regularity.

The first two weeks at the Los Angeles County Fair, favorites won 44 of 93 Thoroughbred races, a 47 percent win rate that far exceeds the historical norm that generally hovers between 33 percent and 34 percent.

So is making money at the racetrack really as easy as betting the favorite? Of course not, but it’s always fun to cash a ticket on a winning horse, even if the payoff is minimal.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – After winning back-to-back route races over the winter at Fair Grounds, Fast Alex was headed into the Louisiana Derby in late March, but the colt took a major detour, both in terms of time and distance. Instead of the Louisiana Derby, Fast Alex’s first start since an entry-level allowance win March 1 in New Orleans comes Thursday at Arlington Park, where he is entered in a one-mile grass race open to second-level allowance horses or $40,000 claimers.